Alberto J. Rodriguez1 | Sara Tolbert 2 | Sheron L. Mark3
1
University of Houston, Houston,
Texas, USA
2
University of Canterbury, Canterbury,
New Zealand
3
University of Louisville, Louisville,
Kentucky, USA
Abstract:
The focus on identity in the field of teaching and learning
continues to grow, especially when it concerns equitable
outcomes for students. While most attention is placed on
students’ identities and increasingly those of teachers,
lesser addressed are the identities of the teacher educa-
tors and researchers broaching the issue of identity.
Additionally, identity research is not often linked to rela-
tionships between self, others, and transformative action.
We recognize these as gaps to be addressed and offer crit-
ical positional praxis (CPP) as a response. CPP is the pub-
lic manifestation of the insights gained through our
sense of identity and reflexivity. More specifically, CPP is
the actions (or inactions) that express who we are in
response to an event in any given social context—
especially oppressive ones. In this article, we draw from
our own critical autoethnographies, as a context for put-
ting CPP into practice in identity research. Our collective
analysis of these critical autoethnographies revealed how
our identity development was inseparable from the ways
in which we have each resisted the politics of domestica-
tion. Our autoethnographies further point to the role of
dissent as central to our experiences of becoming critical
science teacher educators committed to equity, diversity,
and anti-racism in education. We draw from this analysis
to offer recommendations for how identity and
positionality can move beyond theoretical constructs
toward transformative personal and collective change in
science education.
KEYWORDS
critical positional praxis, politics of domestication,
positionality, sociotransformative constructivism, teacher
educator identity
