Writing (for) our lives: Black feminisms, interconnected guidance, and qualitative research in special education

Abstract

In this collaborative sense-making of mentorship and interconnected guidance for education research, two Black women academics in special education offer lessons learned from their sustained dialogues with each other, other Black women, and with Black and endarkened feminists’ texts. The authors reflect on how traditional approaches to academic mentorship were, at times, incompatible with their onto-epistemic and methodological needs as researchers. They revisit their initial entry into the field and examine the ways U.S. schooling is implicated in the racism, ableism, and other systemic oppression experienced by multiply-marginalized students, families, and educators. The authors consider the distinctive contributions Black women offer(ed) special education research and revisit the improvisational moves they enact to make space for qualitative inquiry informed by Black and endarkened feminisms.

Keywords:

• Black feminism
• special education
• intersectionality
• mentoring
• interconnected guidance

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mildred Boveda

Dr. Mildred Boveda is an Assistant Professor of Special Education and Cultural and Linguistic Diversity at Arizona State University. In her scholarship, she uses the terms “intersectional competence” and “intersectional consciousness” to describe educators' preparedness to address intersecting equity concerns.Drawing from Black feminist theory and collaborative teacher education research, she interrogates how differences are framed across education communities to influence education policy and practice. Dr. Boveda earned an Ed.D. in Exceptional Student Education at Florida International University and an Ed.M. in Education Policy and Management from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Erica D. McCray

Dr. Erica D. McCray is an Associate Professor of Special Education and Director of the School of Special Education, School Psychology, & Early Childhood Studies at the University of Florida. Currently, Dr. McCray is a Co-Principal Investigator for the CEEDAR Center and an NSF research project aimed to broaden participation in engineering. Prior to becoming university faculty, Dr. McCray served as a special educator in Title I elementary and middle schools. She has been recognized on multiple educational levels for her teaching and research, which emphasize the influence of diversity on educational practice and policy.