Teachers of Color Creating and Recreating Identities in Suburban Schools

In this qualitative study, I explored the socialization experiences of eight teachers in two suburban high schools, and how they described their in-school identities. The findings from the study revealed how the participants constructed their identities differently for reasons that included wanting to deflect particular stereotypic images of their cultural/ethnic group or mitigating their own discomfort in revealing more private aspects of their core identities. The study offers implications for teacher education programs and the critical role that they play in preparing preservice teachers of color to work in suburban school settings, and in exposing all teacher candidates to diverse representations of teachers.