The purpose of this narrative study is to understand the experience of ESL female teachers in postsecondary education. The ESL female teachers will be defined as female teachers who speak English as a second language. The study asks the following research questions: What are the lived experiences of ESL female teachers in postsecondary education? How do ESL female teachers in postsecondary education narrate their experiences and negotiate their teacher identities? How can the above understanding contribute to the inclusion of ESL female teachers in an increasingly diversified educational landscape? The researcher adopts an intersectional stance and a poststructuralist understanding of subjectivity and positioning to study identity. Life story interviews and narrative inquiry are utilized as methodology to collect stories from ESL female teachers teaching in postsecondary education and to retell the same so as to achieve an informed understanding of the phenomenon under study. The study reveals that the participants have experienced an intersection of multiple identities which collectively function to marginalize them under the discourse of difference as deficit. Apart from efforts to adapt to the dominant discourse, the participants have also acted to utilize their multiple identities so as to resist negative positioning. The participants’ experiences have posed questions concerning what institutional and systemic changes are needed in order to help their inclusion in postsecondary education. / Graduate / fuhong2015@gmail.com

Intern teachers are more likely to be placed in hard-to-fill content areas, such as math, science, and special education, which exacerbates their initial teaching experiences as teachers of record. For new teachers in their intern credential program, these factors compound the stress of attending coursework while managing their experience as a novice in the classroom. Without proper mentoring and support in these placements, teachers of color may perceive themselves as feeling less successful in the classroom. In this mixed methods study, the researcher investigated the types of support intern teachers of color need in successfully completing their teacher preparation program. Quantitative data were collected using archival research to determine perceived levels of preparedness by intern teachers of color. In alignment with explanatory sequential method, interviews were conducted to gather qualitative context to explain the quantitative data. Three themes emerged from the data analyses that formed these theories: (a) as a new teacher, it is common to feel overwhelmed, confused, or frustrated while trying to balance multiple demands; (b) teaching racially diverse students presents unique challenges; and (c) to thrive as a teacher, it is crucial to seek support from colleagues, mentors, and support networks. Implications for practice include systematizing strong mentorships, implementing teacher team models, and training intern support networks on cultural awareness. These findings provide information to intern programs about the types of support needed to be culturally responsive to the needs of both diverse teachers and the students they serve.