Spotlight on SOTL: Exploring Institutional Whiteness and Coloniality Through the Experiences of BIPOC Graduate Teaching Assistants

This article is based on the following research article:

Park, A. S., Bahia, J., & Bing, A. (2024). Racialized and Colonial Experiences of Graduate Teaching Assistants: Oppression, Meaning and Transformation. Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 15(3), 4. https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotlrcacea.2024.3.17213

As we enter Black History Month, we share a summary of research by Park et al. (2024), examining how institutional whiteness and coloniality shape the experiences of 37 Black, Indigenous, or people of colour (BIPOC) domestic graduate student TAs at a Canadian University. Participants report microaggressions, disrespect, and exclusion from students, supervising instructors, and administrators. Yet TAing also emerges as a site of resistance, offering opportunities to foster critical thinking, affirm student identities, and model inclusive practices.

What did the researchers do and find?

As a part of a larger project on Black, Indigenous, or people of colour (BIPOC) graduate student experiences as teachers and learners, Park et al. (2024) conducted 37 semi-structured interviews with BIPOC domestic graduate student TAs from a Canadian post-secondary institution. These students were enrolled in various programs and departments throughout the university, and many participants had been a TA in multiple courses. The study examined how institutional whiteness and coloniality shape these TA’s experiences.

Through thorough thematic coding of interview transcripts, the researchers found that their participants had experienced racism in every facet of their role as teaching assistants, from students (disrespect, challenges to authority, microaggressions, and exposure to racist discourse), difficulties with TA supervisors (being unheard, discriminatory discipline, political alienation), and administrative racism (insensitivity and exclusion).

Despite these experiences, the graduate TAs also described enjoyment in certain aspects of their jobs, such as their ability to mentor students. They saw the role as a place for meaning and transformation, both transmitting their knowledge to students, and being a space for sparking discussion and critical thinking about race and racial identity. Despite the complexity of TA experiences, many described wanting to contribute to a post-secondary experience that is better than the one they received.

How might you use this research in your teaching?

Park et al. (2024) acknowledge the vital role that TAs play in post-secondary institutions. Therefore, supporting them in a holistic manner should include addressing the racism that they experience. Their research is important to understand how instructors can support TAs in a meaningful way. To do this, the TA participants made some recommendations to improve the experiences of BIPOC graduate students, including:

• Proactively checking-in with TAs and their wellbeing when course content is likely to affect BIPOC TAs
• Ensure consistent enforcement of regulations (or more regulation in general) in the TA supervisor-TA relationship
• Cultivating an environment that values and respects TAs

Based on the experiences that TAs described, other suggestions for supervising instructors to support BIPOC TAs may include:

• Create clear guidelines for student behaviour and enforce consequences for hate speech within the classroom
• Establish clear guidelines for grade disputes that allow for a respectful exchange (e.g. implementing a 24 hour “cool down” period before disputes are allowed)
• Engage in critical reflection on their own identities and how both their own positionality, and the positionalities that are showing up in their curriculum may impact BIPOC students and TAs.
• Seek out training related to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and decolonization such as the MacPherson Institute’s Inclusive Teaching and Learning Resources

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