We are scholars, we are women, we are friends. Our Courageous Critical Collective met through our shared interest in guiding courageous critical conversations (CCCs)--conversations about justice-related topics with teachers and young children in elementary settings. In this presentation, based on the introductory chapter of our proposed book, we consider issues of identity, relationships, academia, and intuition, and unity in exploring the foundation of creating our collective. Initially, what was common sense to one of us wasn’t necessarily at the core for all of us. The amalgamation of our identities includes being women of Color, traditional and cultural mothering, our roles in relation to multiculturalism. We recognized a shared vision, and we intentionally explored our own definitions and instantiations of social justice from three overlapping perspectives. We couldn’t find a space in which we as individuals, or collectively, could be embraced in the world of academia, so we created this space by reaching out to one another, to ground one another. Now, what is common sense to the three of us isn’t always common sense to others: Listening to the gut feeling, the naʻau (Nā Puke Wehewehe ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, 2023), the feeling from behind the piko, from behind the belly button, the central core/corps of who you are. We share our story to inspire other women scholars as they engage with deeply personal and essential work of social justice action research. We seek to honor ourselves, the places we live in and teach, and the people around us.

Authors:
Lisel Murdock-Perriera, Sonoma State University, United States
Rosela Balinbin Santos, University of Hawai'i Manoa, United States
Rayna Fujii, University of Hawai'i Manoa, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Lisel Murdock-Perriera is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Studies at Sonoma State University in California, USA.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule

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