Teacher Education Nepantlera Work: Connecting Cracks-Between-Worlds with Mormon University Students

Abstract

Teacher educators work with students of various backgrounds, often distinct from their own. This paper explores how one teacher educator examines her positionality in relation to Mormon students and how, despite not sharing their faith, she is able to work the “cracks-between-worlds” of difference and commonality toward understanding and learning. Through Anzaldúa’s concept of autohistoria-teoria, theorizing through one’s biography, the author explores and theorizes her experiences. She encourages educators to consider how they engage students, learn from other nepantleras (bridge-builders), and create more opportunities toward shared understanding while also complicating and letting go of a dogged sense of teaching students what is “right.”