“Kindred in Understanding": The Importance of Culturally Sustaining Relationships for Teachers of Color to Navigate Challenging Times

We used collaborative narrative inquiry to analyze stories of three teachers of Color working together to build a transformative learning experience for youth during the summer of 2020. Using Culturally Sustaining Relationships (Shaabneh, 2022) as our theoretical framework, our analysis revealed how the teachers developed a critical kinship through (counter)storytelling, and how they navigated crises through leveraging this kinship to form a collective vulnerability, which made space for healing, joy, and problem-solving. This study highlights the importance of prioritizing time and space for teachers of Color to cultivate culturally sustaining teacher relationships through (counter)storytelling during their professional learning and practice.