When You’re Disrupting: Challenges Faced by Justice-Oriented Middle Grades Educators in a Predominantly White State

The purpose of our research was to identify challenges middle grades educators face as they strive to disrupt for justice in their predominantly white schools/districts. Developmentally and culturally responsive education for all middle grades students calls on educators to embrace justice-oriented teaching. Yet middle grades teachers attempting to disrupt unjust practices and policies are often met with significant challenges that can undermine their efforts. Research illustrating these challenges could help justice-oriented middle grades teachers and leaders prepare for and proactively address these challenges. This article draws on the experiences of a group of middle grades educators to illustrate the numerous challenges they faced while leading and engaging in justice-oriented initiatives in the predominantly white state of Vermont. We describe four categories of challenges faced by the group: (a) institutional challenges; (b) interpersonal challenges; (c) pedagogic challenges; and (d) inner challenges. Drawn from the findings, we offer implications for justice-oriented middle grades teachers, administrators, and teacher educators.