Reconceptualizing Resistance in Order to Better Prepare White Teachers for Urban Schools

• In Event: Roundtable Session 95
  In Roundtable Session: Rethinking Resistance, Transforming Beliefs: Research on the Identity Constructions of Beginning Teachers

Abstract

Resistance to engaging with race is often used to explain why white teachers have difficulty in urban schools, but many studies with preservice teachers take place in diversity courses. This study examines the experiences of three white student teachers to develop a more holistic and realistic understanding of how they view diversity as they learn and enact the role of teacher. While race was a significant factor, other significant factors included social class, having been good students, and the socialization into the high school teacher role. This study demonstrates how interns rely upon prior experiences to interpret urban school teaching without recourse to race, with implications for teacher education and research to better elucidate knowledge and practices to prepare them.

Author

• John Lockhart, Pacific University