Whiteness and Teacher Education: The Problems and Possibilities of White Ambivalence

• In Event: Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Explorations of Identity

Abstract

This paper utilizes a Critical Whiteness Studies framework to analyze the experiences of a cohort of predominantly White preservice teachers as they engaged in discussions about race and racism. Rather than focusing on individualized notions of White resistance to discussions of race, the author analyzes students’ responses with an appreciation for the structural considerations of Whiteness and the ambivalence (Lensmire, 2010) that is often performed as part of a White racial identity. By offering an example of a pedagogical vignette, the author displays a range of engagement from the preservice teachers, including the promising and problematic ways they engage with notions of active racism, passive racism, and antiracism.

Author

• Ryan M. Crowley, University of Kentucky