Teaching Millennials to See the Rainbow: Exploring the Myth of Postracialism in Teacher Education

• In Event: 60.055 - Unhooking From Whiteness: Autoethnographic Approaches Toward Education as Freedom Dreams Through the Abolition of Liberalism, Meritocracy, and Color Blindness in U.S. Teacher Education

Abstract

The fourth paper, Teaching Millennial;s to see the Rainbow: Exploring the myth of Post-racialism in Teacher Education, this autoethnographic and theoretical paper explores the notion that today’s teacher education programs are attended almost entirely by “millennial” students, defined as children born between the years 1982 to 2002 (Howe & Strauss, 2000). Millennials are armed with the conviction of a postracialist society and a colorblind pedagogy. Teacher Candidates (TCs) belonging to the millennial generation and training to teach in urban schools present a new challenge for teacher educators. Overwhelmingly millennial TCs believe that there is no reason to treat Students of Color any differently than White students and treating all students as equal is the optimum tool against racism. Most participants claim that they do not “see” color and present evidence that colorblind ideology dominates the thinking and perspectives of millennial TCs. Although participants seem to believe ferociously in equality for all, there is evidence of passivity about inequities. Millennial TCs state that they are too distant from slavery, racial violence, and divisions, and hence have created a new and unique meaning of race where anger and passion about segregation has given way to passivity and optimism. Nevertheless, millennial TCs harbor discomfort and fear about teaching Students of Color and are ready to acknowledge that they will need to put in some effort into understanding the cultures of their students.
The implications for teacher education programs across the country are significant and pose fresh dilemmas. New and creative strategies are needed to help post racial TCs understand the connection between historical and structural racism and how it affects Students of Color in the classrooms today. Further, strategies to help millennia’s understand their personal connection to White privilege and benefits that they have enjoyed at the expense of other races are required. Explicit research based instruction that will connect Whiteness to oppression is necessary to bridge the historical distance between the millennial generation and racism as perceived by the TCs.

Author

• Madhavi Tandon, University of Colorado - Denver