Breaking Through the Codes: White Preservice Teachers Exploring Racial Identity Through Self-Study

• In Event: 26.079 - Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: 26.079-8 - Exploring Preservice Teachers' Conceptualizations of Social Justice, Ethics, and Sociopolitical Consciousness

Abstract

Self study should serve as one component of an integrative experience around the social and cultural foundations of education that promotes self-efficacy through consistent “toggling” among theory (coursework), practice (clinical experience), and reflection (self-study). This study builds upon decades of work aiming to find meaningful ways to build sociopolitical consciousness among white preservice teachers. Through analysis of written work and interview conversations, this paper emphasizes the contradictions that arise in students' self-presentations as they “try out” new and complex ways of thinking about themselves and others as racialized beings. This helps to push toward deeper understandings of how today's preservice teachers are conceiving of whiteness and their own potential roles in our work toward justice in schools and beyond.

Author

• Ann Mogush Mason, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities