Language and Institutional Racism: Exploring African American English in the General Multicultural Education Course

• In Event: 29.051 - Intersections of African American and Black Identity and History in Teacher Preparation

Abstract

The current study investigates preservice teachers’ fragmented (mis)understandings of African American English (AAE) and suggests the ways they improve critical consciousness about AAE in the general multicultural education course. Although many content area teachers consider AAE out of their realm, all teachers are responsible for AAE-speaking students’ learning and must be aware of the pedagogical issues related to AAE. Drawing upon the notions of Whiteness and institutional racism, this research (1) locate AAE on the broad social contexts that sustain inequity and unjust, (2) reveals the ways many preservice teachers support the current educational practice that disproportionately disadvantages AAE-speaking students, and (3) suggests the ways general multicultural education course instructors meaningfully incorporate AAE into the course contents.

Author

• Incho Lee, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire