"I'm Not Racist; My School Was Diverse!" White Preservice Teachers Deploy "Diversity" in the Classroom

• In Event: Developing Preservice Teacher Understanding of Diversity

Abstract

This study employs ethnographic methods to explore how White preservice teachers in two different Social Contexts of Education classes draw on experiences attending either racially diverse or predominantly White high schools as they engage with course content about race, diversity and privilege. Drawing on a subset of data collected for my dissertation, I explain how participants came to position themselves and their classmates as “a little racist” or “not-racist” based on their previous experiences (or lack thereof) in racially diverse environments. Many students positioned as “not-racist” came to believe they would automatically become successful teachers of diverse students, while those positioned as “a little racist” believed that their backgrounds might prevent success with students of color.

Author

• Karen Pezzetti, Temple University