Relational Research: How Trust Contributed to the Critical Reflection of a "Color-Blind" White Female Teacher

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 31
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Examinations of Whiteness in Education

Abstract

In the field of social psychology, adherence to a colorblind racial ideology has been shown to impede teachers’ willingness to adapt praxis based on shifting student racial demographics. In this study, a dialogic relationship was created to develop trust between myself and a first-year White female teacher who adheres to a colorblind ideology. The goal was to determine if such a relationship would influence the teacher’s willingness to adopt culturally responsive teaching praxes. Results show that although the development of such praxes were not undertaken, through our discourse the participant began to become more critical about how racialized power permeates the larger U.S. society, and expressed a willingness to discuss such permeation with her future students.

Author

• Jacob Bennett, University of Virginia