White Teachers' Self-Reflexivity on a District-Wide Racial Equity Training

• In Event: 75.041 - MTCC Roundtable Session 33
  In Roundtable Session: 75.041-6 - Decentering Whiteness: Developing the Self-Reflexivity and Critical Practices of White Teacher Education Candidates

Abstract

Increasing efforts to promote racial equity work in school demands a detailed examination of teachers’ practices in relation to race-related training programs. This paper uses critical ethnographic methods to investigate how five white teachers engage with race in their practice within the context of a district-provided racial equity coaching. The analysis shows that racial equity work has contributed to developing the white teachers’ race consciousness, and teachers’ reflections on and interrogation of their own whiteness have impacted their practice. The findings suggest that while the racial equity work acts as a potential site for transformation for teachers, there are also areas for improvement. This paper concludes by arguing for the need to continuously engage with racial equity work in school.

Authors

• Ariana Yang, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Diana Chandara, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Weijian Wang, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Shakita Thomas, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities