Cracks in the Narrative: Black and Latinx Preservice Physical Education Teachers in Predominantly White Institutions

• In Event: Social Justice, Diversity, and Activist Approaches in Physical Education

Abstract

Purpose: This visual narrative inquiry aimed to understand Black and Latinx pre-service PE teachers’ negotiations of whiteness, along with the accompanying emotional “load”, at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Methods: This study used visual narrative inquiry. Results: Participants’ positive yet emotionally distanced negotiations of dominant whiteness were a form of self-preservation from racism and “othering.” With increased trust in the researcher, “cracks” in their narratives appeared when describing their pain from institutional racism. Discussion: A framework of emotionality helps locate pre-service teachers of color as “othered,” and understand their emotional distance from their PWIs. Participants’ emotional responses to racially “othered” hypervisibility provide insights to reasons for program attrition by students of color, and how PETE maintains racialized discourses of whiteness.

Authors

• Mara Simon, Springfield College

• Korey Boyd, Springfield College