"Midwest Nice": Preservice Teachers' Understanding of Systemic Racism

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Five
  In Roundtable Session: Dynamics Between Whiteness and Systemic Oppression in Teaching and Learning (Table 9)

Abstract

George Floyd was murdered by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Jacob Blake was shot repeatedly by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin. These are just two examples of Midwest cities where Black citizens suffer while White citizens seemingly play nice and avoid confrontation. Midwestern preservice teachers (PTs) saw these tragedies and the subsequent unrest play out in their own communities; therefore, this article explores how one teacher educator uses Crisis Theory with/in Teacher Education Programs (CT-TEP) to: 1) explore how PTs see systemic racism as a crisis; 2) understand PTs’ use of Midwest Nice behavior when confronting crisis; and 3) analyze PTs’ past, present, and possible selves in relation to systemic racism.

Author

• Scott Baker, St. Cloud State University
  Presenting Author