Mazes, Tangles, and Disequilibrium: Emotionality and Whiteness in the Curricula of School-Based Antiracist Professional Development

• In Event: Uplifting Antiracist Teaching and Decentering Whiteness

Abstract

Despite substantial research in antiracist teacher education and the acknowledged importance of emotions in that learning, little research explores school-based antiracist teacher education, and specifically the emotionality entangled within it. The purpose of this study was to explore the intersection of emotions and whiteness in the curricula of school-based antiracist professional development (PD) as experienced by teacher educators (PD facilitators), school leaders, and teachers. To that end, I conducted 52 interviews with racially diverse participants who work in NYC-schools. The study was also informed by arts-based educational research methods such as photo elicitations and artmaking as a central means for data analysis. Ultimately, the themes demonstrated the antiracist curriculum as maze-like, entangled, and the necessary cause of school disequilibrium.

Author

• Abby C. Emerson, Providence College
  Presenting Author