"It's Probably Still Written by a White Person": Challenging Assumptions in a Critical Professional Development Course

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Four
  In Roundtable Session: Challenging Erasure, Symbolic Violence, and Assumptions of Race and Language (Table 3)

Abstract

In this presentation, we will share our Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of an online discussion among a group of elementary educators as they discussed their interpretations of four historical timelines. The activity was part of a virtual professional development course on critical literacy pedagogy for K-8 teachers, and these four teachers worked in the same urban district. We found that teachers perpetuated discourses of Whiteness while simultaneously attempting to disrupt them. Findings point to further directions for teacher educators working to foster racial and critical literacy, as well as the reconstructive potential of discourse among teachers. We also highlight the value of using CDA to examine teacher language.

Authors

• Audrey Lucero, University of Oregon
  Presenting Author

• Janette Dalila Avelar, University of Oregon
  Presenting Author