A Self-Reflexive Study of Whiteness in Teaching Using Critical Discourse Analysis (Poster 15)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Wednesday 10:50 a.m.
  In Poster Session: A Self-Reflexive Study of Whiteness in Teaching Using Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

Teacher critical reflexivity is essential for disrupting hegemonic, and often tacit, whiteness in teaching that perpetuates inequities for students of Color. In this self-study, I utilize Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) to critically reflect on the discourse in one second grade vocabulary lesson that I taught ten years ago. I describe how the process of transcribing the lesson video recording, and engaging with tenets of CDA and CWS, allowed me to encounter previously unnoticed ways my language perpetuated whiteness and disempowered students. Specifically, I explore themes of discursive control, white niceness, and student identity-agency. I close with reflections, lingering questions, and potential implications for using CDA and CWS in teacher educator praxis to advance antiracism.

Author

• Shana E. DeVlieger, NYU