"Come in and Play by Our Rules": White Dominance in a Predominantly White Elementary School

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 3:35 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Racial and Social Structures Within K-12 Institutions (Table 8)

Abstract

This ethnographic case study examines teachers' and parents’ reflections on a predominantly white independent elementary school to determine how, if at all, the school’s racialized culture is manifested in its norms, curriculum, and expectations. We found that teachers and administrators created an environment that excluded and negatively judged Black parents and children. They avoided or lacked urgency in addressing racism in the curriculum and conversations with families. Enacting dysconscious white dominance, teachers and administrators recognized that racism existed. Still, they did not see or understand the role that their norms and inaction played in constructing and perpetuating racism at the school.

Authors

• Jane Bolgatz, Fordham University

• Jianing Li, Fordham University

• Ruoyi Zhang, Brooklyn RISE Charter School