Critical Supports for White Anti-Racist Teachers

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Building Equity-Oriented Communities in Education (Table 2)

Abstract

This study examines how scholar-nominated white, experienced anti-racist teachers conceptualize internal and external factors that support their resistance to white supremacy in schools. A theoretical framework of “rehumanizing praxis” informed by white supremacy logic contextualizes this project of accountable inquiry with white teachers. Drawing on critical-constructivist grounded theory, data provides insight into the specific supports teachers described and the criteria of supports that fortify anti-racist commitments and sustainability in the collective struggle for justice. These supports include types of peer support, campus support, education and, importantly, are the product of long careers, thus largely unavailable to new teachers. As such, this project offers perspectives on meaningful support for anti-oppressive teaching by white teachers alongside considerations for teacher education.

Author

• Katie Harlan Eller, Marist University