Profiling White Preservice Teachers: A Racial Identity Analysis of Preparedness to Dismantle Whiteness in Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 9:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: CERECG SIG Round Table 1: Disrupting Whiteness and Cultivating Racial Consciousness in Education (Table 3)

Abstract

This study investigates and quantitatively depicts the multidimensional racial identities of White preservice teachers and their readiness to challenge Whiteness and support students of color, through a novel person-based racial identity profile analysis. The findings reveal significant ambivalence and complexity in White preservice teachers’ racial identities, with many employing multiple contradictory schemata when considering issue of race/racism. For example, many adopt both color-blind schema and employ intellectualized understandings of racism simultaneously. Ultimately, this study underscores the need for teacher education programs to engage students in authentic critical "social transformational reflection" in order to prepare anti-racist educators committed to promoting equity in education.

Author

• Aaron Allen Baker, Illinois State University