Whiteness as a Barrier to Advancing Critical Teaching Practices for Teachers of Color

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Racial Justice Fatigue: Reckoning with Whiteness and Transformation in Teacher Education

Abstract

In this qualitative case-study, pre-service teachers of color in predominantly white institutions contend with how their teacher education programs address topics of racial justice and equity and developing antiracist teaching practices. Teacher candidates from three social justice-oriented teacher education programs are interviewed regarding their perspectives on and engagement with issues of race, racism and equity over the course of their preparation. The main finding suggests that a lack of interrogation of whiteness as an underlying norm in teacher education programs led to diminished antiracist teaching commitments for teachers of color. This paper suggests the potential for racial affinity groups in teacher education programs as a method of bolstering antiracist pedagogical practices of future teachers of color.

Author

• Kim Vachon, University of California - Santa Cruz