White Preservice Teachers Facilitating African American History Discussions: Tensions of Identity in Practice

• In Event: Preservice Teachers' Identity Formation

Abstract

This qualitative study leverages dynamic systems theory to offer context-sensitive understandings of white teacher candidates’ learning and decision-making during discussion facilitation in African American history courses. We examine tensions tied to content, teacher identity, and student demographics for white candidates teaching predominantly African American students. Findings suggest that participants generally avoided naming their own positionality, and reflected more of a colormute pedagogy (Pollock, 2005) than an anti-racist or culturally sustaining one. Candidates appeared unaware of the limits of their own knowledge bases around historical and contemporary issues of race while simultaneously dismissive or ignorant of their Black students’ cultural knowledge tied to these topics. Implications for teacher education and research are discussed.

Authors

• Jenni Conrad, Temple University

• Abby Reisman, University of Pennsylvania

• Timothy Patterson, Temple University

• Lightning Jay, Binghamton University - SUNY

• Avi Kaplan, Temple University

• Joseph Eisman, Temple University

• Wendy Chan, The University of Pennsylvania