We Are All Racists: Calling Out and Undoing Whiteness in Teacher Education

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Three
  In Roundtable Session: Interrogating and Interrupting the "Overwhelming Presence of Whiteness" in Teacher Education (Table 4)

Abstract

As political divides escalate across North America between so-called lefts and rights, we reflect on the “us versus them” mentality perpetuated through the media, and what we can do as educators to identify inequities, call out harm, and combat colonial logic and white supremacy within education. The main research question explores white supremacy and its manifestations in teacher education. Our counter-stories are centred through duoethnography between a racialized, immigrant, Muslim early career scholar and a racialized, disabled, queer, and non-binary high school teacher. We share how we perpetuated white supremacy and how we have learned to challenge colonial logic within teacher education. The chapter concludes with recommendations for educators to question themselves and their praxis to advance truth and reconciliation.

Authors

• Jess Tsang, University of Toronto
  Presenting Author

• Ardavan Eizadirad, Wilfrid Laurier University
  Presenting Author