Troubling Whiteness in the Teacher Workforce: Implications for Teacher Preparation Programs

• In Event: Co-conspirators for Racial Justice?: The Role of White Students and Teachers

Abstract

This study investigated white teachers’ discourses of whiteness and color-blind racism within the context of their beliefs about the role of race in education and their beliefs about race talk. I conducted two stages of analysis: an inductive Reflexive Thematic Analysis then a deductive Codebook Thematic Analysis. I organized teachers’ discourses around three general themes: (a) race does not matter, especially to those without race (white people); (b) race talk is usually “bad” (term used to represent a collection of negative attributions); and (c) racism is external and visible. Each theme included aspects of both color-blind racism and whiteness. The primary theme that emerged from the Codebook TA stage revolved around dismissing race as well as avoiding racial language. These can inform teacher preparation programs and professional development, both around the historical and ongoing mechanisms of racism in schooling and then learning to discuss race and racism.

Author

• Christy McGuire, University of Pittsburgh Center for Urban Education