When “Nice” Isn’t: Confronting Niceness and Whiteness to Center Equity in Teacher Education

ABSTRACT

Niceness is a socialized disposition, particularly amongst white women, that prioritizes comfort and neutrality while preventing resistance against oppressive systems. Given the demographics of teachers and teacher educators, niceness and whiteness are deeply embedded in programs and institutions. As eight white, female teacher educators, we drew on the power of cross-institutional collaboration to form a self-study community of practice with the purpose of interrogating and dismantling the ways niceness and whiteness function in our teaching and teacher institutions and create barriers to centering equity and justice. Findings indicated that collaboration helped us identify how niceness shaped and continues to shape our teaching and teacher identities, particularly how we navigate difficult conversations, think about our roles as teacher educators, and imagine literacy curricula. Findings also indicated that despite efforts to recognize and interrupt niceness and whiteness, our growth was nonlinear, and we find that constant vigilance and reflection is necessary. Implications for the broader field of education include the power of self-study for disrupting niceness and whiteness in teacher education and orienting the community toward action through mutual support and accountability, while also recognizing the ways in which niceness continues to function as a barrier for enacting change for social justice.

KEYWORDS:

• Self-study
• equity
• niceness
• whiteness
• methods courses

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wendy Gardiner

Wendy Gardiner is the Jolita Hylland Benson Endowed Chair in Elementary Education and an associate professor at Pacific Lutheran University. Her research focuses on literacy teacher education and new teacher mentoring. Currently, she is a co-principal investigator on the National Science Foundation, Robert F. Noyce funded project, Pathways to Culturally Sustaining STEM Teaching.

Tierney B. Hinman

Tierney B. Hinman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Auburn University. Her research focuses on culturally and linguistically responsive literacy instruction in the content areas, with a specific focus on the integration of community literacies, disciplinary literacies, and teaching with tension.

Amy Tondreau

Dr. Amy Tondreau is an Assistant Professor of Elementary Literacy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She holds an Ed.D. in Curriculum & Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research focuses on teachers’ and students’ literacy identities, critical literacies, and the cross-pollination of Universal Design for Learning and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy.

Sophie Degener

Sophie Degener is an Associate Professor in the Reading and Language Program at National Louis University where she also serves as program director. Sophie teaches classes in beginning reading, reading research, and literacy methods to undergraduates, masters students and doctoral students. Her research interests include family literacy, primary literacy instruction, and justice-centered teacher education.

Tess M. Dussling

Tess M. Dussling is an Assistant Professor in the Child Study Department at St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn. She also serves as the Director of the Literacy and Cognition M.A. Program. Tess teaches undergraduate and graduate courses focusing on literacy methods and educational research. Her research interests include early reading interventions for English language learners, literacy teacher education, and critical literacy education.

Elizabeth Y. Stevens

Elizabeth Y. Stevens is an Associate Professor in the Teacher Education Department at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York. She serves as the director of the Literacy MED Program. Elizabeth teaches undergraduate and graduate literacy courses. Her research interests include literacy teacher education, identity, and multiliteracies.

Nance S. Wilson

Nance S. Wilson has 20+ years’ intensive experience in education schools. She was awarded the 2020-2021 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship. Wilson teaches in the Literacy Department at The State University of New York in Cortland. She worked to design multiple online literacy opportunities for teachers and students, included Beyond the App, an online international conference to connect teachers with literacy expert, and an online literacy intervention clinic to provide tutoring for students in first to eleventh grade.

Kristen White

Kristen White is an Assistant Professor of Education at Northern Michigan University. She holds a Ph.D. from Michigan State University and a Language and Literacy Specialization. With more than 25 years of experience in education, she has taught grades K-8, worked as a K-5 media specialist, and provided professional development to educators.