Constructing critical autoethnographic self-studies with white educators

Abstract

Autoethnography was used as a tool for white in‐service elementary teachers to examine their racial identity from a Critical White Studies (CWS) perspective. Two white in‐service teachers participated in two yearlong university courses focused on teaching linguistically and culturally diverse students. Each teacher collected their own data at their school site and used autoethnographic methods to critically analyze their own teaching experiences and personal reflections. Results from the study illustrate the ways in which autoethnographic study can be used as an instrument for white teachers to frame their own critique of their white racial identity, as it relates to their classroom instruction.

Keywords:

• whiteness
• autoethnography
• teachers
• race
• self‐study
• ethnography