Taking time, breaking codes: moments in white teacher candidates’ exploration of racism and teacher identity

Abstract

In three narrative vignettes, this paper challenges scholars and practitioners of teacher education to consider ways that our courses do and do not engage white teacher candidates to take on racially conscious orientations. The work addressed in this paper has implications for our understandings of how preservice teachers can learn about racial identity in ways that benefit individual teachers and support their work in schools and communities. These findings buttress previous work in ‘second wave’ white teacher identity research and can translate directly into teacher education course and program design. Simultaneously, this research speaks to the broader literature in teacher education, offering evidence to support the value of extended periods of time for new teachers to build authentic relationships and conduct critical study of self and society in a climate where teacher preparation programs face pressure to reduce credits to degree and intensify their focus on preparing students for externally mandated assessments.

Keywords:

• White racial identity
• racial consciousness
• preservice teachers

Notes

1. I understand that some readers may be surprised or concerned about my use of the term ‘white supremacy,’ and they may prefer that I consistently use a term like ‘systemic racism.’ However, racism in all its forms (e.g. systemic, institutional, or individual racism and white privilege) is simply a consequence of white supremacy, which is the system that has organized the construction and enactment of all that we understand to be about ‘race’ in the United States.

2. At the time of initial writing.