Phenomenological inquiry of transnational whiteness and spatiality of U.S. teacher education

Abstract

To be responsive and responsible to preservice teachers who may reside in multiple cultural, historical, linguistic, and physical spaces, it is important for teacher education scholarship to consider transnational whiteness and spatiality. This phenomenological study explores how transnational whiteness takes shape in a U.S. teacher education classroom, as well as how practices are shaped by systems of whiteness. The paper draws on whiteness studies and postcolonial perspectives to develop a critical analysis of whiteness and spatiality in and beyond a U.S. teacher education classroom. The study suggests that whiteness as a dominant system and ideology not only governs the teacher education space but influences other spaces beyond the classroom as well as domestic borderlines. Throughout, the author calls for alliance-based transnational whiteness teacher education scholarship by normalizing tensions and contradictions in transnational and local whiteness work.

Keywords:

• Whiteness
• teacher education
• international students
• postcolonial theory
• phenomenological inquiry

Ethics declarations

The University of Minnesota IRB determined that this study meets the criteria for exemption from IRB review. IRB ID: STUDY00007624.

Disclosure statement

The author reports there are no competing interests to declare.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Minnesota under the Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship.

Notes on contributors

Younkyung Hong

Youn Hong is a teacher educator, educational scholar, and activist who works with elementary students, preservice teachers, and elementary teachers. She has worked in various environments, including elementary schools in Seoul, South Korea, and universities in the United States. Currently, Dr. Hong is an Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Ball State University. She works with preservice and in-service teachers to support them in becoming critically conscious and culturally responsive teachers for their students. Her scholarly interests include challenging Western and Eurocentric perspectives in contexts beyond the United States and other domestic borders. Dr. Hong is continually developing her work on topics related to justice-oriented education, teacher education, whiteness studies, mathematics education, and qualitative research inquiries.