A privileged perspective: How a racially conscious White male teacher interacts with his students

Abstract

The goal of this interpretive study was to further research in the field of Whiteness studies by empirically analysing how a racially conscious white male teacher interacts with his minoritised and White students. The teacher’s classroom was examined using Critical Race and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). Two empirical assertions were developed based on the continual search for disconfirming evidence within interview and observational data. Results show the teacher participant created a learning environment in which his black minoritised students felt comfortable, trusted, and respected.

Keywords:

• whiteness
• equity
• Critical race theory
• Cultural-historical activity theory

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my doctoral advisor, Stanley Trent, for his feedback on previous drafts of this manuscript.

Notes

1. I use this term rather than ‘students of colour’ or ‘minority students’ to show the power in being labelled a minority by the dominant group as described by Apple (2013).

2. It is important to note that throughout this research, Chauncey used the terms ‘black’ and ‘African American’ interchangeably when describing minoritised students. I contend this shows Chauncey’s privileged perspective in seemingly not realizing some of his black students were not African Americans, but immigrants originating from countries outside the United States. Based on this perspective, I employ the terms interchangeably throughout this manuscript to highlight the power Chauncey had in minoritizing his students. I also believe this can be applied to our larger society, with many whites generalizing to all black people as African Americans and visa-versa.