Improving educational outcomes for Black student populations requires that teachers have a deep awareness of racialized experiences of the students they serve. This study examined the experiences of White urban elementary school teachers and Black students' experiences with classroom dialogue about racism and Black violence across the United…

Many White educators are not aware of their White privilege, and therefore they need support in developing their White racial identity and racial awareness so that they can identify problems associated with racism and participate in conversations about race and racism with an eye towards dismantling systemic racism. Data was collected from…

This dissertation presents research pertaining to how classroom teachers can become more effective in teaching their students of color. Through an examination of literature pertaining to critical whiteness studies, critical pedagogy, antiracist education, and transformative leadership, a professional learning program has been designed to offer…

Research studies suggest that professional development would better prepare the 84% White teaching force to serve diverse classrooms. Schools have begun providing professional development with desired outcomes of better serving their diverse student body. This research study focused on educators who received summer camp-style immersive…

This study applied critical race theory (CRT) to provide a lens through which to critically analyze the preparation and described practices of White mentors in providing support to new teachers of color as they navigate racism in education contexts as novice educators. The purpose of this study was to explore induction mentors' perceptions of…

In this collection of autoethnographies, four researchers explored our deeply personal experiences and encounters with racialized oppression in the form of spirit-murder. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Whiteness Studies, this dissertation explores how two white educators have committed spirit-murder against Black students and how…

In this collection of autoethnographies, four researchers explored our deeply personal experiences and encounters with racialized oppression in the form of spirit-murder. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Whiteness Studies, this dissertation explores how two white educators have committed spirit-murder against Black students and how…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to develop an understanding of how the lived experiences of white educators following the murder of George Floyd in the spring of 2020 impacted their understanding of racism and how this understanding, if at all, helped them work to disrupt racism in schools. Literature analyzed revealed how white…

This autoethnographic dissertation research explores Critical White Studies (CWS) and racial trauma and their impact on Students of Color in a higher education setting. This study aims to challenge the deficit thinking of white educators who perpetuate racism in higher education. The relationship is examined to dismantle the white ideology of…

HSIs are largely determined by Latinx enrollment and are not connected to a uniting mission or definition of what it means to serve Latinx students. Consequently, HSIs continue to be saturated with predominantly white faculty who may or may not be interested in eradicating white dominance. Researchers have suggested that white normativity…

Though Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training (DEI) has proliferated, facilitators still seek effective tools to support the growth of anti-racist consciousness in participants. An avenue with great promise around these needs is how shared reflexive vulnerability can promote the growth of this consciousness. Using the tools of microethnographic…

Academicians, administrators, and policymakers in New Orleans have pointed toward a disproportionate academic and life-cycle outcome where Black American males are particularly disadvantaged as compared to White students. An often-cited cause of these disproportionate outcomes for Black male students is inequality and mistreatment in schools.…

Increased public scrutiny and outcry over police shootings of unarmed Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor to name just two, forced a greater awareness of societal demonizing and criminalizing of Black and Brown people due to racial stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination. This examination of American…

First-year composition (FYC) has historically functioned as a space for furthering the linguistic assimilation of students into "appropriate" forms of communication in academic spaces. While often going unstated in course/writing program goals, Standardized American English (SAE) has typically been the language variety elevated in FYC…

My study brought together a group of white educators in sustained critical narrative inquiry groups to tease out, investigate, and interrogate why we, white educators, especially white women, may hold on to an ideology of Niceness (cf. Castagno). Niceness seeks to continue and reinforce "ideologies of dominance across lines of race, gender,…