ERIC Number: ED648010
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 163
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-8417-7463-1
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
We Need to Talk: A Critical Ethnographic Analysis of White Women Educators Discussing Their Experience of Racial Dynamics in Multi-Racial Elementary Classrooms
Christine Schwyn Harrison
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Fielding Graduate University
Achieving equitable educational outcomes for Black and Brown students was at the core of this research. Scholarly work on the persistence of disparate educational outcomes among Black and Brown students rarely contended with a stunning demographic. While U.S. public school students are increasingly diverse, the teaching force in grades K-5 is projected to remain at nearly 80% White women for at least the next two decades. This study examined the lived experience and meaning-making of White women educators in geographically diverse classrooms composed of Black and Brown students. It collected data from semi-structured interviews and used narrative and critical ethnographic techniques to analyze them. The teachers interviewed were deeply impacted by their role in the Black-Brown-Student-White-Teacher (BBSWT) classroom, but they reported no process for their reflective and collective learning around the dynamics of this experience. The results showed no safe enough and brave enough spaces for the White woman teacher to dialogue and reflect on her lived experience in this phenomenon. Instead, this topic was undiscussable. The systemic nature of the undiscussability of racialized differences in U.S. society is generally well-established (Dovidio et al., 2017). What is unseen is that this undiscussability is taking an emotional and physical toll on educators and, consequently, their students. Participants shared the depth of their felt responsibility to optimize student outcomes. They revealed their need to reflect out loud about their BBSWT experience and to find how that reflection can be translated to student benefits. The gravity of the responsibility placed on this cohort of classroom educators deserves greater attention "on behalf of" the women in this role and their students. This research responded to Sleeter's call (Jupp & Sleeter, 2016) to investigate the effectiveness of community-based learning for White educators in pre-service training. It also followed Segall and Garrett's (2013) argument that White teachers do have a sophisticated knowledge of race. What this study adds is that there is just no place for them to talk about it. The practice of reflective learning on the BBSWT phenomenon is a missing piece to utilizing that knowledge in optimal ways for equitable educational outcomes. The focus, then, of this study was on one, specific, under-researched factor: the experience of racial dynamics, as described by 12, proficient, White women educators in BBSWT classrooms. This missing factor has the potential to impact teacher turnover, which is a known challenge for student success and is particularly acute in schools with high concentrations of Black and Brown students (Ingersoll, 2001). This study focused on bringing forward the voices of these educators in order to emphasize their expression of having no space to discuss the unavoidable racial dynamics of the classroom. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Ethnography, White Teachers, Females, Racial Factors, Teacher Attitudes, Cultural Pluralism, Elementary School Teachers, Minority Group Students, Cultural Awareness
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A