Exploring white teachers' perspectives of their own race and the role of their students' identities in their instruction: a case study

This study examined how teacher professional development utilizing a White racial affinity group involving three tenured, White, fourth grade teachers influenced how the teachers make sense of their own racial identity and how they incorporate their students’ identities into their teaching. Through the professional development, the teachers reflected on whiteness in education and their own racial identity and then learned about approaches to teaching that were developmentally appropriate and centered the identities of all their students in their teaching. Specifically, the teachers learned about the developmentally appropriate practice of funds of identity and collaboratively developed lessons utilizing that approach. A case study design was used for a detailed examination and analysis of the way the professional development utilizing a White racial affinity group influenced the teachers’ thinking about their own racial identity and the utilization of funds of identity. Thematic analysis was used to answer the study’s research questions: How does a White racial affinity group focused on whiteness influence how White teachers make sense of their own racial identity? and How does a White racial affinity group, including funds of identity, influence how White teachers operationalize their students’ identities in their pedagogy? Findings included the following: an unexamined racial identity leads the teachers to not understand how their race impacts their teaching and student learning; racial colorblindness plays a role in the teachers’ attempts to be fair by making race invisible and allowing the teachers to be neutral in order to avoid their fear of offending or being misinterpreted; and a White racial affinity group can provide a safe space for White teachers to learn about their racial identity and teaching strategies that center the identities of all of their students rather than just the White ones. Ed.D.Includes bibliographical reference