Profiles of White Teachers Doing the Work: The Pedagogy of Shifting from Colorblindness to Addressing One’s Role in Structural Racism

This creative nonfiction dissertation study sought to describe the process by which three self-identified White teachers—who are engaged in structural initiatives in their schools, districts and/or communities for racial equity—transitioned from colorblindness to understanding white supremacy and structural racism. The following overarching research question guided the study: What are three self-identified White teachers’ perceptions of their process of shifting from colorblindness to understanding their role in white supremacy and structural racism? The study also addressed the following sub-questions: (1) What are the pedagogical pivot places that occur in three self-identified White teachers’ processes of coming to understand white supremacy and structural racism? And (2) How do these pedagogical pivot places contribute to new ways of knowing in teachers’ shifting from colorblindness to understanding white supremacy and structural racism? This study contributes to the literature on White teachers’ process of shifting from colorblindness to racial consciousness and understanding white supremacy. It offers implications for shifting ideologies of White pre-service teachers and teachers in schools. However, efforts to dismantle structural racism need to extend beyond helping White teachers to understand their role in upholding white supremacy and fighting against structural racism to better meet the needs of their diverse students. Schools in the United States function to reproduce the hidden curriculua of whiteness and work. Because schools are amplifiers of the ideologies of the greater society, by disseminating the findings in the form of creative nonfiction, the study attempts to extend this work outside of schooling and into society to address the problem of structural racism in society.