The aesthetics of white racism in pre‐service teacher education: a critical race theory perspective

Abstract

The authors use critical race theory (CRT) and critical race feminism (CRF) as a lens for analyzing and grappling with White students’ resistance to learning about and deconstructing systems of oppression. The authors build on the work of critical scholars whose work exposes the ways in which White pre‐service teachers resist counter‐hegemonic pedagogical approaches and subject matter. In the so‐called ‘post‐racial’ era, these ways of resisting have become more virulent and structural in nature, thereby institutionalizing racism. Included in the article are excerpts from the authors’ end of the academic year teaching evaluations. The excerpted comments serve as evidence that students use evaluations as weapons to speak back to and against, not only to anti‐racist philosophies, but counter‐hegemonic narratives that represent the diversity of their future teaching experiences. Both faculty members are formally trained in social work, multicultural education, and educational policy. Finally, using CRT and CRF the authors argue that cultural hegemony is institutionalized when White students are afforded the privilege to evaluate Black female professors without academic departments and universities critically assessing the role that racism and sexism play in student feedback. Our use of CRT and CRF make transparent the ways in which White students’ resistance as cultural hegemony is institutionalized in their evaluations of experiences in social foundations courses. The article has implications for teacher education programs, higher education policy, and social foundations of education.