Whiteness in the bones: Structures and practices in justice-centered teacher preparation

Abstract

Drawing on critical race theory and critical whiteness studies, this year-long critical ethnography explores the question: How do justice-centered reform initiative leaders’ work practices and policies reproduce or disrupt racial inequities? Findings indicate patterns that reflected a commitment to raising awareness of racial injustice in education among reform initiative leaders while at the same time operating with white ideologies that led to unequal power dynamics, operating structures rooted in whiteness that avoided the possibility of institutional change, and acknowledgment of racial bias with little action to alter it. Implications for teacher education are included.