As a careful look into the daily lived experiences of teachers in today’s schools,
the overarching purpose of this study was to seek a clearer understanding of how race
may be reflected in the construction of teachers’ perceptions and practices. More
specifically, the intent was to understand the relationship between the selected White
teachers’ perceptions of themselves as White educators, their perceptions of the African
American students they teach, and their teaching practices. Further, this research also
sought to explore the potential and possibilities for engaging currere, as defined in
Pinar’s 1976 work, as a method of study in educational research. With this in mind, this
study was not only a journey to explore the complexities in classrooms of selected White
teachers and their African American students; it also became a complicated process of self-excavation and deconstruction of myself, a former White teacher of African
American students.
A qualitative methodology, guided by critical epistemologies was used. The
researcher, acted as participant observer. The research included four components:
teacher interviews, classroom observations, informal dialogue, and teacher reflection.
Four significant instructional practices and interactions emerged from classroom
observations that seemed to reflect the relationship between selected White teachers’
perceptions of themselves and the African American students they teach. These were: (1)
overcorrection and inconsistent (re)direction, (2) failure to engage, (3) isolation and
dismissal, and (4) lowered expectations and lesser curriculum.
While the research in education has identified similar themes and practices, when
viewed in and through the context of currere, a greater complexity in classrooms with
White teachers and African American students is exposed. Currere holds that each of us
is a manifestation of our past and that in order to realize any semblance of meaningful,
authentic progress in the future, each of us must first examine our past, our perceptions
and our ways of knowing and being in the world. Currere offers us a method by which
to begin this journey – as individuals, as a collective society, and certainly as teachers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-3152 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Milam, Jennifer Louise |
| Contributors | McKenzie, Kathryn, Slattery, G. Patrick |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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