Date of Completion

11-25-2019

Embargo Period

11-25-2019

Keywords

Ideology, Whiteness, Critical Moment

Major Advisor

Dr. Sarah Woulfin

Associate Advisor

Dr. Danielle Filipiak

Associate Advisor

Dr. Erica Fernandez

Field of Study

Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)

Degree

Doctor of Education

Open Access

Campus Access

Abstract

In public education, while the student population reflects the shifting national demographics, the teaching force remains predominantly White (Klein, 2014). Consequently, students of color may have educational experiences that do not mirror those of their White peers, especially as they encounter White teachers (Flores, 2007; Goldberg, 2013; Strauss & Welner, 2013). Within this context, this phenomenological research study sought to understand a team of teachers’ ideology of Whiteness and the factors that influenced that ideology. This study focused on five White math teachers within an urban school and the beliefs and assumptions they brought to their collaborative opportunities. Data collection methods included participant-created concept maps, interviews, and observations of data-team meetings. Data were analyzed to determine patterns which were then used to identify emergent themes.

Four themes emerged as essential experiences from this study: (a) teachers’ early socialization of Whiteness, (b) how these socialized concepts were disrupted, (c) individualized constructs of Whiteness, (d) and the ways these constructs were enacted. From these four themes, a greater unifying theme became apparent: participants shared similar early socialization contexts, but as they encountered moments outside of their hometown which contrasted to their early experiences, participants constructed and operationalized their Whiteness in divergent ways.

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