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Article
Digital Storytelling as Racial Justice: Digital Hopes for Deconstructing Whiteness in Teacher Education
Journal of Teacher Education
  • Cheryl E. Matias, University of Colorado Denver
  • Tanetha J. Grosland, Morgan State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-1-2016
Keywords
  • teacher education preparation,
  • race,
  • class,
  • gender,
  • sexual orientation,
  • teacher learning,
  • teacher beliefs,
  • urban teacher education
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487115624493
Abstract

Teacher education is replete with an overwhelming presence of Whiteness, a presence that if not explicitly interrogated indefinitely recycles hegemonic Whiteness. Needed are pedagogical strategies that expose the hegemonic invisibility of Whiteness. This critical reflection examines the utilization of digital storytelling by teacher educators of color to pedagogically deconstruct Whiteness in a predominately White, urban-focused teacher education course—a necessary deconstruction if these teacher candidates are to effectively teach urban students of color. Particularly, this article deconstructs four academic years of digital stories produced in a mandatory diversity course in an urban teacher education program and illustrates how digital storytelling itself promotes a critical self-revelation that confront Whiteness in White teacher candidates. The preliminary analyses suggest that digital storytelling is a racially just way of having White teacher candidates self-reflect on their own Whiteness in a multitude of ways, by (a) ending emotional distancing, (b) debunking colorblindness, (c) engaging emotions, and (d) sharing the burden of race.

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Journal of Teacher Education, v. 62, issue 2, p. 152-164

Citation Information
Cheryl E. Matias and Tanetha J. Grosland. "Digital Storytelling as Racial Justice: Digital Hopes for Deconstructing Whiteness in Teacher Education" Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 67 Iss. 2 (2016) p. 152 - 164
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/tanetha-grosland/6/