White Teachers, White Problems, White Solutions: A Case Study of One Credential Program's Attention to White Racial Identity Development as a Pathway to Critical Pedagogy

This qualitative instrumental case study examines the practices, curriculum, and experiences of teacher educators and White preservice teachers at one credential program in NorCal through the frameworks of White Racial Identity Development and Critical Pedagogy. This study examined five teaching constructs: policy, pedagogy, curriculum, discourse, and field experiences provided by faculty for White preservice teachers as a way to foster an anti-racist White racial identity. Three data sources, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis, were triangulated using inductive top-down theorizing. Three themes emerged: progress starts with people, positioning White racial identity development in the program is complicated, and Whiteness as the default practice. Findings indicate faculty provide macro-level learning experiences about Whiteness, use relationships to foster White racial identity development, struggle to place WRID within the program because producing content-knowledgeable new teachers overrides producing culturally responsive educators. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]