Abstract
Set in the context of a teacher education program, this study examined how
three White pre-service teachers participate in book club discussions of chil-
dren’s literature. We asked: When White pre-service teachers are in a context
that enables talk about race, racism and anti-racism, what do they talk about?
What conceptual and discursive tools do they use? We were guided by these
questions, along with theoretical perspectives of racial literacy, multicultural dis-
courses and a form of critical discourse analysis referred to as ‘positive discourse analysis’ or ‘reconstructive discourse analysis’ . Our analysis illustratesthat the participants held two questions, what constitutes racism and what makes a person a White ally, without firm resolution in the form and function of their talk. Their discourses illustrate that racial literacy involves what teachers say and also a willingness to stand in the space of indeterminacy, which may create space for new social positions. We argue for a continued theorization of critical discourse analysis alongside of racial literacy and multicultural discourses.