“White People Don’t Work at McDonald’s” and Other Shadow Stories from the Field: Analyzing preservice teachers’ use of Obama’s race speech to teach for social justice
Abstract
This study investigates the outcomes of two novice preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) attempts at taking up the roles of critical guides (Damico & Apol, 2008) to mediate discussions about racism inresponse to President Barack Obama’s (2008) campaign speech “A More Perfect Union.” With the objective of teaching for social justice, these PSTs initiated their discussions in two senior English classrooms at the same high school located in a predominantly white, economically low-middle-class Midwest community. Profiles of each intern were developed from data comprised of field notes, meeting notes, interviews, video and audio recordings, journal entries, essays, and other artifacts. Framed by Damico and Apol’s (2008) concept for mediating historical risky texts, and grounded in the principles of critical literacy and antiracist pedagogy, this investigation demonstrates that despite their objective to teach social justice, the PSTs enacted discussions that generated shadow texts (Simon, 2000) and perpetuated stereotypes. It suggests that for these PSTs, there may be a disconnection between the theories they learned in their teacher preparation courses and their practical application of such theories in the field.
Reference
Davila, D. (2011). "White People Don't Work at McDonald's" and Other Shadow Stories from the Field: Analyzing Preservice Teachers' Use of Obama's Race Speech to Teach for Social Justice. English Education, 44(1), 13-50.
Journal
English Education
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
no
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
Geographic Setting
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
- field-based methods course
Preservice Participants
- Undergraduates (university based program)
Preservice Sample Size
2
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- artifacts
- Classroom Discussion
- fieldnotes
- Interviews
- journal entries
- Observation of PT lessons
- reflections
- Transcriptions
- Video
Data Analysis Tools
- classroom discourse analysis
- Simon and Armitage Simon's (1995) psychoanalytic lens
Researcher Positionality
- inside (staying their own students)
Research Questions
How do preservice teachers take up the role of "critical guide" as novice teachers?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? No
How can student comments be a source of illumination in challenging, confronting, and disrupting shadow stories and critically examining racism?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Combination
What are the gaps that exist between the theories preservice teachers learn in their teacher education programs and their practices in the classroom?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? No