UC Davis

Motivated White elementary teachers working in schools with predominantly White students face numerous challenges in the development of their own antiracist ideological commitments while simultaneously working to dismantle racism and disrupt White normativity in their teaching within elementary classrooms. By using White racial identity development (Helms, 1990, 2020) and White zone of proximal development (Leonardo & Manning, 2017) frameworks, this qualitative study explored the antiracist ideological commitment development of elementary teachers who have been racialized as White and teach through a racial justice lens in schools with predominantly White students in Davis, California. A purposive sample of six White elementary teachers were selected to represent variation in age, elementary educational roles, and points in racial identity development. Through semi-structured interviews, the participants’ voices detailed the racial identity development journeys that led to their antiracist ideological commitments, the roles these commitments play in their thinking about their teaching, and the perceived institutional, programmatic, and policy supports needed to continue their development. Four major themes emerged- sense-making of White racial identity within a context of compounded Whiteness, embodying a commitment to antiracism, teaching as antiracist praxis, and addressing White racialized trauma. This study supports emerging evidence for the creation of guided and sustained antiracist learning outcomes across all courses in teacher education programs and in-service professional development opportunities, as well as the creation of state-level K-6 racial justice standards and curriculum. Further, the results have implications for districts to consider therapeutic affinity groups to address racialized trauma, community outreach, and parent education.