Students as aware

Critically reframing our default narrative of the innocent (white) student was challenging for me. Let me explain how I got from innocent (white) student to students -- in general -- as aware. Many of the comments from participants about students of Color suggested that students struggle with the awareness that they are different. Using Gee’s (2014) “making it strange” discourse analysis tool compelled me to ask the question: Why do we assume that white students are not aware of their difference? Why do we assume the “legacy of racism” in the United States distorts the self-image of Black students, but not white students? From here, I began to imagine a world in which we default to understanding all our students as aware, rather than innocent. 

As my racial literacy increased, I began to realize the scholarship around the racial awareness of children is extensive (Michie, 2019). It is also well documented that the idea of “white innocence” is particularly problematic (Thandeka, 2013; Robinson, 2016; Fombo, 2017). #DONTTOUCH #BLM We have been socialized (as white people) to understand innocence as something desirable and therefore something that needs to be protected. But, make it strange: Why isn’t it desirable to be aware of injustice so you can join others in the ongoing fight for social, economic, and environmental justice? 

This practitioner research helped me to see that other white faculty shared the default narrative that our (white) students were innocent and in need of our protection. Consider this participant’s response:

“I don't want to identify a particular student, [DAN: Okay.] thinking about this-- But a student who is aware of-- the complicated and fraught racial dynamics that we have in the school and just doesn't care in the things that they say or is-- you can imagine, one could imagine a white popular boy making some sort of comment that he knows will get a laugh out of his friends, and-- umm, that won't necessarily endanger his social capital in any sort of way, in the school, but that is hurtful to other people and just is doing it to basically get that-- the discomfort laugh. [PAT: Mmm.] Where people don't know what to do. Where-- and so they just laugh because they're not really sure how else to respond. (Emphasis added, Chris 06:44, Phase Two Small Group 4, 10/17/18)

This response suggests that we are conditioned to the default protection of our students -- “I don’t want to identify a particular student” -- even when they are likely aware of the problematic nature of their comments -- “a student who is aware of the complicated and fraught racial dynamics...and just doesn’t care” (Chris 06:44, Phase Two Small Group 4, 10/17/18). This response also suggests that the student in question is aware of his own position in the social hierarchy -- that is, he knows his attempt to get a “discomfort laugh” by saying something he knows is likely hurtful to others “won’t necessarily endanger his social capital” in the school community. 

Although Chris named the race and gender of the student she referenced -- “imagine a white popular boy” -- other participant responses suggest the primary “issue” is about class privilege, not race. For example, Ralph consistently came back to the influence of wealth and access: “But again, I want to be clear. Some of it gets colored because of color, but some of it also just exists at the economic level” (Ralph 10:49, Phase One Interview, 04/27/18). The responses from Alex suggest she also shares this world view, e.g.,

They have this sense-- it’s like this entitlement and this conservatism and they go together. And it’s like they feel that they are owed more conservative viewpoints. And Isay this in my classes a lot. There’s a lot of, “We silence conservative voices.” And, I always say, “Well, what is it that you don’t feel like you can say? Is it sexist stuff? Is it racist stuff?” Like, I feel totally find about silencing it. Right? If you want to sit here and say homophobic slurs and don’t feel comfortable, I’m great with silencing. (Alex 13:50, Phase One Interview, 05/30/18)

Critical reflection on the language used by participants as they made sense of the systems of privilege in our community suggest two common assumptions: 1) struggle is tethered to the individual student and 2) affluent white students are generally oblivious to the extent of privilege, and subsequent impact of how they engage with others in the community. Taken together, these assumptions serve as the “common knowledge” referenced as participants negotiated potentially racist and sexist transgressions with our default narrative that our (white) students are innocent. 

When I considered this “common knowledge” within the discursive framework of our default narratives -- e.g., the understanding of our classrooms as safe because they are free of racist acts/ideas -- I began to understand how our status as “good” white teachers was contingent on the innocence of the “oblivious” (white) student. Furthermore, in order to maintain this status/self-perception, we understood ourselves as protecting our students from sexist, homophobic, and racist slurs: “If you want to sit here and say homophobic slurs and don’t feel comfortable, I’m great with silencing” (Alex 14:20, Phase One Interview, 05/30/18). Furthermore, Alex’s tone while making this assertion implied that she felt it was unlikely that these students were “really” racist; these particular students just feel entitled to call into question her ability to present the curriculum in a neutral and objective way. 

For me, I now work under the assumption that students are aware and WANT to talk about their observations and experiences in our classrooms. In fact, as I mentioned in Chapter 1, students have already shared with us that they are aware of both a tension between students of Color and our predominantly white faculty and that the faculty care about supporting the work of the Student Diversity Leadership Council (SDLC). Our students have told us that there is a need to address microaggressions that occur within the classroom. They have asked that we work to become more aware of our own transgressions. A number of participants suggested one way to disrupt patterns of interpersonal racism and microaggressions in the classroom is to “name” them in the moment. For example, when this participant was asked if they thought teachers could play a role in disrupting these patterns in their own classrooms, they said, 

Absolutely. I mean, I think it can be uncomfortable, I suppose, to just name what’s happening in the room or invite students to name what’s happening in the room. But it gets easier and easier the more you do it. And students are so grateful for it. Just name it. Just call attention to classroom dynamics or invite students to reflect on classroom dynamics and invite them to do that. If everyone clams up, they’ll probably come to you after class, or before class, or in office hours. Just keep making yourself available for that sort of processing of the group dynamic. (Participant H, Phase Two Booklet, p.4)

Personally, when I am not sure what to say, I now say something along the lines of, “This dynamic/exchange makes me uncomfortable. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but I’m going to reflect on this tonight and we will revisit this tomorrow.” 

Narratives are the stories we tell ourselves as we try to make sense of our lived experience in the world. While these narratives are not just about race, Christensen (2009) reminds us,

We want students to come to see themselves as truth-tellers and change-makers. If we ask children to critique the world around them but fail to encourage them to act, our classrooms can degenerate into factories for cynicism. (p.259)

So, while talking about the influence of race and class on classroom dynamics is uncomfortable because it goes against our community’s current cultural norms, Arrington, Hall & Stevenson (2003) remind us: “Discomfort on the part of adults or students...will not prevent students from having these experiences” (p.5). Imagine a world in which our classrooms were understood by the community as places for students to “examine how [their] emotional investments [in the status quo] shape one’s actions, and evaluate how one’s actions affect others” (Boler & Zembylas, 2003, p.129). A world in which we were encouraged to acknowledge and embrace the glorious messiness and intertwined nature of life.