Looking Through the Eyes of Primary School Teachers: A Study of How White Teachers Talk About Race

Abstract

A study of how White Primary teachers talk about race was conducted. Two different schools districts from Massachusetts were chosen, along with three different teachers from each district that represented a range of different grade levels. One suburban town North of Boston, Massachusetts, was comprised of primarily White students, while one urban city North of Boston, Massachusetts, was primarily composed of a diversified population of students. After conducting a series of interviews with teachers from each representative school district, results were analyzed to conclude two different teaching strategies used by White teachers when talking about race - a proactive teaching approach and a reactive teaching approach. Both of these teaching approaches proved to be important for all teachers to employ in order to be able to respond to their students' questions about race, as well as appropriately plan different lessons and units that highlight this important topic that impacts the lives of students throughout the United States.