Racial experiences of pre-service teachers

Teachers in the United States are primarily White and female. Thus, the education system is built on whiteness and maintains white supremacy. One approach to disrupting racist outcomes is to increase the number of people of color pursuing teaching. Yet, the ways that pre-service teachers (PSTs) are racialized often results in PSTs of color experiencing harm during teacher preparation. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomonological study was to explore the racialized lived experiences of PSTs in a predominantly White teacher preparation program whose stated mission is to work to develop racially conscious educators who work toward equity and justice. Participants were PSTs (n = 15) enrolled in a teacher preparation program in the Midwest who were placed into two focus groups, one that identified as people of color and one as White. Focus groups discussed: their racialized lived experiences (1) with faculty (2) with curriculum (3) with other PSTs (4) with cooperating teachers, and (5) with P-12 students. Results from both groups suggest a lack of race content. PSTs of color reported feelings of exclusion and limited racial consciousness of White peers and faculty. Implications are discussed.