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      • HARVEST
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      Confronting the Ugly Truth: The (Un)Making of a 'Good' White Teacher on the Canadian Prairies

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      ASPEN-BAXTER-THESIS-2022.pdf (1.238Mb)
      Date
      2022-03-25
      Author
      Aspen-Baxter, Linda I
      ORCID
      0000-0003-3018-7825
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Masters
      Metadata
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      Abstract
      Through this autoethnographic inquiry into the writing of poststructural, critical race, and critical whiteness scholars, I sought understanding of the social and political forces that made me as a ‘good’ white female teacher on the Canadian prairies and the consequences of performing this subject role over four decades of teaching within the public education system. I visualized this inquiry as a puzzle whose interconnected pieces I was compelled to identify and understand as part of my exploration as to whether I could (un)make my constructed subject identity and performance as a ‘good’ white female teacher. I needed to understand both the role I filled so well, according to the expectations of the system I served, and the harmful consequences of that invested performativity so that I could explore possibilities for conscious identity (re)construction and performativity. My research findings point to significant and grave consequences for everyone involved, including Indigenous students, students of colour, white students, and me. My research also points the way to hope and agency on this personal and critically introspective journey of truth and reconciliation.
      Degree
      Master of Education (M.Ed.)
      Department
      Educational Foundations
      Program
      Educational Foundations
      Supervisor
      St. Denis, Verna L.
      Committee
      McLean, Sheelah R.; Schroeder, Sara; Balzer, Geraldine
      Copyright Date
      March 2022
      URI
      https://hdl.handle.net/10388/13874
      Subject
      white teacher performativity
      colonial public education system
      white racial teacher identity
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      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
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