Novice Teachers’ Knowledge of Racial Literacies

Abstract

Grounded in Goodwin and Darity’s domains of knowledge for social justice educators, this study examines novice teachers’ (NTs) racial literacies. Specifically, this research integrates a framework for teacher knowledge with the construct of racial literacies to examine the structure of racially literate teachers’ knowledge and practices. Drawing on this framework, this research entailed designing, piloting, and validating a measure- the teachers’ Knowledge of Racial Literacies survey- of racial literacies. Semi-structured interviews of survey respondents were analyzed to improve the measure and reveal how participants’ racial literacies were developed. Findings indicate that NTs’ racial literacies exist on a continuum; participants demonstrated knowledge in individual domains, but not equally across domains. Additionally, nearly all participants reported few opportunities in teacher education programs to examine race and racism. Findings suggest the continued need for teacher education programs to develop connections between the five domains of knowledge to develop NTs as racially literate educators.