Teaching While White: Addressing the Intersections of Race and Immigration in the Classroom

by Laura A Roy

The teacher was right; they were using it like “hey, buddy.” There were no disruptions, no resistance to instruction, only children engaging in the linguistic practices of their community and a student teacher who was uncomfortable. The cooperating teacher did not prevent the children from using the word in this way because she grew up in the same neighborhood as the children. She didn’t see it as an impediment to the learning process; rather, she valued how students were building community in small-group conversations. The White student teacher, however, saw the use of the N-word, under any circumstance, as a roadblock to her teaching. She believed the students should be punished for using it and chose to focus on the students’ use of the word instead of good teaching practices.