The Crystallizing Teacher: Revelations of Whiteness in Schools Through Freirean Critical Reflective Practice (2024) (Palgrave Critical Perspectives on Schooling, Teachers and Teaching)

By: Craig Wood

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Synopsis: This book advocates for teacher professional development done differently. The author introduces a process described as ‘crystallizing conscientização’, which restores agency to teachers. Looking beyond incremental improvements in teacher micro-skills promoted by neo-managerial approaches to professional development, the book considers the wider impact of teachers’ personal, professional and political identities on their work. This critical reflective practice combines crystallization as method with Freirean principles of conscientização, asking questions that reveal the impact of whiteness in schools and the role that education performs in replicating whiteness and perpetuating injustice. The book will appeal to academics in the diverse fields of sociology of education, critical race theory, critical whiteness studies, curriculum and pedagogy and teachers’ work, as well as providers of initial teacher education programs and pre-service teachers.