Whiteness is a topic left out of diversity or cultural studies discussions. Catherine Kroll (2009, p. 32), states that "Despite the fact that race has been shown to be a significant factor in the financial, education, and employment spheres, public discussion of this reality remains taboo." Further, if teachers are White in America, they can exist without ever having to denote their racial difference. "They are the norm against which everyone else is other" (Gollnick and Chinn, 1998, p. 88). This research will contribute to teacher education, curriculum, multicultural education and Whiteness studies through an exploration of Whiteness from the prospective of White rural southeastern Ohio educators.
Additional significance lies in the fact that most teachers in the United States are White, according to the Digest of Educational Statistics 2002, "eighty-four percent of our teachers in public and private schools (excluding pre-kindergarten teachers) were White-non Hispanic in the year 2000" (p. 40). In addition, "U.S. society is becoming increasingly diverse and that diversity is reflected in its classrooms," says Weinstein (November 2003, p. 266), former classroom teacher and Professor of Education at Rutgers Graduate School of Education. With a rapidly expanding diverse population of students taught by predominately-White teachers, it is important to explore the positionality of teachers on the topic of Whiteness within the realm of multicultural education, particularly in rural areas. Equally important and possibly of greater concern currently, is that White teachers are responsible for teaching predominately White student populations about race and diversity. Are the teachers equipped for the task? Teachers will need to be prepared to teach all their students effectively, and they should be aware of their race in order to be conscious of how it affects their teaching.
This research is a phenomenological qualitative case study of how White teachers from rural counties in a Midwestern state understand their Whiteness. "For White educators, in particular, this invisibility to one's own racial being has implications in one's teaching practice -- which includes such things as the choice of curriculum, materials, student expectations, grading procedures and assessment techniques -- just to name a few" (McIntyre, 1997, pp. 14-15).
This research consisted of a review of existing literature, historical perspective of Whiteness, an element of exploration into the ethnic background of White people and new advances on the study of Whiteness were derived from interviews with teachers from rural southeastern Ohio. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, observations and documents were analyzed. The goal was to ascertain how these educators perceive and understand their Whiteness. Due to the continued isolation of rural communities, it is even more important that White educators be aware of their Whiteness. They should be concerned with how it impacts not only their own understanding but also their students' understanding of race.