Prospective teachers bring to the classroom "interpretations of students and their communities, and their location within a hierarchical society that are informed heavily by assumptions about race and ethnicity" (Sleeter, 2005, p. 243). In his research on student-teacher relationships, Oates (2003) found these assumptions "strongly undermine academic performance," specifically for African-American students (p. 520).
How do prospective teachers believe their encounters with racism shape their past, present, and future experiences in teaching, learning, and interactions with others? How do prospective teachers make meaning of their encounters with racism? These were the primary questions addressed in this study. The researcher interviewed eleven prospective teachers in an urban education focused Middle Childhood Masters of Education Program at a large Midwestern university. The findings revealed the interview to be the first time participants discussed these encounters and reflected on the assumptions they hold regarding their students. The findings also demonstrate that the current teacher education curriculum does not provide prospective teachers with the opportunity to understand and challenge these assumptions. The primary recommendation of this study is a reconceptualization of the racial framework through which prospective teachers construct racism. The significance of this study is to present narrative evidence to support the necessity of curriculum reform in teacher education in respect to preparing prospective teachers for teaching students of diversity and to guide the development of teacher education curriculum to more accurately reflect the needs of the changing demographics of P-12 students.