| Overly simplistic explanations for why some students succeed in school and others do not tend to become unchallenged orthodoxies that negatively effect teaching and learning (Lewis, 2003b; McKenzie & Scheurich, 2004). Many of these orthodoxies are transmitted and reinforced through informal school narratives, which have the power to disseminate beliefs, attitudes, and expectations about students of color, their families, and their communities (Bonilla-Silva, Lewis, & Embrick, 2004). Current and anticipated demographic patterns in teacher employment and in the racial and ethnic makeup of teachers and students combine to create a demographic imperative for focusing attention on teacher socialization, learning, and formal and informal professional development (Zeichner, 2003) as it relates to issues of equity. The conceptual framework for this research is oriented around a discussion of the various socio-cultural functions of oral narratives. The framework draws on literature from a wide range of theoretical and empirical understandings in order to map the relationships between racialized school narratives, common unchallenged orthodoxies about students of color, teacher socialization and development, teacher expectancy and differential behaviors, and student achievement. The purpose of this research was two-fold: (1) to problematize and critically examine the commonplace phenomenon that is the sharing of racialized school narratives, and (2) to investigate the role racialized school narratives play in the education and workplace socialization of teachers. This study is likely to be of particular interest to school leaders attempting to shape a school culture conducive to the success of all students and to teacher educators working to successfully prepare and support teachers to teach for equity. |
