Guided Racing: Literacy Instruction and Race Production

R​ace is un(der)theorized by many scholars and practitioners in the field of education and literacy in the U.S. At the same time, Black children’s multiple literacies are routinely un(der)developed by current processes and practices of schooling in the U.S. Perhaps a theoretical and empirical contribution to the field of education and literacy will help shift these fields from the common sense view of race to the consequential social practice view of race, while increasing the number of Black children who experience literacy instruction that develops their multiple literacies. In this multiple case study, I investigated how two experienced literacy teachers—White women completing the reading specialist credential—evidenced their conceptualizations of race during one-on-one practicum instruction with Black children in the elementary grades, a Black girl and a Black boy. I designed a qualitative investigation to answer the following: How is teacher conceptualization of race evident in literacy instruction? Race critical practice analysis was used to analyze the collected data. Teachers evidenced five conceptualizations of race during the investigation. Findings have research, practice, and policy implications for the fields of education and literacy.