Teaching in tight spaces: Rehumanizing praxis in anti-racist education

Abstract

This article explores how scholar-nominated white, K-12 teachers enact inward and outward pedagogies that resist white supremacy in schools. “Rehumanizing praxis”—a continuous movement of internal and external practices—and critical constructivist grounded theory offer methodological integrity in identifying white teachers’ articulations of inner orientations to justice as well as outward expressions of those commitments. Focusing on one teacher, findings demonstrate the opportunity for justice-oriented educators to subvert constraints by identifying “tight spaces” in oneself and one’s context. Consequently, rehumanizing praxis can contribute to widening “cracks in the wall of whiteness” (Bush, Citation2011) through the inward/outward practices of critical knowledge, self-awareness, radical love, accountability, advocacy, and liberatory interactions. Implications include the limitations of curriculum creation and the urgency of nurturing inward pedagogies.