Whiteness Enacted, Whiteness Disrupted: The Complexity of Personal Congruence

This study of the enactment and disruption of Whiteness in two White secondary literacy teachers focuses on their life histories and their practice and policy in relation to students of color. Both teachers demonstrated some disruption of Whiteness as well as some continued enactment of Whiteness, despite their stated intentions. The findings indicate that neither an abolition of Whiteness nor a rearticulation of Whiteness includes a sufficiently complex understanding of how disruption of Whiteness is influenced by the interplay of personal identity, the need to maintain personal congruence, and the cultural constraints of Whiteness. The author suggests that the inclusion of a psychological framework will be valuable in further exploration of the disruption of Whiteness.