Constructing race in white spaces of Dutch education (1968–2017)
ISSN: 0819-8691
Article publication date: 3 November 2020
Issue publication date: 5 October 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The key purpose of this paper is to explore how teachers' historical constructions of race and racism may reify whiteness in Dutch classrooms. How has whiteness contributed to how teachers understand and teach race and (historical) racism in white educational spaces in the years 1968–2017?
Design/methodology/approach
Interview data are obtained from a selection of Dutch secondary school (former) teachers, mostly history teachers, who have taught in the period between 1968–2017 (N = 28). Grounded theory and critical discourse analysis are used for analytical purposes.
Findings
The findings reveal that most teachers minimize and distort (historical) racism and its connection to the normalization of whiteness in the Netherlands. These teachers are constantly (re)constructing race based on their own histories, which silences race. This implicates contemporary educational spaces in numerous ways. Among other things, teachers normalize whiteness, while racializing the “other”, they explain racial inequities by reference to factors that exclude racism, and perpetuate whiteness through their teaching.
Originality/value
While in the USA, critical scholars have long provided evidence for racism in educational contexts, racism in Dutch education remains largely unexamined. This paper offers a critical perspective on teachers' racial contributions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper forms part of a special section “Challenges of Contested Spaces: Injustices and their Legacies in Educational History”, guest edited by Beth Marsden and Matilda Keynes.
Citation
Sijpenhof, M.L. (2021), "Constructing race in white spaces of Dutch education (1968–2017)", History of Education Review, Vol. 50 No. 2, pp. 115-129. https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-05-2020-0030
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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