In line with international trends, the overwhelming majority of primary teachers in Ireland are white and from the dominant ethnic group (Bryan, 2010; Devine, 2011; Keane & Heinz, 2015). In contrast, Irish primary schools and classrooms are becoming increasingly racially and ethnically diverse (Ní Dhuinn & Keane, 2021). Research has detailed that racisms are prevalent in Irish schools and that racisms are part of children’s realities (Devine, 2013; McGuirk, 2023). Teachers have a role to play in responding to racism, in educating children about racisms and anti-racism, and in enabling children to challenge and resist racisms in society. White teachers, through their life experiences, gain a particular understanding of ‘race’ and difference and this can impact how they engage with anti-racism education (Picower, 2009; McGuirk, 2023). White teachers have the potential to replicate and sustain dominant patterns of white supremacy (Yoon, 2012; Forrest, Lean & Dunn, 2015; Vass, 2018). Zembylas (2018) argues that due to an internalisation of whiteness ideology, white teachers find it emotionally difficult to engage in anti-racism education. This can manifest as white discomfort and can have an impact on how teachers who are racialized as white conceptualise and practice anti-racism education. On the other hand, white teachers also have the potential to disrupt the racialized status quo that reinforces dominant ideologies (McGuirk, 2023). Acknowledging and moving beyond white discomfort can create opportunities for critical reflection and transformative anti-racism education practices.

This presentation stems from a recently-completed doctoral research study on anti-racism education that employed critical multiculturalism, critical race theory and critical whiteness studies within its conceptual framework.

The qualitative research comprised multiple methods (interviews, observation, and post-observation interviews) with a sample of eighteen practicing teachers working in primary schools that are guided by an equality-based ethos under the patronage of Educate Together. The participants ranged in age from 22 to 53 and their teaching experience ranged from two years to 30 years. The participants worked in a broad range of school contexts across Ireland. The study employed a reflexive thematic analysis approach.

The presentation discusses findings that indicate that white discomfort is a feature of and has an impact on the conceptualisations and practices of anti-racism education for some teachers in Educate Together primary schools in Ireland. The presentation also discusses findings that show that when white teachers engage in critical reflection on their racialized identity, they develop more nuanced understandings of the impact of whiteness on the children in their classrooms. For some teachers, this understanding emerges as a form of anti-racism education praxis that creates transformative opportunities to unsettle the invisibility of whiteness in educational contexts.

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