Transforming the White Racial Frame: Mixed-Methods Analysis of a Film Intervention with Midwestern College Students
The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to evaluate students at a Midwestern university to determine the impact of a transformative learning experience using a race literacy film series, Race: The Power of an Illusion, on knowledge, beliefs, and perceptions of race as influenced by white racial framing. White racial framing was defined as, “A method of framing reality through knowledge, beliefs, and emotion-laden behaviors that support the idea of white superiority” (Feagin, 2013). Twenty-six white and non-white students were used in the study to gather data as evidence and to determine if race knowledge could be significantly increased and perceptions of race reshaped as a result of the learning experience. For increased credibility, the study employed a mixed-methods approach with an embedded design. The embedded design was necessary because of the flexibility provided for the convergence of data. A Race Literacy Assessment survey and exploratory reflective essay questions comprised the instruments used to gather data for analysis and to assist the development of evidence-based solutions. This study was important and timely to address the need for innovative and proven-effective teaching and learning approaches. These new approaches are necessary as racial demographics create social changes that negatively impact U.S. race relations. Study findings informed proposed solutions for leadership within organizational and educational settings. These findings may have implications for future research exploring interdisciplinary leadership approaches that interface with race theories, in addition to the use of film as a catalyst for transformative learning approaches.|Keywords: race literacy, white racial frame, transformative learning, film intervention, browning of America, demographic change, race perception
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