@article{jctp 536, author = {Brittany A Aronson}, title = {The White Savior Industrial Complex: A Cultural Studies Analysis of a Teacher Educator, Savior Film, and Future Teachers}, volume = {6}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.iastatedigitalpress.com/jctp/article/id/536/}, issue = {3}, abstract = {<p>This paper seeks to report the findings of a cultural studies project conducted in an upperclassman, undergraduate, teacher preparation course. With this paper, I explore the implications of a <em>white savior</em> mentality through the lens of three different, yet over-lapping, personal and social media: my own story as a beginning, white teacher in racially diverse school settings; popular texts that romanticize white teachers who come in to “save the day”; and the experiences of future teachers with whom I have worked to interrogate a <em>White Savior Industrial Complex (WSIC)</em>. With this paper, then, I work to investigate the social institutions that animate the WSIC, which I position as a detrimental extension of a <em>superhero teacher</em> that perpetuates inequalities in schools if left unexamined. More specifically, to combat the structures of inequality that exist in our schools, I argue for critical race theory and critical whiteness studies courses as a potential space for white teachers to dialogue and come to terms with their understandings of white supremacy.</p>}, month = {5}, keywords = {white saviorism,teacher educaiton,whiteness,cultural studies in education,Race}, issn = {2325-1204}, publisher={Iowa State University Digital Press}, journal = {Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis} }