ABSTRACT
In recent research on schooling, much attention has been paid to the growing demographic divide between the teaching and student population. According to a 2011 report by the National Center for Education Information, as the number of students of color in public schools rises, the teaching profession develops in the opposite direction as it becomes more White (Feistritzer, 2011). There is a reasonable concern that the gulf between them will grow, spelling greater difficulties for struggling minority students whose culture and experience already mismatch their teachers’ milieu and upbringing, captured by Lisa Delpit’s (1995/2006) symptomatic book title, Other People’s Children. By 2050, it is widely predicted that public schools will boast a majority of students of color in trend-setting states like California and Texas (Banks, 2004). Because they are two of the largest states, their development often represents projected patterns for the future of education. The growing racial divide between White teachers and students of color is worrisome for critical race theorists because it means the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy (Gay, 2000; T. Howard, 2010; Ladson-Billings, 1995) faces serious challenges.
