Understanding Teacher Candidates' Perspectives on Standard Academic English: A Collaborative Thematic Analysis of Workshop Activities in an Anti‐Racist Teacher Education Course

ABSTRACT This article presents findings from a workshop in an anti‐racist teacher education course. Drawing from raciolinguistic ideologies, anti‐Black linguistic racism, and Extraordinary Pedagogies rooted in anti‐bigotry praxes, the workshop engaged white teacher candidates (TCs) to interrogate standard academic English as a racialized norm that marginalizes Black multilingual learners (BMLs). Through a sequence of intentionally structured learning activities, TCs critically examined the links between language ideologies and broader systems of racist ideologies. Collaborative thematic analysis of learning artifacts and classroom interactions reveals TCs' language attitudes shaped by native‐speakerist ideologies and an emerging awareness of raciolinguistic tendencies. The discussion shows that the synergy between Extraordinary Pedagogies and other anti‐racist pedagogical frameworks positions TCs to assume agentive roles and adopt an inquiry stance in working with BMLs. The conclusion calls for justice‐oriented pedagogies for TCs of interdisciplinary backgrounds to disrupt biased language ideologies and construct an understanding of linguistic and social justice.