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Sara Gregson Ed.D., is a 2026 graduate of the Ed.D. program in Educational and Professional Practice at Antioch University.
Dissertation Committee:
Kimberly Hardy, Ed.D., Committee Chair
Richard Kahn, Ph.D., Committee Member
Gary Delanoeye, Ed.D., Committee Member
Document Type
Dissertation
Publication Date
2026
Abstract
As a privileged, White, US American living outside of the United States, I have dealt with many complex and unsettling situations. In this dissertation I interrogate how Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) can function as an analytic lens for analyzing my lived experience in international schools around the world. I have used Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN) to deconstruct my privilege, positionality, and whiteness and to critically reflect on how I, and others, can have transformative experiences that disrupt the impact of whiteness in transnational communities outside of the United States. This work is not a comprehensive study of the international school community and instead focuses on my positionality as a site of inquiry. My work is grounded in CWS and transformative learning theory and utilizes a storytelling methodology to make my analysis relatable to others in my field. Throughout this work I explore topics such as White privilege and complicity, White ignorance, global White supremacy, White saviorism, White shame, and division in transnational communities. I share examples of how I have seen these aspects of whiteness in my own lived experience and ground my analysis of these experiences in scholarly research to more deeply understand the root of these issues. I use CWS to analyze these complex topics and offer grounded possibilities for ways to move forward with more equity while acknowledging the limits of individual reflection as a sole solution. I examine how we can begin to break down the walls that exist in transnational spaces and how storytelling can be a tool to come together across differences. Not only is storytelling a part of my methodology, but it is also a part of my call to action. I present implications, not only for international school teachers, but for anyone who wants to counter White supremacy and bridge divides in intercultural communities without recentering whiteness in the process. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu)
Recommended Citation
Gregson, S. (2026). Unsettled: A Scholarly Personal Narrative on Whiteness and Transformative Learning in International School Communities. https://aura.antioch.edu/edd/4
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ORCID No. 0009-0008-8931-348X
Bio:
Dr. Sara Gregson is originally from Indiana and has lived outside of the US since 2013. She has experienced life as an expatriate educator across multiple countries and continents. Her experiences living and teaching in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa as well as traveling extensively around the globe have informed her critical view of whiteness, global citizenship, and ethical intercultural engagement. She is deeply invested in critical approaches to community engagement and global citizenship education in international schools. Dr. Gregson is passionate about storytelling and how it can be used to build intercultural competence and counter Western imperialism in transnational contexts. She believes in creating space for intercultural dialogue in order to move toward more just,honest, and ethical international school communities. Dr. Gregson is invested in Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN) as a form of academic storytelling. She believes that putting lived experience in conversation with academic literature is a way to bridge the gap between the scholar and practitioner and finds this methodology particularly useful for facilitating dialogue around White supremacy, Western imperialism, and the responsibility to be ethical global citizens in international contexts.