(2008). Tony Blair and the Politics of Race in Education: Whiteness, "Doublethink" and New Labour. Oxford Review of Education, v34 n6 p713-725 Dec. It is tempting to view the Blairite legacy as a simple story of political hypocrisy: a government, swept to power after almost two decades of Conservative rule, promising much but reneging on those commitments and falling back on Thatcherite authoritarian popularism when the going got tough. But that would be too simple a story. The Blairite policy trajectory in relation to race and education reveals problems that are much more deep-rooted, and more significant, than mere political opportunism. The failure to address racism as a structural factor that shapes the assumptions of the education system (embodied in notions of selection, ability and discipline) made possible, maybe even inevitable, a situation where race equality would be sacrificed to the perceived interests and sensitivities of White people. (Contains 9 notes.)… [Direct]
(2001). Lessons from the Past: Education and Racism in Australia. Education in Rural Australia, v11 n1 p62-73. The history of racism in Australia is inextricably linked with prevailing ideologies of rural Australia, supported strongly by educational discourses of deficit and disadvantage. A challenge for the Reconciliation Movement will be to make an effective contribution to the development of anti-racist and non-racist practices in rural schooling. (Contains 54 references.) (Author)…
(2008). Civil Rights and Social Justice: A Path to Engagement and Transformation. Horace, v24 n3 Fall. When one listens to Southside Family Charter School kids articulate the lessons they've learned from the school's civil rights curriculum, it's clear that demographic descriptors often lead to low expectations. These kids are articulate, knowledgeable, and deeply engaged in their study of the civil rights movement. They bring the same competence and ability to their study of Native American history, treaty rights, and current challenges. Ditto their knowledge about environmental racism and their activism on behalf of a better urban and global environment. And they are eager to talk about the political implications of redistricting, their community garden and the importance of composting, and legal challenges facing youth. But at Family School, social justice means more than youth engagement and a basic commitment to equity issues. It means that children themselves learn by doing social justice work, and do so well in their academics because they have learned that education is about… [PDF] [Direct]
(2006). \Hacking at Our Very Roots\: Rearticulating White Racial Identity within the Context of Teacher Education. Race, Ethnicity & Education, v9 n3 p261-274 Sep. When teaching about race and racism and how we as \Whites\ are implicated in the discursive practices that sustain racism, we are indeed \hacking at the very roots\ of the ways in which students have conceptualized their identity in terms of being non-racialized and at the same time non-racist. In this paper I focus on the challenges and possibilities of working with teacher education students–most of whom are White–to critically deconstruct Whiteness as part of the larger project of anti-racism. While I draw on students' comments, in quite fundamental ways this paper is about my own–rather than students'–learning experiences. After a decade of re-evaluating my pedagogy, the anecdotal evidence as well as results from more formal evaluations would suggest that my strategies have become increasingly effective in assisting students to work through their resistances. It is the paper's conclusion that \teaching against the grain\ is likely to continue to be unpopular with some… [Direct]
(2009). Race and Class in a Culture of Risk. Review of Research in Education, v33 n1 p101-116. Studies of race, class, and educational risk often proceed in an established but misleading order: First, race is defined as a trait given at birth and turned into trouble by prejudice and unequal conditions; then, class is defined as traits socialized into children with diminished socioeconomic opportunities; finally, risk is treated as the result of children being damaged by racism and class disadvantage. The order shapes an easy but misleading argument: Because race and class inequities suppress normal growth and development, minority and poor children are most at risk of disabilities and school failure. This chapter looks at the issues of race and class as they are embedded in discourses of risk. The authors offer three studies disrupting easy conceptual tie among race, class, and education in a culture of risk: one on the risks of talking about race in school settings, a second on risky race and class borders between neighborhoods, and a third on building school environments in… [Direct]
(1996). Healing Racism: Education's Role. The 16 essays in this collection address how to lessen the effects of racism through classroom education by emphasizing the oneness of humanity and the relatedness of all human beings. These selections offer advice about healing racism from the early grades through secondary education. The essays are: (1) \Racism as a Disease\ (John Woodall); (2) \Children as Sacred Beings\ (Robert Atkinson and Patricia Locke); (3) \Racism and Anxiety: Talk to Kids about Unity\ (Anita Remignanti); (4) \Creating Racial Harmony in the Learning Center\ (Bernie Streets); (5) \Why and How the History of Racism Should Be Taught in Schools\ (Tod Rutstein); (6) \School and the Child of Color\ (LeNise Jackson-Gaertner); (7) \Taking a Close Look at Self-Esteem, and How To Strengthen It in Children of Color\ (Bernie Streets); (8) \Why Many Students of Color Have Trouble Learning in Schools\ (Nathan Rutstein); (9) \Advice for Teachers on Racism and Oneness\ (Barbara Hacker); (10) \Prejudice-Free Schools: A…
(2010). White Teenage Girls and Affirmative Action in Higher Education in South Africa. South African Journal of Higher Education, v24 n2 p238-243. This is an initial and exploratory comment on the pilot phase of a study into adolescent female white identity and socio-sexual desire in post-apartheid South Africa. In the course of this pilot it became apparent that historical issues of race and racism are openly discussed in these girls' classrooms. Yet, despite these everyday interactions the sensitive current day politics of race, specifically related to Affirmative Action in Higher Education, are not spoken about in a personal way in public spaces such as the classroom. Findings from this phase in the study revealed an inability, and lack of opportunity, to openly discuss race politics that are pertinent to these learners' presents and futures. In this brief commentary I argue that the nonracial ideology, espoused by the post-apartheid government cannot become naturalized if these learners are unable to work through some of the contradictions of their present. One of these contradictions is the continued salience of race in… [Direct]
(2007). Autoethnographies and Ethics: Stories from the "Other" Side. CEA Forum, v36 n1 Win-Spr. In the spring of 2007, more than 40 years after the advances made by the civil rights movement, and more than 50 years after the U.S. Supreme Court "Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education" decision, white radio talk-show host Don Imus taught us a lesson about racism–but it was not the lesson he thought he was teaching. His "lesson"–that black women better mind their place–backfired. While most of white students would argue passionately that racism is a thing of the past, that it's time to move on, Imus was a reminder that just the opposite is true. As a white teacher invested in African American students' academic success, the author works toward racial justice in his first-year writing classes by assigning an autoethnography, which invites students to position themselves as subjects rather than as objects. In this article, the author Autoethnographies and Ethics related to his classroom teaching…. [PDF]
(2007). The Ordinary-ness of Institutional Racism: The Effect of History and Law in the Segregation and Integration of Latinas/os in Schools. American Educational History Journal, v34 n2 p331-345. This article examines the effect of history and law in the segregation and integration of Latinas/os in schools. Initially, a Critical Race Theory (CRT) analysis of the question of the effects of Latina/o school desegregation history and law on their present-day educational conditions highlighted the reasons for the omni-present struggle for advancement, but it is also important to note that a lot of educational progress has been made. While Latina/o school segregation is increasing, not all Latinas/os receive a segregated education. The history and legal struggles that were presented are merely the beginning of a struggle that is likely to intensify in reaction to not only the expected Latina/o growth, but their increased sophistication and demand for justice and equity in the schooling process. But, presentation of these legal cases is merely a synopsis that articulated a relationship between Anglo American philosophy, racism and institutional racism, and Latina/o historical and… [Direct]
(2007). "Performing" Racism: Engaging Young Supporters of the Far Right in England. British Journal of Sociology of Education, v28 n5 p547-560 Sep. This article explores issues of the racial identities of young male supporters of the political far right in the North of England. Sociological identity theories are utilised in combination with ethnographic and retrospective interview data to inform the failures of anti-racist education programmes. These failures include a naive assumption that knowledge of and contact between racial groups will automatically reduce racism. They have also failed because of the ostracism of those very individuals the programmes are designed to engage with. The article argues that programmes must take as their starting point an acceptance of the fluid nature of racism and the necessity to maintain dialogue in a respectful manner with all concerned, even with those who espouse racist views. It is necessary for educators to offer trust and empathy to all young people before mutual recognition and understanding of all racial identities can be achieved. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)… [Direct]
(2007). Witnessing Whiteness: First Steps toward an Antiracist Practice and Culture. Rowman & Littlefield Education The book describes and critiques strategies used to avoid race issues, and identifies the detrimental effect of avoiding race on cross-race collaborations. The author illustrates how racial discomfort leads white educators toward ineffective teaching pedagogy and poor relationships with students and colleagues of color. Questioning the implications history has for educational institutions, school reform efforts, and diversity initiatives, the book considers political, economic, socio-cultural, and legal histories that shaped the meanings associated with whiteness. Drawing on dialogue with well-known figures within education, race, and multicultural work, the book offers personal stories of cross-race friendships that address both how a deep understanding of whiteness supports cross-race collaboration and the long-term nature of the work of excising racism from the deep psyche. Concluding chapters offer practical information on building knowledge, skills, capacities, and communities… [Direct]
(2009). Teaching in the Line of Fire: Faculty of Color in the Academy. Thought & Action, p65-74 Fall. Historically, faculty of color have been woefully underrepresented in higher education. Since the 1980s, though, numbers for these academics have begun to increase. To bring attention to the some of the struggles that faculty of color face, the authors created a counternarrative by drawing on their collective experience to deconstruct and challenge the ways that race and racism play a role in their pedagogical interactions. Personal narratives and stories are important to understand lived experiences and how those experiences may confirm or contradict dominant belief systems, notes Gloria Ladson-Billings, Kellner Family Chair in urban education and professor of curriculum and instruction and educational policy studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. To that end, the authors' hope was that an analysis of their lived experiences would contribute to the development of a critical literacy and that they could examine the impact of their racial identities on their pedagogical… [PDF]
(2011). Activist Art in Social Justice Pedagogy: Engaging Students in Glocal Issues through the Arts. Counterpoints: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education. Volume 403. Peter Lang New York Artists have always had a role in imagining a more socially just, inclusive world–many have devoted their lives to realizing this possibility. In a culture ever more embedded in performance and the visual, an examination of the role of the arts in multicultural teaching for social justice is timely. This book examines and critiques approaches to using activist art to teach a multicultural curriculum. Examples of activist artists and their strategies illustrate how study of and engagement in this process connect local and global issues that can deepen critical literacy and a commitment to social justice. This book is relevant to those interested in teaching more about artist/activist social movements around the globe; preparing pre-service teachers to teach for social justice; concerned about learning how to engage diverse learners through the arts; and teaching courses related to arts-based multicultural education, critical literacy, and culturally relevant teaching. This book… [Direct]
(2007). Critical Race Perspectives on Theory in Student Affairs. New Directions for Student Services, n120 p39-53 Win. Student development theory has been used to make sense of attitudes, behaviors, norms, and outcomes among college students since the late 1970s. In addition, educators, administrators, and researchers rely on theories of retention and student success, organizational development, learning, and campus environments in their efforts to understand diverse groups of students (McEwen, 2003, Torres, Howard-Hamilton, and Cooper, 2003). Although these theories contribute substantially to higher education and student affairs work, they are limited in their use of language about race and considerations of the roles of racism in students' development and learning. The purpose of this article is threefold. First, the authors highlight the value, role, and uses of theory in higher education and student affairs, as well as the omission of race, racism, and racial realities in the theories commonly used in the profession. Second, they introduce critical race theory as a framework for not only… [Direct]
(2009). The Unexamined Whiteness of Teaching: How White Teachers Maintain and Enact Dominant Racial Ideologies. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v12 n2 p197-215 Jul. While much research that explores the role of race in education focuses on children of color, this article explores an aspect of the predominately White teaching force that educates them. This article explores findings from a qualitative study that posed questions about the ways in which White pre-service teachers' life-experiences influenced understandings of race and difference, and how these pre-service teachers negotiated the challenges a critical multicultural education course offered those beliefs. In keeping with the tenet of critical race theory that racism is an inherent and normalized aspect of American society, the author found that through previous life-experiences, the participants gained hegemonic understandings about race and difference. Participants responded to challenges to these understandings by relying on a set of \tools of Whiteness\ designed to protect and maintain dominant and stereotypical understandings of race–tools that were emotional, ideological, and… [Direct]