(2021). "Race Is a Fiction; Racism Is Not"? Understandings of Race in Antiracist Education. Educational Theory, v71 n2 p223-245 Apr. Philosophers and other scholars writing on the idea of race have pointed to a tension, in society and in intellectual life, between: (1) an understanding of race as an experienced identity, the experience of which must not be denied in the interest of both social justice and critical attentiveness to social structures of racist oppression; and (2) the idea that "race" is a fiction — that, in light of ever-increasing biological and genetic evidence, race is a clearly inadequate and inappropriate way of categorizing human beings, an oppressive, unjust, and inhumane myth. In this conflicted situation, how should educators, and educational philosophers in particular, respond to racism? Gregory Bynum takes this as the central question of his article: Should educators move away from a view of race as defining people's identities to an understanding of race as a fiction, to be relegated to the past?… [Direct]
(2023). The Race Card: Leading the Fight for Truth in America's Schools. Corwin Education leaders are on the frontline in the fight for racial justice and must co-construct practices to disrupt storylines, policies, and practices that perpetuate opportunity gaps. Drawing from established research and the wisdom of teachers, young people, parents, community members, policy advocates, and school leaders, "The Race Card" is a guide for frontline leaders at every level to confront and disrupt racism. Designed to engage leaders in candid conversations about race and racism, this book provides a road map for building anti-racist leadership capacity in today's turbulent political environment. Features include: (1) Eight interrelated tenets of Frontline Leadership; (2) Strategies for supporting faculty, staff, students, and the broader community in practices centering racial justice and equity; (3) Guidance for dismantling the lies and beliefs that perpetuate inequities; and (4) Design principles and strategies to cultivate opportunity-rich and robust… [Direct]
(1999). Race and Special Educational Needs in the 1990s. British Journal of Special Education, v26 n4 p213-17 Dec. Discussion of effects of "institutionalized racism" on the education of black and minority children with special educational needs in the United Kingdom focuses on a Scottish study which raised issues concerning: racism in special education research; over and under representation in special education; equitable assessment, curriculum and access to services; and perspectives of black and minority parents. (Contains references.) (DB)…
(2018). Latina Bilingual Education Teachers: Examining Structural Racism in Schools. Routledge Research in Education. Routledge Research in Education Using critical race theory and whiteness studies as theoretical frameworks, this book traces two Latina bilingual education teachers in three different professional phases: as paraprofessionals, teacher candidates, and certified teachers. Grounded in a longitudinal case study, this book sheds light on the effects of institutional racism when Latina/o educational professionals attempt inclusion in white dominant organizations, such as schools. Revealing and analyzing the structural racism present in schools and the obstacles it creates for professionals of color, the author exposes the racist practices that are hidden from view and offer practical solutions to combat them…. [Direct]
(2024). Re-Setting Special Education for Justice: An Essay on the Logics and Infrastructure Enabling Deep Change in the COVID-19-Era. Journal of Educational Change, v25 n4 p655-674. COVID-19 shocked the education system, disrupting the policies and practices of special education over multiple school years. This essay brings together the institutional logics perspective and racialized organization theory to first examine aspects of special education and then describe how leaders and teachers can improve special education to target inequities. We illustrate features of three logics of special education: compliance, intervention, and equity. We explain how these logics are racialized structures in the special education field. Applying an agentic stance, we portray how leaders and teachers draw on multiple, competing logics of special education. Next, we highlight how infrastructure enables leaders and teachers to enact the equity model of special education. In sum, this essay encourages improving infrastructural elements and confronting racism and ableism to re-envision special education in the face of COVID-disruptions…. [Direct]
(2019). Critical Race Theory v. Deficit Models. Equity & Excellence in Education, v52 n1 p47-54. This article is a response to Amanda Lewis, Margaret Hagerman, and Tyrone Forman's the Sociology of Race & Racism: Key Concepts, Contributions & Debates. Sociology and education, like any scholarly areas, have veins that reinforce racism and some that astutely assess, theorize, and challenge White supremacy. In this article, I explore the history of racial analysis in sociology and education, especially the 1990s and early 2000s, where theorists moved the larger discourse around racism from an issue of individual prejudice to one of structured racial oppression. In particular, I discuss the development and applications of concepts such as color-blind ideology, Critical Race Theory, racial formation, and systemic racism. The argument centers on how critical sociology and education scholars of race/racism are not regularly speaking to each other, despite their fields' similar developments. The article points to how a deeper engagement with the developments of each, in… [Direct]
(2021). Doing Equity Work While Black in a Culturally White District. Phi Delta Kappan, v103 n1 p38-42 Sep. As his district's director of equity and strategic engagement, Shomari Jones often hears the stories of the racism Black students and their families experience in schools. As a Black man representing a culturally white district, he is continually reminded of how the suffering of the past has persisted into the present. Jones and Paul Sutton describe the frustrations and pain education leaders of color often face when engaged in equity work, and they discuss some of the barriers that prevent districts from moving swiftly to address racism and inequity in their schools…. [Direct]
(2023). The Doublespeak Discourse of the Race Disparity Audit: An Example of the White Racial Frame in Institutional Operation. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, v44 n1 p1-15. The Race Disparity Audit (RDA) was published in 2017 by the then Conservative government of the UK. The proclaimed aims were to 'reveal racial disparities and to help end the injustices that many people experience'. This paper adopts a critical discourse analysis approach to analysing the RDA and associated webpages, to critically examine the government's purported aims. The linguistic analysis reveals a pernicious form of political doublespeak which effects a maintenance of the status quo. In excluding racism as a cause of disparities, the audit acts to de-legitimise anti-racism as part of the solution, thereby preventing actions with the potential to end racial injustices. The analysis is explained by reference to Feagin's (2013. "The White racial frame. Centuries of racial framing and counter-framing" (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge) White racial frame in institutional operation. The paper concludes by exposing the ramifications of this for future policy development… [Direct]
(2019). Black Women and Social Justice Education: Legacies and Lessons. SUNY Press "Black Women and Social Justice Education" explores Black women's experiences and expertise in teaching and learning about justice in a range of formal and informal educational settings. Linking historical accounts with groundbreaking contributions by new and rising leaders in the field, it examines, evaluates, establishes, and reinforces Black women's commitment to social justice in education at all levels. Authors offer resource guides, personal reflections, bibliographies, and best practices for broad use and reference in communities, schools, universities, and nonprofit organizations. Collectively, their work promises to further enrich social justice education (SJE)–a critical pedagogy that combines intersectionality and human rights perspectives–and to deepen our understanding of the impact of SJE innovations on the humanities, social sciences, higher education, school development, and the broader professional world. This volume expands discussions of academic… [Direct]
(2022). Cosmopolitanism or Multiculturalism? Towards an Anti-Colonial Reading. International Journal for Talent Development and Creativity, v10 n1-2 p31-44 Aug-Dec. Using Multiculturalism as an entry point, the paper interrogates conventional ideas and themes of Cosmopolitanism from an anti-racist and anti-colonial read. The discussion is informed by how the anti-racist and anti-colonial lens has shaped an understanding of multiculturalism and its convergences and divergences with Cosmopolitanism. My goal is to advance a rethinking 'cosmopolitanism' from an Indigenist anti-colonial democratic lens highlighting a philosophy of educational practice geared towards new educational futurities for particularly [but not exclusively] Black, Indigenous and racialized bodies in the school system. It is argued that cosmopolitanism is about Land and relationships. This offers possibilities of learning from the 'geographies of schooling'. The pedagogies of the Land, for example, require examining the narratives and encounters taking place in these 'geographies of schooling' to unravel colonial structures of education and ways we validate contending or… [PDF]
(2023). Racial-Religious Decoupling in the University: Investigating Religious Students' Perceptions of Institutional Commitment to Diversity. AERA Open, v9 n1. Muslims face racism based on their racialized religious identities, yet few address their experiences through critical race theory or campus racial climate. This paper addresses how religious students rate institutional commitments to campus diversity when considering racial and religious respect. This study examines undergraduate experience surveys across nine campuses and a Muslim student photovoice project through a mixed-methods design. I argue that racial and religious respect derived from interpersonal, discursive, and material sources influence Muslim students' perceptions of institutional commitment to diversity. I introduce racial-religious decoupling to refer to how the separation of race and religion as distinct social experiences hinders campus commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion for addressing anti-Muslim racism and intersections of race and religion. This study uses critical race theory to demonstrate how hegemonic Whiteness embedded in higher education… [PDF] [Direct]
(2022). Theoretical Perspectives for Developing Antiracist Teaching Dispositions and Practices in Preservice Teacher Education. Science Education, v106 n5 p1118-1134 Sep. For some time, scholars who are guided by critical theories and perspectives have called out how white supremacist ideologies and systemic racism work to (re)produce societal inequities and educational injustices across science learning contexts in the United States. Given the sociopolitical nature of society, schooling, and science education, it is important to address the racist and settled history of scientific disciplines and science education. To this end, we take an antiracist stance on science teaching and learning and seek to disrupt forms of systemic racism in science classrooms. Since teachers do much of the daily work of transforming science education for minoritized learners, we advocate for preparing teachers who understand what it means to engage in antiracist, justice-oriented science teaching. In this article, we share our framework for supporting preservice teachers in understanding, developing, and implementing antiracist teaching dispositions and instructional… [Direct]
(2022). Locating the "White" in Critical Whiteness Studies: Considerations for White Scholars Seeking to Dismantle Whiteness within Educational Research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), v35 n7 p703-710. In this essay, I reflect on and detail some of my experiences navigating the question of what it means for white scholars and white researchers to critically engage their own whiteness within the context of educational research. Considering my current academic role as a faculty member who works primarily with graduate students in educational leadership, students who include white people who are seeking to better understand racism and white supremacy, this reflective essay details my thoughts regarding white people who wish to use educational research to uncover, expose, and disrupt whiteness and white supremacy within schools and contexts that are school adjacent, such as education organizations and education non-profits. I walk the reader through various aspects of my own journey understanding my racialized self, how racism and white supremacy connect to Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) as a field of inquiry, and ending with my considerations for white scholars…. [Direct]
(1998). Teacher Education and Race Equality: A Focus on an Induction Course for Primary BEd Students. Multicultural Teaching, v16 n2 p43-46 Spr. Evaluated a two-week induction course focusing on antiracist and antisexist practices in education for all first-year primary undergraduate education (BEd) students. Evaluations from 120 education students indicate that the course was seen as a positive way of preparing them for the challenge of teaching in the inner city. Racism in teacher education is also discussed. (MAK)…
(2022). "I'll Take Two Please … Sike": Paying the Black Tax in Adult Education. Adult Learning, v33 n2 p61-70 May. We live in a society wherein anti-Black racism is pervasive. It infiltrates every aspect of life, including work life spaces. In spite of the recent call for higher education to become antiracist, a tall order for an institution literally and figuratively built on racist attitudes and behaviors, higher education continues to be a cesspool for racism. Literature is replete with stories of the toll working in such environments takes on Black and Brown people. Some have called it "The Black Tax." Palmer and Walker (2020) riff off of Rochester's (2018) popularization of the financial "Black Tax" to relate it to psycho-social realities of Black people. Palmer and Walker define it as "the psychological weight or stressor that Black people experience from consciously or unconsciously thinking about how White Americans perceive the social construct of Blackness" (para. 2). Black and Brown adult educators pay this tax multiple times in the course of working in… [Direct]