Anti-Racist Pedagogy Guide: Methods and challenges

Before it was published in The Saturday Review, the talk was delivered on October 16, 1963, as “The Negro Child – His Self-Image.” As the annotation, I am providing a quote from lint Smith’s article in the New Yorker. “A teacher, Baldwin believed, should push students to understand that the world was molded by people who came before, and that it can be remolded into something new.”
(Annotation by Zofia Lesinska)

Written by a Black graduate student, this article critiques anti-racist classrooms that nevertheless privilege white perspectives and burden, rather than empower, students of color. Blackwell first offers a brief summary of the theories and practices that prioritize a critical examination of whiteness. She then proceeds to outline how these approaches marginalize students of color by placing them in the positions of cultural expert, teacher’s aide, or witness. Next, Blackwell appeals to black feminist approaches and the particular technique of dividing classrooms into racially separate spaces. This practice takes the burden off of students of color, enabling them to discuss their own anti-racist interests, concerns, needs, etc. It also turns racially subjugated perspectives into an epistemic standpoint, or what bell hooks calls “a central location for the production of a counter-hegemonic discourse.” Finally, it requires the teacher to bear the primary responsibility of guiding white students into more socially conscious and responsible behavior.

This article would be especially valuable for anti-racist pedagogues who remain dissatisfied with critical white pedagogy and want to learn more about how anti-racist pedagogy can benefit and empower students of color. Since the author also discusses issues of race in the context of graduate studies, it could be helpful for masters and doctorate students looking for ways to navigate and improve anti-racist pedagogy, as well as research practices.
(Annotation by Lacey Schauwecker)

This article is written by an education specialist who distinguishes Antiracist Pedagogy from the dominant models of Multicultural Education. Arguing that Antiracist Pedagogy includes explicit instruction on the history and continuation of racism, Blakeney defines it as a critical praxis capable of creating a paradigm shift for students. Drawing upon Paulo Freire, among other scholar-teachers, she maintains that this shift entails students’ development of a critical consciousness and voice capable of explaining and denouncing racism. Finally, Blakeney mentions that this pedagogy requires special training and suggests that such training might begin with a dialogue about white dominance and privilege. She appeals to children’s literature as a way of opening such a dialogue.

This article would be helpful for teachers who want a definition of Antiracist Pedagogy, as well as an explanation of its practical implications. It does not seem to be specific to college-level teaching.
(annotation by Lacey Schauwecker)

Part of a popular podcast series called On Being, this interview addresses the complex relationships among history, writing, and teaching. The Q&A is particularly interesting, as Ta Nahisi Coates acknowledges his inability to answer questions on topics with which he has not personally grappled, or struggled. In a question about how to maintain hope in the classroom setting, Coates draws on personal experience and claims that he wanted “enlightenment,” not hope, from his teachers. He wanted to be given the tools for understanding and critiquing racial inequality and violence.

This interview would be helpful to teachers who would like to discuss the importance of Antiracist Pedagogy. It could also be helpful in general education and writing courses that address the importance of double-checking authors’ expertise, supporting your arguments, and writing from one’s own experience and knowledge.
(Annotation by Lacey Schauwecker)

In this article, the authors describe a curricular model for teaching about race that goes beyond a “diversity” course requirement to using what they call a Racial Issues model, aiming to build knowledge and concepts throughout an undergraduate’s education. The authors address the strengths and weaknesses of this curricular model, and address decolonizing practices they employ in their own teaching. Especially useful are two diagrams, one of an Anti-Racism Teaching Continuum, and the other of a Continuum of the Anti-Racist Positionality of the Teacher, both nuanced visualizations that acknowledge that any given course or teacher may move along the continuum at different points in time.
(Annotation by Elizabeth Galoozis)

Clint recommends James Baldwin’s “A Talk to Teacher” as philosophical statement worth rereading every semester. This is the paragraph that summarizes Clint’s teaching philosophy:
After reading “A Talk to Teachers,” I altered my approach, placing less emphasis on the standardized tests and using literature to help my students examine their world. I realized that rigorous lessons were not mutually exclusive from culturally and politically relevant ones. Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” did not have to be sacrificed in order to make room for a discussion on community violence. Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man” did not have to be abandoned in order to tackle immigration. “A Talk to Teachers” showed me that a teacher’s work should reject the false pretense of being apolitical, and, instead, confront the problems that shape our students’ lives.
(Annotation by Zofia Lesinska)

Includes Smith’s remarks connecting current political struggles in the world, white privilege, color blindness, environmental degradations, gender and James Baldwin’s teaching philosophy.
(Annotation by Zofia Lesinska)