Ramifications of Teaching an Anti-Racist Unit

Rationale

The school I work in is very multicultural, with a wide range of students from a variety of backgrounds. The students generally get
along well, but, as in any group of 400 students, there are conflicts that arise. These can sometimes be along racial lines, but, of course, they are not limited to this. The school does make an effort at multiculturalism, as evidenced by the posters for Black History month, and the yearly Multicultural festival, but these are usually nothing more than simple celebration, with no input or analysis given. At no time are students asked to critically examine the role of race, or racism, in society. They have no consciousness of their own racial identification, nor do they feel this has any connection to their schoolwork. I hope to see what effect, if any, teaching a specific anti-racism unit will have on the class.

Materials

The main resource that will be needed is simply an anti-racism unit that can be utilized as a course of study for the two weeks. I will adapt “The Kit: A Manual by Youth to Combat Racism Through Education”, produced by the United Nations Association in Canada as the main focus of the unit. There are several different activities that encourage students to think concretely and critically around the notions of race and racism.

Sources of Evidence

The following is a partial list of some of the kinds of sources of evidence you may use. It is meant as guidance only. There are many other sources of evidences.

I will begin by having the students work what they think of in terms of racism, and the climate of racism in the school and community. This will be a base line, and can be compared at the end of the unit. I will also have students write a journal about their ideas around racism. During the unit, I will take careful observations notes, and expect some amount of written work/refection work. I will once again have them complete this survey and write a second journal response at the end of the unit.

Literature Review

In considering this project, I was struck by several additional questions. While I initially wanted to know how students would react to the Anti-Racism unit, I was also unsure how to teach it, and what links to the curriculum I could make, I wondered, if challenged, how I would defend using class time to work on this. Could I take the stance that anti-racist education can actually assist in students learning? I knew that I could effectively tie my idea to the Standards of Practice, notably: (i) Seeks and effectively applies approaches for helping students’ cognitive, affective and social development, (ii) Addresses issues of equity and diversity by planning appropriate experiences, (iii) Communicates information from a bias-free, multicultural perspective, (iv) Encourages feedback, risk-taking, questioning and experimentation by establishing a non-threatening learning environment, (v) Modifies programmes to fit student needs by making topics relevant to students’ lives and experiences and (vi) Chooses pertinent resources for development of instruction to address student needs. I was comfortable that I would at the very least be working in an area that is considered important enough to be discussed at great length in the Standards of Professional Practice, but I was still hoping there would be some possible connection to the effectiveness of students education. Before beginning my project, I looked at what the research had to say.

I was surprised at the lack of Antiracist Education research that has taken place. While Multiculturalism articles are prevalent, it would appear that there is little in the way of educational research on this topic. While not a total loss, I was surprised by how little information there was on research and effects of multicultural education. While there were many articles looking at implementing a curriculum, there was little scholarly study available.

I first wanted to know what exactly Anti-Racist education was, and how it differed from multiculturalism. I discovered that
“Racism is the denial of the fundamental moral equality of all human beings. It involves the expression of attitudes of superior worth or merit justifying or underpinning the domination or unjust advantage of some groups over others. Antiracism as a value involves striving to be without racist attitudes oneself as well as being prepared to work against both racist attitudes in others and racial injustice in society more generally.” (Blum, 1992)

This is an excellent definition of antiracism, but I still wondered how it differed from Multiculturalism. On the surface, these two ideas would appear to be very similar. They both have a focus on character education, they both deal with race and ethnicity, and they both have been the subject of great debate over the past few decades, but they are very different in terms of content and focus. It can be said that “…a distinction is often drawn between ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘antiracism’. The former is usually associated with a concern to develop more culturally diverse and sensitive curricula, while the latter stresses the need to confront inequalities in power, to identify and deconstruct the racist structures that shape students’ lives.” (Gilborn, 1995) So there is an obvious and clear difference between the two. While diversity and sensitivity are certainly things to be admired, having multicultural days would do little to progress students in terms of actively thinking about racism and the effect it has in their lives, or preparing them to confront racism, whether it applies to them or someone else. It seemed clear that antiracism was going to be the more effective form of education to effect a true change in students’ perceptions and attitudes. It also seemed clear that it was going to be more emotionally difficult for a white male such as myself to teach. And still I wondered, how could I justify it? How could this be included in a curriculum, and what changes could I hope to effect?

These questions were largely unanswered by the research I found, but they did take me into an interesting side area, as to how teaching and thinking about antiracist education could effect me. As a teacher, I could be subjecting myself to changes. According to the research “…teachers who undergo antiracism professional development will manifest positive changes in his or her identify as a White Person.” (Martin & Baxter, 2001) This line of inquiry could lead me into interesting places, and cause me to reflect on my practice thus far in my short teaching career.

I started my research by first trying to get an idea of the students’ opinions of racism and its possible effect in their lives. I originally intended to discover their stage of Racial Identity Development, but upon reviewing the test, I realized that this was not appropriate. I decided to focus on a more general survey and go from there.

Process

After giving the students the initial survey, I was heartened to see that the results were generally positive. Most students did not feel that there was a problem with racism in the school, and very few had had any problems with it. None had been attacked physically, but the majority of the students had concerns that they were not comfortable talking about harassment or discrimination while at the school. I had them write a journal entry, reflecting on the theme of racism, what they thought about it, how it effected them, if it effected them at all, and what they can do to make the class, school, and society a less racist place. I was surprised that in such a diverse school, the students had not considered racism or race relations, or the negative impact it can have on society. Interestingly enough, students considered it to be a problem for other countries, such as the United States. More than one student took the position that while the U.S. had a problem with racism, none such problems existed here. I was really interested in this, wondering how they came to this opinion. After collecting these initial observations, I was ready to attempt my antiracist unit.

I conducted a series of ice-breakers, gently introducing the concept of racism. One of the activities I used was a cultures game, were students are randomly given cultural identities (Orange Culture, Red Culture) and a series of taboos, attitudes, and salutations. They are exposed to thinking about cultural identity in a safe way, in that the “cultures” are obviously made up, and the taboos are totally unreal. Students are given the opportunity to try to interact with other cultures, and view the difficulties that can ensue when taboos and salutations do not mix. After this, we have the opportunity to discuss what we have done, and how it was effective, difficult, what was interesting, frustrating etc… This was a very remarkable and eye-opening lesson, because the students really understood quickly what the point of it was. They had some discussions that applied this lesson to everyday school life, and interacting with different people. The lessons then went to specific discussions on racism, what can be done to combat racism, why racism starts, stereotyping, and a reflection of Canada and whether or not it is racist. We had an interesting lesson that was a silent conversation, students had to write responses to an collage based around the topic of oppression. Students who do not generally like to participate in active discussions were given the opportunity to express themselves in a different way. To finish, I assigned another journal entry, and gave them the survey again, to see if their feelings had changed significantly. While there was not a huge amount of difference between the first survey and the second, there was obviously more consciousness in the students. They were no longer willing to just sit and let racism happen, and would be more vocal if they saw examples of racism, or racist situations taking place. Probably the biggest change that occurred was within myself. In teaching this unit, I decided to forsake teaching curriculum expectations, and I generated very few marks during this process. I was initially quite worried about this, and worried about being a white man teaching antiracism to multicultural classes. I was worried that I might say the wrong thing, that something I did would be misconstrued or misunderstood, that the students might initially think that I was in some way trying to propagate racism, instead of fighting it. What I discovered is that as the unit progressed, both myself and my students began to be more comfortable with the subject – the discussions were stilted and difficult in the beginning, but as the unit concluded, we all became highly engaged in discussions and debates. I did not worry about generating marks, because I was generating ideas and important discussions in my students. I think that is more valuable than another trite writing assignment. I was able to collect several pages of detailed notes based upon my observations of student interaction, and what is fascinating upon reading it over is how supportive and positive the students were being with one another during the unit. The attitudes, behaviors and work ethic that were on display during this unit was very heartening for a teacher to see. They were in many ways challenged, and showed themselves to be up to the challenge. What was the most interesting thing for me was that between the two classes I teach, one is noticeably stronger in almost all areas. They are usually more polite, focused academically superior. However, in working through this unit, I noticed a great change in my weaker class. Once we began the process, they were enthusiastic to begin, and were more focused during discussions, role-plays and all of the work this unit entails. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were just waiting for an opportunity to prove themselves in other ways. It made me consider how, as a teacher, sometimes we have to go against what seems easy, seems to be the status quo, and try to do our best to actually teach these kids, even if we think it will make us uncomfortable. It does no one any favors to not challenge these students in different ways, and it can actually make a profound and noticeable difference. In the future I will try to incorporate a lot of these ideas throughout my teaching year, and begin the process much, much earlier.

If this minor study can effect any sort of change in these students, I truly feel that efforts like this should become commonplace, and perhaps the students will begin to actively confront racism, not only in school, but at home, in their communities and for the rest of their lives. The change in these students was slight, but measurable, and perhaps they will be able to affect a slight, but measurable change in their communities, a change for the better.

Bibliography

Batten, Susan T,; Leiderman, Sally A. (1994). Planning an Anti-Racism Initiative. San
Francisco: Levi Strauss Foundation
This writing gave me some ideas about the usefulness and effectiveness of planning an antiracism unit, and some general tips on how this could be effectively undertaken.
Blum, Lawrence A. (1991). Antiracism, Multiculturalism, and Interracial Community;
Three Educational Values for a Multicultural Society. Boston; Massachusetts
University.
This writing gave me effective definitions of racism, and how antiracism could be effectively taught in an interracial community.
Gillborn, David. (1995). Racism, Modernity and Schooling: New Directions in Antiracist
Theory and Practice. San Francisco; American Educational Research Association.
This writing gave me an effective definition of the differences between antiracism and multiculturalism, and how to focus on antiracist education.
Martin, Paula S.; Baxter, Anthony G. (2001). Mentoring African Middle School Students:
Applying Principals of Antiracism Education to the Problem of Closing the Black-
White Achievement Gap. Houston, Texas: National Association of Latino and
Hispanic Studies
This writing gave me some evidence of the positive educational value of teaching antiracist education.