Critical Race Theory in Action: Racial Justice Professional Development for Teachers of Color

• In Event: Grassroots Professional Development: Centering the Social Justice Needs of Teachers

Abstract

Objectives
Although students of color are steadily increasing in public schools, teachers of color continue to be drastically underrepresented (Achinstein & Ogawa, 2011; Villegas & Jordan-Irvine, 2010; California Department of Education, 2013). Currently, only 14% of all public school teachers in the United States are non-white (Feistritzer, 2011), and more than 40% of schools do not employ any teachers of color (National Collaborative for Diversity in the Teaching Force, 2004). Additionally, practicing teachers of color leave teaching at faster rates than their white counterparts (Kearny, 2008). This paper will share a model of grassroots social justice professional development (SJPD) that is focused on the retention, support and growth of teachers of color committed to racial justice called the Institute.

Theoretical Framework
This research and SJPD has been developed through the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT). CRT is a framework that centers race and racism to combat the daily oppression of racial injustice (Delgado Bernal & Solórzano, 2001). Used to analyze the experiences of teachers of color, it offers tools to both understand and navigate the racial climate of schools.

Methods and Data Sources
Over the past three years, over 150 teachers of color have attended a three-day summer conference with workshops, speakers and working time framed through CRT. 128 Institute attendees self-selected to participate and varied in race, age, gender, sexual orientation and years teaching. Data has been collected through applications, evaluations, audio recordings of dialogue during workshops and ethnographic observations of the process and experience of the institute.

Results
The Institute is structured to offer teachers of color SJPD to critically analyze the role of race and racism in the teaching experiences, gain tools from others who are addressing similar racial issues in schools, and then space to design applications of those tools to their work in schools. Bringing together a diverse range of teachers of color allowed for deeper understanding of racial inequality, strategies of resistance and cross-racial solidarity. It additionally provided space for like-minded teachers of color to develop both national and local networks of support, which aids in both retention and activism. As the participants expressed in their assessment of the institute, not only did they benefit from the opportunity to focus on their needs as teachers of color, they also were exposed to an innovative model of professional development that centered them as experts.

Significance
This study documents an interdisciplinary, grassroots approach to teacher development. Sharing findings from the data, as well as the process of the institute, can offer strategies for supporting the needs of teachers of color including the need for independent spaces for teachers of color to discuss racial oppression, a commitment to hiring diverse faculty and administrators with a comfort facilitating conversations on race and racism, and that teachers of color have unique insights about racial inequality in schools that should be acknowledged and utilized.

Author

• Rita Kohli, University of California - Riverside