I've Got Race on My Mind! Critical Race Theory as an Impetus for Doing Impactful Work on Behalf of African American Children

• In Event: 52.075 - Toward Justice: An Illustrative Example of a University–School Partnership Designed to Advance an Agenda for Transforming Black Education

Abstract

Through the lens of critical race theory and auto-ethnography, the paper documents the efforts of an African American male dean of an urban School of Education to engage in authentic and mutually beneficial partnerships with a historically underperforming school district located in the small urban city where the university is based. As a dean of education, this leader also has an interest in revamping his teacher education programs that serve this failing school district.

Objectives or purposes
The purpose of the paper is to explore the collaborative efforts of an African American male dean of a School of Education with a historically underperforming school district located in the university’s backyard. The paper will illustrate the forms of authentic engagement necessary for developing and sustaining school-university partnerships that are truly impactful. Through reflection on his own personal and professional identity, the author challenges conventional thinking about how transformative change can occur within the context of a diverse but challenged community. The paper will highlight the ways in which identity shapes one’s commitment to the issues impacting the academic achievement of African American students.

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework
Critical race theory provides a rich grounding for the analysis of the relationship between an African American male dean of a School of Education and district leaders in the school district it serves. First, the dean comes to the work with a reputation for having been in a leader in research on critical race theory and black education. As such, critical race theory – a theory emanating from the law about the ways in which race and racism operate as part of the fabric of our society – guides this leader’s understanding of the structural conditions shaping the consistent underperformance of African American males in this school district (Lynn & Dixson, 2013). Critical race theory calls for an examination of the broader systems of racial inequality that shape and, in some ways, guarantee the persistent underachievement of African Americans in urban schools in the United States. Critical race theory, however, is not a monolithic approach. It also calls for an examination of the way gender, social class and other factors are connected to the critical issue of education achievement. For example, it calls for the raising of questions such as “How does a society’s treatment of African American male adults shape what happens to Black boys in schools? More importantly, how does it shape white teachers’ perception of these students? How does this, in turn, shape their pedagogical practice? Questions such as these drive not only this educational leader’s purpose for engaging in transformative collaborative work but they also serve as a firm foundation for the work moving forward.

Implications
This ongoing collaboration between a district, a non-profit organization and an African American male dean of a School of Education highlights both the successes and the challenges of developing and sustaining authentic and strategic partnerships aimed at transforming P-12 student achievement while improving teacher education.

Author

• Marvin Lynn, Indiana University - South Bend