65.028 - Unpacking, Reframing, and Resisting: Communities of Color, Internalized Oppression, and K–12 Schools

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Internalized oppression has long been conceptualized in both colonial and post-colonial contexts of schooling. Schools are vehicles for youth of color to adopt and normalize the dominant culture. Recent theorizing has argued that overly deterministic critical theory obscures the complexity that oppressed peoples hold beyond being ‘damaged’. The purpose of this panel is to examine the impact of oppressive school structures on the self and worldview of non-dominant youth and teachers, but to also acknowledge the ways in which marginalized communities unpack, reframe and resist deficit messages. The session consists of three papers that take up different aspects of colonization and oppression, with remarks and dialogue facilitated by an expert in the fields of postcolonial studies, feminism and education.

Sub Unit

• Division G - Social Context of Education / Division G - Section 2: Education in Mulitcultural Contexts Within and Across Subject Areas

Chair

• Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Teachers College, Columbia University

Papers

• From Coping to Hoping: Teaching Youth to Thrive Through Trauma - Patrick Camangian, University of San Francisco; David Philoxene, University of California - Berkeley

• Diversity, Integration, and Cognitive Imperialism - Lisa (Leigh) Patel, Boston College

• The Strength of Our Struggles: Teachers of Color Unpacking and Resisting Internalized Racism - Rita Kohli, University of California - Riverside

Discussant

• Nina Asher, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities