Do Teachers Have a Responsibility to Act When Colleagues Express Racism?

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on teachers’ responsibility to counteract racism expressed by their colleagues. The analysis draws on qualitative interviews with 15 teachers in Swedish high schools. With the theoretical distinction between assigned responsibility and assumed responsibility in the foreground, the analysis points to how the responsibility to counteract racism is complex.

Although the responsibility to counteract expressions of racism is acknowledged by the teachers, acting against it can be difficult. In some cases the racism expressed by colleagues become unbearable for the teachers and they withdraw from their felt responsibility to act. This paper highlights how this withdrawal can be understood in terms of withdrawal from assigned responsibility and withdrawal from assumed responsibility.

Authors

• Emma Maria Kristin Arneback, Orebro University

• Andreas Lennart Bergh, Örebro University, Sweden

• Ásgeir Tryggvason, Örebro University