Aspirations and Actions: What Racial Justice Means to Educators

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Sixteen
  In Roundtable Session: Communities Engaged in Racial and Social Justice (Table 7)

Abstract

Students of color comprise over half of the K-12 student population. Yet, racial justice is often treated as an afterthought in educator preparation and professional development programs. With ongoing backlash against anti-racism efforts in schools, we explored how current educators conceptualize racial justice by qualitatively analyzing open-ended survey responses (n=406). We found that educators perceived racial justice as both an aspirational state as well as active work necessary to dismantle the policies and systems that perpetuate race-based inequities in the classrooms. This study provides insight into how educators define racial justice, a critical first step toward promoting educational practices that include educators’ voices and lean on their experiences as we collectively combat the current divisiveness in our nation’s schools.

Authors

• Svea Olsen, Oregon State University
  Presenting Author

• Sukhminder Kaur, LiberatED SEL
  Presenting Author

• Miriam Miller, University of British Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Dena Simmons, LiberatED
  Non-Presenting Author

• Shauna Tominey, Oregon State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Meiko Lin, Loyola University Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Corine P. Tyler, LiberatED
  Non-Presenting Author