"White Kids Can Be Mean”: Teachers' Perspectives on Racism and School Belonging Among Black Youth

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Step One, Liberate Minds: An Exploration of Research and Practice in K–12 Settings (Table 12)

Abstract

School belonging is critical to well-being among youth. However, there is a lack of acknowledgement about how racism impacts this process for Black students. The current study used 15 interviews of teachers to examine their awareness of Black youths’ experiences of racism and how this influences interpersonal, instructional, and institutional opportunities for supporting school belonging. Interpersonal opportunity barriers included colorblindness and peer-perpetrated racial discrimination. Instructional opportunity barriers included subject limitations and White parents racial biases. Finally, institutional barriers included disproportionate discipline and academic opportunities, and racial composition of teachers. Findings elucidate a nuanced understanding of social and environmental processes relate to Black youths’ sense of school belonging and underscores the need for structural changes addressing racism in education.

Author

• Kamryn Morris, University of California - Berkeley