Decoding Antiracism: A Journey Into the Learning Process of White Principals for Racially Just Schools

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Learning and Motivation in Social and Cultural Contexts Roundtable (Table 30)

Abstract

Abstract: In this participatory action research study, a team of community-side practitioners from a Black-women-led organization and a White collaborative education researcher co-designed and co-facilitated an anti-racist educational leadership learning cohort series for White school leaders in the greater Seattle area. We explore how White principals learn community-based approaches to anti-racist leadership and the ways they use racial-equity-centered communities of practice – local networks, assistance relationships, and collaborative work – to build racial awareness, interrogate their racialized perspectives and positionality, and participate in racially just school leadership. Preliminary findings suggest that White principals who engaged in these communities of practice were equipped to interrogate their racialized identities, co-develop racially just tools, navigate resistance, and productively participate in anti-racist educational leadership.

Author

• Lindsey J. Kaiser, University of Maine