Racial Justice Cannot Be Opt-In: Barriers to Antiracist Pedagogy

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Advocating for a Better Tomorrow: Excavating Decolonial Futures for Youth of Color (Table 13)

Abstract

Anti-racist practices have been a topic of increasing focus, and teachers have demonstrated more interest in enacting these practices in the past. However, it is unclear to what degree school leadership support adoption of these practices and provide necessary resources to their teachers to allow them to adopt anti-racist frameworks. We interviewed 55 New York teachers regarding their stance and received supports for adopting anti-racist teaching practices. We found a large group of teachers who signaled interest in adopting these approaches but also indicated limited support from district and local administration. The effective change in pedagogical methods envisioned by the anti-racist framework is unlikely to be achieved without more broad-based and proactive support from school administrators.

Authors

• Danielle Sutherland, Towson University

• Emily Germain, Learning Policy Institute