The Transformative Possibilities of Using Critical Race Theory With Young Learners 

• In Event: Imagining a Just Future: The Generative Possibilities of Critical Race Theory for Classroom Practice

Abstract

Purposes and Framework
Since 2015, a non-profit organization in the Southeast has used a CRT informed three-pronged approach to fulfill its mission of dismantling systemic racism in education and beyond by providing anti-racism training for children, families, and educators. The prongs include: (a) race should be a central focus of social analyses; (b) the lived experiences of marginalized voices should be centered in curriculum, and; (c)there should be a social justice component to any learning environment seeking to use critical race theory. The organization’s vision is to advocate for lasting changes to disrupt structural racism and reimagine educational systems so that all children, particularly Black and Brown children, can exist in spaces that affirm their identity and dignity, promote their educational advancement, and support their social and emotional well-being.

This paper discusses the pedagogy and practice of an anti-racism summer camp for children in rising 1st-5th grades. Specifically, we draw from three CRT tenets to demonstrate how this occurs in an out-of-school learning context: (1) race should be a central focus of social analyses (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995; Bell, 1992); (2) the lived experiences of marginalized voices should be centered in curriculum (Yosso, 2002), and; (3) there should be a social justice component to any learning environment seeking to use critical race theory (Chapman, 2013).

Data Sources and Methods
Since 2016, we have been hosting week-long camps for students in rising 1st-2nd grade and a second set of camps for rising 3rd -5th graders. Parents choose to send their children to camp, pay for registration or request a scholarship, and have the option of sending their children to one of two locations in the Southeast.

Results
Elementary teachers can move from theory to practice by enacting anti-racist, socially just pedagogy that transform classrooms, teaching, and student learning.

Significance
Based in long-term community engaged learning, the author's exploration of how a CRT-informed out-of-school learning context can be modeled in traditional classroom settings provides anti-racist pedagogical tools.

Authors

• Ronda Taylor Bullock, we are (working to extend anti-racist education, Inc)

• Kelvin Bullock, Durham Public Schools