Talking About Race: Supporting Practicum Instructors Discussions of Antiracism

• In Event: (Re)New(Ed) and Intersectional Discourses of (Anti-)Racism, Politics, and Identity

Abstract

Practicum education, the signature pedagogy of social work, sits at the intersection of academia and real-world social work practice settings, offering an ideal environment for students to translate their conceptual knowledge about institutional racism and oppression from the classroom into a tangible, anti-racist social work skill set. Practicum instructors are essential in guiding and evaluating student learning, but they are often not supported in developing their own skills as anti-racist practitioners and supervisors. This paper examines a book discussion group designed specifically for practicum instructors, using Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020), and subsequent programming used by one university social work program to build capacity and skills among practicum instructors to promote anti-racism in their own practice.

Authors

• Amy S. Levine, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Travis J. Albritton, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• April Parker, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill