Developing Antiracist Language Educators for Black Youth

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 9:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: CERECG SIG Round Table 1: Disrupting Whiteness and Cultivating Racial Consciousness in Education (Table 3)

Abstract

Black youth are underrepresented in language education due to inequitable access (Anya, 2020). Raciolinguistic perceptions about who belongs in language education programs also influenced Black exclusion in language education (Flores, 2020). Our study examines the Universal Language School (ULS), a DLBE institution dedicated to addressing this exclusion and promoting social justice. We explore the impact of multi-year professional development (PD) on anti-racist pedagogy for ULS’s linguistically, racially, and ethnically diverse teachers. Findings show that their social identities and PD experiences shaped their anti-racist professional identities. The PD increased their understanding of racism’s history and effects in the US, encouraging critical self-reflection. Teachers addressed both interpersonal and structural racism, developing a sense of agency that influenced their pedagogical practices.

Authors

• Sabrina L. Wesley-Nero, Georgetown University

• Mingzhu Deng, Georgetown University