Cultivating a 21st Century Skill: Productive Conversations on Race in Schools

• In Event: Teacher Education for Agency, Leadership, and Activism

Abstract

After Brown v. Board mandated school integration, some assumed the United States was moving toward a post-racial era. However, there was no systematic effort for teachers or students to make sense of racially integrated schools. This presentation focuses on cultivating the skill of having productive and constructive conversations about race in schools. Drawing on lessons learned from qualitative research: relationships, preparation, inquiry, and modified curriculum are offered as starting places for this powerful work. Critical race conversations are essential to the national discourse on teacher preparation, and teacher educators, along with current and future teachers, hold a responsibility for educating themselves and their students about the persisting issue of race, racism, and race relations in the United States.

Author

• Chanelle Wilson, Bryn Mawr College