The Power of Race Talk in Classrooms: Possibilities for Educating Teachers and Students for Public Good

• In Event: Pedagogy and Curriculum for Developing Critical, Racial, and Gender Literacies

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 the benefits of having productive and constructive conversations about race for the public good. 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