Teaching Reparations: Reflecting on Mandated Curriculum on Police Torture and the Fight for Justice

• In Event: Sign of the Times: Public Education in an Era for Racial Justice

Abstract

In 2017 Chicago schools launched a mandated curriculum examining the history of racist police torture and the movement for justice. Through interviews with 34 teachers across diverse school contexts, I explore how teachers' perceptions of students’ racial and sociopolitical identities, community relationships with police, and teachers' own personal histories informed their approaches to curriculum implementation. Emerging findings suggest teachers established distinct learning goals based on their perceptions of the lived experiences and racialized identities of students. At times this approach risked closing off opportunities for students to explore the full range of complex issues and pedagogies embedded within the curriculum.

Author

• Jessica Marshall, Northwestern University