Anti-Racist Teaching in Higher Education: Articles

Ash, A. N.; Hill, R.; Risdon, S. and Jun, A. (2020) "Anti-Racism in Higher Education: A Model for Change," Race and Pedagogy Journal: Teaching and Learning for Justice: Vol. 4 : No. 3
"Racism continues to persist in higher education and traditional diversity initiatives that focus only on support resources and tolerance training continue to fall short in making lasting change on college and university campuses. The purpose of this scholarly paper is to present a model for change within higher education that distributes leadership and institutional power across racial lines and enlightens the White community about systemic inequities."

Inside Higher Ed, June 25, 2021
"Lacey Schauwecker and Elizabeth Galoozis share the details of a successful model for opt-in professional exchange."

Savini, C. (2021). 10 Ways to Tackle Linguistic Bias in Our Classrooms. Inside Higher Ed.

Bartlett, T. (2021, February 19). The Antiracist College. Chronicle of Higher Education, 67(12), 1.
"The article deals with the promises and statements issued by U.S. colleges confirming the commitment of their institutions to becoming antiracist in the aftermath of the death of African American George Floyd. Among the colleges that promised to implement diversity and curricular reform were Duke University and Castleton University. The influence of the best seller "How to Be an Antiracist" historian and activist Ibram X. Kendi is also cited."

Chronicle of Higher Education
"As the pandemic and the racial-injustice crisis continue to take a toll on Black people and other marginalized groups, colleges face a newfound urgency to support the mental health of students of color."

Chronicle of Higher Education

Corona, R. (2016). Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing for a Socially Just Future. Composition Studies, 44(2), 215.

Kernahan, C., & Chick, N. L. (2017). How Do You Listen to Your Students to Help Them Learn about Race and Racism? New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 151, 17–30.
"eaching and learning can be especially difficult when the content includes race. We argue here that an effective approach is one that includes multiple angles, learning from our students and from a broad range of colleagues and disciplines."

Thurber, A., Harbin, M.Brielle., & Bandy, J. (2019). Teaching Race: Pedagogy and Practice. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.
"Social justice education has implications for what we teach (curriculum) and how we teach (pedagogy). Despite an increasing number of instructors bringing a critical analysis of racial in/justice to their curriculum, many report challenges in teaching this content effectively. To begin to address this need, this guide summarizes some of the common challenges instructors may encounter and offers five broad pedagogical principles for teaching racial justice, and three possible strategies for implementing each strategy in the classroom."

Taylor, S. D., Veri. M. J., Eliason, M., Hermoso, J. C. R., Bolter, N. D. & Van Olphen, J. E. (2019). The Social Justice Syllabus Design Tool: A First Step in Doing Social Justice. Pedagogy. J. Committed to Social Justice for Race and Ethnicity (JCSCORE). (5)2, 132-166.
"Despite increased attention on social justice in higher education, underrepresented students often experience the classroom as unwelcoming and even hostile. Although theoretical and pedagogical research exists, what appears to be lacking are examples of concrete social justice pedagogy strategies that can be implemented in the classroom setting. This article describes the Social Justice Syllabus Design Tool (SJSDT) created to facilitate a greater emphasis on social justice in courses. Using an integrative framework and highlighting the focus areas of relationship, community, and process, the SJSDT offers a systematic approach to course re-design by which instructors can assess their classroom environment and course content. A syllabus that signals belongingness, growth mindset, communal goals, clear and positive expectations, and success-orientation assists in setting a welcoming tone that leads to greater student achievement and engagement. Such a syllabus may also help reduce the potential for triggering stereotype threat or other forms of alienation that affect student success among women and students of color in STEM programs. Feedback received from faculty who utilized the tool to revise their course syllabi are discussed, in addition to limitations and recommendations for future practice."

Akamine Phillips, J., Risdon, N., Lamsma, M., Hambrick, A., & Jun, A. (2019). Barriers and Strategies by White Faculty Who Incorporate Anti-Racist Pedagogy. Race and Pedagogy Journal: Teaching and Learning for Justice. (3)2.
"This study focused on the experiences of white faculty who incorporate an antiracist framework into their college classrooms. The participants shared about the challenges of incorporating anti-racist pedagogy into their classrooms due to both perceived personal and institutional barriers. These participants perceived personal barriers stemming from an internalized struggle of understanding their own White identity while also struggling to be viewed as anti-racist educators by colleagues of color. These faculty participants also shared about perceived professional barriers which included the pressure to obtain tenure, perceived loss of control in the classroom by the students, and anti-racist work being disregarded by individuals in positions of institutional power. Through the use of narrative inquiry, five researchers explored the personal and professional barriers faced by White faculty engaging in anti-racist educational practices in the college classroom. The study included17 faculty participants teaching at predominately White private and public colleges and universities throughout the United States who teach in various academic disciplines. Findings revealed the ongoing barriers in teaching antiracism ideals and the discussion provides strategies and an emerging model for incorporating intentional anti-racist pedagogy into the classroom."

Haynes, C. (2017). Dismantling the White supremacy embedded in our classrooms: White faculty in pursuit of more equitable educational outcomes. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 29(1), 87-107
"An investigation of the literature revealed that racial consciousness and the behaviors of White faculty in the classroom appeared linked. A conceptual framework, Racial Consciousness and Its Influence on the Behaviors of White Faculty in the Classroom, was subsequently developed and tested in this constructivist grounded theory study. Findings indicate that White faculty with higher levels of racial consciousness employ behaviors in their classroom reflective of an expansive view of equality in their pursuit of social justice, which they consider synonymous with excellence in teaching. Moreover, these findings illustrate what perceptions White faculty hold about higher education’s responsibility in the facilitation of social change. This research bears great significance to higher education research and practice, as it is the first of its kind, in the education literature, to utilize critical legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw’s (1988) restrictive and expansive views of equality framework to empirically measure and describe excellence in college teaching."

Inoue, A. B. (2019) CCCC Chair’s Address: How do We Language So People Stop Killing Each Other, Or What Do We Do About White Language Supremacy.” CCC 71.2

"Creating an equitable education system means decentering racist outcomes like test scores and grades and shifting resources to meet historically exploited communities' material and socio-emotional needs."

Richards, B. N., (2018). Is Your University Racist? Inside Higher Ed.
"Racism is often construed as individual acts motivated by racial prejudice. Thus, it is challenging to understand institutional racism. Institutions do not have feelings like people do, nor do they have the consciousness to think and make decisions based on racial prejudice. So how can we identify racism within higher education institutions, even liberal ones that profess to value diversity, equity and inclusivity?"