The third section of this resource guide dives into the overt and covert racist systems and practices in the country's education system. "Racism in Education" has five sections laid out below to work through and adapt with your student organization.
The third section of this resource guide dives into the overt and covert racist systems and practices in the country's education system. "Racism in Education" has five sections laid out below to work through and adapt with your student organization.
RACISM IN EDUCATION
The third section of this resource guide dives into the overt and covert racist systems and practices in the country's education system. "Racism in Education" has five sections laid out below to work through and adapt with your student organization.
1. The Opportunity Gap
"New Racism and Schooling"
-
Click on the PDF above to read the first part of "New Racism and Schooling– Structural, Institutional, and Ideological Dynamics" of Lewis and Diamond's Despite the Best Intentions (pages 7-12).
-
Questions for individual reflection and group dialogue:
-
How does the reframing of the “racial achievement gap” as an “opportunity gap” inform your perception of academic and societal “success”?
-
In what ways have you seen racial bias in educational settings?
-
How have primary categories (race, age, gender) played a role in your daily life (how you perceive others and how others perceive you)?
-
2. Tracking and Race
"Tracking, Race, and Class"
-
Click the heading above to be directed to "Tracking, Race, and Class," a section in Darling-Hammond's The Flat World and Education. You will need to log in with institution affiliation to access this book.
-
Questions for individual reflection and group dialogue:
-
How did academic tracking play a role in your educational experience? How has academic tracking influenced where you are now?
-
Can you point to instances where you noticed academic tracks falling along racial lines?
-
Do you see identity intersections (e.g. race and gender; race and class; etc) playing a role in tracking placement? In what ways?
-
3. Detroit Right to Literacy
The Complaint
-
Click the heading above for background information on the Detroit Right to Literacy case. Read the original complaint with the above PDF. Focus specifically on the introduction.
-
Questions for individual reflection and group dialogue:
-
What are your initial reactions to the conditions of Detroit schools and the statistics attached to the schools being addressed?
-
How do literacy and social justice intersect? Literacy and power?
-
How do literacy and power play a role in perpetuating opportunity gaps?
-
4. Tracking and Language
"Passing Time"
-
Listen to "Passing Time" below, a chapter from Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhhà Lai.
"Tracking and Language Background"
-
Click the heading above to be directed to "Tracking and Language Background" a section in Darling-Hammond's The Flat World and Education. You will need to log in with institution affiliation to access this book.
-
Questions for individual reflection and group dialogue regarding "Passing Time" and "Tracking and Language Background":
-
How did language play a role in your educational experience?
-
What is the connection between language and racism? How does this play out in school settings?
-
5. Opportunity Hoarding
"Institutionalizing and Maintaining White Privilege"
-
Click on the PDF above to read "Institutionalizing and Maintaining White Privilege" from the chapter on opportunity hoarding within Lewis and Diamond's Despite the Best Intentions (pages 134-143).
-
Questions for individual reflection and group dialogue:
-
How does opportunity hoarding further inequities in school?
-
Can you point to examples of opportunity hoarding in your educational experience?
-
What factors do you think play the biggest role in having the option to opportunity hoard?
-