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Just What is Critical Race Theory and What’s It Doing in a Nice Field Like Education?
Abstract
Critical race theory (CRT) first emerged as a counterlegal scholarship to the positivistand liberal legal discourse of civil rights. This scholarly tradition argues against the slow pace of racial reform in the United States. Critical race theory begins with the notion that racism is normal in American society. It departs from mainstream legal scholarship by sometimes employing storytelling. It critiques liberalism and argues that Whites have been the primary beneficiaries of civil rights legislation.Since schooling in the USA purports to prepare citizens, CRT looks at how citizenship and race might interact. Critical race theory's usefulness in understanding education inequity is in its infancy. It requires a critique of some of the civil rights era's most cherished legal victories and educationalreform movements, such as multiculturalism. The paper concludes with words of caution about the use of CRT in education without a more thorough analysis of the legal literature upon which it is based.
... In fact, existing SWPBIS implementation often fails to focus on the various school contextual factors, such as culture and climate, practices and policies, and cultural differences between students and their teachers, that may impede the effectiveness of SWPBIS in reducing ODRs and exclusionary discipline for minoritized students (Johnson et al., 2018). Therefore, as many educational practices and policies are recognized as Eurocentric and culturally insensitive (Dumas & Ross, 2016;La Salle et al., 2020;Ladson-Billings, 1998), not embedding culturally responsive strengthbased pedagogy and practices within MTSS implementation sustains an oppressive system that minimizes minoritized students' positive outcomes. For a contemporary example, Sevon and colleagues examined the NASP Framework for Effective Discipline (2021), and observed several elements that have concerning implications for social justice. ...
... This study was influenced by CRT and African American resistance (Cooper, 2021). CRT is a framework born out of critical legal studies when scholars realized the need to center race to understand the society of the U.S. (Bell, 1995;Ladson-Billings, 1998). The theoretical framework consists of central tenets that guide analyses of society. ...
Within the discussion of sport activism, athletes often garner the most attention. However, other athletic stakeholders also engage in broader forms of resistance-one group being Black college assistant football coaches. I utilize a hermeneutical phenomenology methodological approach to examine the relationship between the experiences of Black college assistant football coaches and resistance in and through sport. Eight coaches engaged in semi-structured interviews, and their experiences were interpreted through the combined frameworks of critical race theory and African American resistance typology by Cooper (2021). My interpretation uncovered that Black college assistant football coaches are strategic hybrid resistors engaging in varied aspects of resistance, including activism. Ultimately, participants engaged in resistance to ensure their continued success, counter hegemonic norms, and increase opportunities for other Black coaches (or potential coaches). I conclude with a discussion of implications for policy and practice and future research opportunities related to the Black coaching experience and resistance.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to measure the impact of a novel anti-racist educational video-based intervention designed by the author, with advice from leading experts, on campus administrators’ prevailing beliefs, philosophies and practices about racial equity and justice. A single research question guided the project: what effect, if any, does an anti-racist educational intervention have on college administrators’ awareness, beliefs and knowledge about race (i.e. racial ideologies), equity-mindedness and justice, compared to peers in two control groups?
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a study that employs a quasi-experimental approach, using a pre- and post-test design, to assess the impact of a brief video intervention on college administrators’ awareness, beliefs, and knowledge about anti-racism generally and racial ideologies, equity-mindedness and justice orientations specifically.
Findings
Multivariate analyses suggest the efficacy and effectiveness of the novel anti-racist educational video-based intervention in increasing campus administrators’ racial consciousness, empathy, understanding and equity-mindedness, although no effect was found for justice orientations.
Practical implications
As colleges and universities continue to work toward creating inclusive and equitable workspaces and learning environments, this study suggests that targeted interventions can be used to promote important values and beliefs among campus administrators. Specifically, video-based interventions may be useful tools for staff development programs, implicit bias trainings, diversity and inclusion initiatives, graduate education courses, leadership fellowships, upskilling and micro-credentials, to name a few.
Originality/value
This paper fills an identified need to study anti-racism among campus administrators, the efficacy of scalable interventions that can be easily adapted or integrated into existing campus/staff programming and ways to foster anti-racist awareness, knowledge and actions.
We are still dealing with multiple pandemics including COVID-19, which disproportionately affects minoritized people, as well as significant incidents of police brutality directed toward Black people. The purposes of this study are to visually document these multiple pandemics from our Black children’s perspectives as well as elevate their visual texts to advocate for hope and change. This article highlights the ways 13 Black elementary school children drew out their ideas to depict this critical time. We believe studying how children witness crises is essential for documenting history, especially when Black children’s voices do not rise above white mainstream messaging. The research question guiding our study asks, how do elementary-aged Black children visually represent this critical time in history? Findings suggest that our Black elementary-aged students not only were successful at creating visual texts that document this historical time but also that their drawings reflected hope and social change.
Black teachers (BTs) are significantly underrepresented in the US teaching profession, yet there is still little focus on how to best hire, support, and retain them. This collaborative autoethnography documents our work in an urban characteristic school district and university in the southeastern US and how we leveraged our interpersonal and professional experiences with local educational and academic institutions to better understand the challenges associated with creating sustainable and systemic pathway and retention practices that prioritize BTs. We focus on the role of data and research in better understanding the localized experiences of BTs, share our vision for the Southeastern Black Teacher Network through an informal partnership, and offer recommendations for supporting BTs.
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