How to stop racism in schools

 Racism is a pervasive issue in the United States and it affects schools throughout the country. Racism in schools can be found in ways teachers interact with students; in the ways students interact with each other; in educational access and funding; teacher preparedness; and school discipline. Racism is a learned behavior and with effort, education, and action we can prevent and address racism in schools. Use the list below to help prevent racist acts in your school.

→ Read our whitepaper on How to Achieve Equity in Education

Preventing Racism In Schools

Self Awareness

The first step to preventing racism in schools is self awareness and self reflection. Educators must recognize how the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic status, and being able-bodied impact us individually. We must understand how our identification within a particular group gives us privilege in certain spaces and we must be open to actively listen to marginalized groups who experience life differently because of their social groupings. We must acknowledge our personal biases and seek to understand people with different experiences.

Professional Development

In addition to self awareness, educators must invest in professional development opportunities that increase their cultural competence. During the school year look for professional learning opportunities that focus on culturally relevant teaching, cultural competence, diversity, and multiculturalism. Use resources such as Rethinking Schools and Teaching Tolerance, which focus on diversity and equity in education. Also check out our previous post, How Teachers in Diverse Schools Can Improve Their Cultural Competence.

Culturally Relevant Teaching

Teachers can create learning opportunities that acknowledge race and ethnicity, and prioritize preventing racism through social justice with culturally relevant teaching. Culturally relevant teaching emphasizes academic excellence, cultural competence, and social and political analysis. Through culturally relevant teaching, students are engaged in rigorous learning experiences that use text and resources to explore issues within diverse communities. Additionally, there is an emphasis on social justice and social activism.

Culturally relevant teaching uses various texts to address difficult issues of race, culture and ethnicity in thoughtful ways. The text may supplement general textbooks to give historical information that is not mainstream. Culturally relevant teaching exposes students to a variety of people and environments. It is about depth of knowledge and goes far beyond a cultural party where students taste foods and hear music from another culture. Most importantly, culturally relevant teaching promotes social justice and highlights historical movements that have worked to promote tolerance and equity around the world.

Explicit Lessons On Race And Conflict Resolution

To prevent racism educators must talk to students explicitly about racism. Discussions about race can be uncomfortable, but with proper planning, active listening, and a recognition of everyone’s shared vulnerability, an initially uncomfortable conversation can become a transformative learning experience. When we learn about cultures but do not talk about the difficult aspects of our history, we do a disservice to our students and our society.

We must take time to discuss cultural misunderstandings and the struggles our country has faced when addressing racism. Time for Kids and Flocabulary’s The Week In Rap are great resources to talk about current events with children grades 3-12. Both of these resources discuss national and international current events in an age-appropriate manner. Books are also an excellent way to discuss difficult topics of race,diversity