Anti-racism in Teaching

Advancing Equity and Inclusion

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But certainly, this much is true in the United States: it cannot be denied that the university is a place of refuge, and it cannot be accepted that the university is a place of enlightenment. In the face of these conditions one can only sneak into the university and steal what one can”
Stefano Harney and Fred Moten, The Undercommons (2013, p. 26)

Overview

Scholars at the intersections of Education, Ethnic Studies, Black and African American Studies, and Women’s/Gender Studies have theorized several approaches to advancing racial justice in higher education teaching in the United States. Rooted in activism led by Black students on elite university campuses, Robin D.G. Kelley (2018) recounts the history of grassroots efforts to transform the university into a more inclusive place for students of color as well as other marginalized groups. This includes, but is not limited to, demands for racial parity in the student and faculty populations at universities, the disarming of campus police forces, and free tuition for Black and Indigenous students (p. 156). In the realm of teaching and learning, there have also been sustained demands for better representation of racial diversity in the curriculum, particularly in fields where white, Eurocentric canons have been pedestalized.

However, there are also doubts and critiques of the transformative potential of the university. Citing Harney and Moten’s The Undercommons(2013), Kelley situates the locus of true social change outside the auspices of the university and within the tradition of fugitive study, or the “long history of black activists repurposing university resources to instruct themselves and one another” (p. 154). In other words, true revolutionary work involves infiltrating the university and “steal[ing] what one can” (Harney & Moten 2013, p. 26) for the purpose of redirecting it towards those who are denied access to the university. Under this view, while the university itself can only reproduce harmful power dynamics, knowledge can still be democratized through teaching. This is evident in hooks’ assertion that the classroom “remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy” (1994, p. 12). 

How, then, can those teaching in university classrooms be “in but not of [the university]” (Harney & Moten 2013, p. 26) in the face of racism as a fixture in Western higher education (Ashe et al., 2020)? While this one teaching guide alone can’t possibly answer this question in full, here we share resources, strategies, and suggestions from scholars, teachers, and advocates for advancing racial equity and inclusion in teaching at Berkeley.

Anti-racist Teaching Strategies

“The classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy…Urging all of us to open our minds and hearts so that we can know beyond the boundaries of what is acceptable, so that we can think and rethink, so that we can create new visions…” —bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress (1994, p. 12).

Starting Point for Growth: Self-Reflection

Kishimoto (2018) reminds us that “...this self-reflection requires faculty to have the humility to know that they are a work in progress, both as individuals and as professors/scholars/researchers. Anti-racist pedagogy is not a ready-made product that professors can simply apply to their courses, but rather is a process that begins with faculty as individuals, and continues as they apply the anti-racist analysis into the course content, pedagogy, and their activities and interactions beyond the classroom” (p. 543).

Start with Reflection

Resources to Support Reflection

Reflect on white supremacy culture and how we may be perpetuating it in our research, service, and teaching work on campus.

Tema Okun offers this one-pager detailing some of the characteristics of white supremacy culture (adapted from Jones and Okun, 2001). Consider, also, how racism in higher education affects not only student experiences, but also faculty experiences

Examine your own biases related to race and education as a starting point for growth.

Harvard University’s Implicit Biases Tests afford a nonjudgmental, non-evaluative space for unearthing and reflecting on one’s bias. We recommend trying out the Race IAT or the Skin Tone IAT to start.

Before Teaching

1. Consider the possible experiences your students of color are bringing to the classroom. 

  • Read the piece “Black Matters” from the Berkeley Science Review’s online blog to better understand tokenism and the experience of being the ‘only’ one in a space.

  • L&S Advising offers this student-facing page on Imposter Syndrome, and Advising Strategy & Training offers this staff/faculty-facing page on Stereotype Threat. In this accompanying video, Claude Steele (Dean of the School of Education at Stanford University) offers suggestions for interrupting stereotype threat. 

2. Your course design decisions can either reinforce or combat racial inequities in university teaching and learning. 

  • Incorporate one or more strategies from a comprehensive rubric and resource guide for anti-racist course design developed by UC Berkeley faculty and staff (Blonder et al., 2022). This guide includes (but is not limited to) suggestions around syllabus design, assessment design, positionality, and classroom norms.  

3. Consider what liberatory outcomes might look like in your discipline. 

  • Gina Garcia, Professor in the Berkeley School of Education and Latinx Thriving Faculty Director, makes a case for recentering non-academic outcomes, such as racial identity, critical consciousness, and civic engagement, as one pathway toward better serving minoritized students. 

  • With a focus on STEM fields, Matthews et al. (2022) highlight pedagogical strategies that “[center] Black joy, creativity, imagination, and liberation within STEM education” (p. 1), including relationship building, acknowledging the sociohistory of scientific advancements in course content, and developing authentic learning experiences that are relevant to real life for students of color. 

During Teaching

1. Even if your course isn’t about (anti-)racism, you should still address racial equality.

  • Talk to your students about how the course, section, or lab topics or your discipline has hindered or advanced the success and wellbeing of people of color. Embed this analysis and critical thinking into the design of your course by returning to key themes and providing students opportunities to grapple with their own positioning within the discipline.

  • Challenge students’ assumptions about credible sources of information and misconceptions about race. When completing reading assignments, collecting quantitative data for analysis, or writing literature reviews, ask students to consider which voices or perspectives are not represented in the information gathered. When conducting research, challenge students to collect data or evidence in a manner alternative to the discipline’s norm and prompt students to consider the benefits and challenges of each method.

2. Be prepared to interrupt racism in the classroom. Whether or not your course specifically addresses race, it is always possible that microaggressions or other moments of tension will arise, especially in times when current events are bleeding into the classroom space. 

  • Harris & Wood (2020) and Souza (2018) offer a couple of frameworks for addressing and interrupting racist microaggressions in the classroom: the RAVEN framework and the ACTION framework. Each specifies steps an instructor can take to interrupt microaggressions and guide conversations productively. 

  • Reject demands for politeness or objectivity in the face of racism and invite students’ diverse communication styles into the space.

  • The Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Teaching for Tolerance” project offers the “Speak Up at School” guide for both instructors and students, teaching how the whole classroom community can make a habit of responding to bias and stereotyping. 

  • CTL’s guide page on teaching in difficult times covers some more overarching strategies for meeting tense moments in teaching.

3. Co-create elements of your course with students and community partners.

  • As the instructor, decenter your authority in students’ learning process. Consider co-creating an in-class activity, assignment, or rubric with your students by surfacing shared expectations, gathering students’ feedback at each revision stage, and not proceeding without majority student agreement. This process takes time and may require multiple conversations with your students regarding proposed revisions.

  • Some co-creation options: Facilitate partnerships between students and community advocates, encourage students to engage in assignments with explicit social justice-oriented goals, or prompt students to surface unexpected or unrecognized contributions to the field. 

After Teaching

1. Reflect on your teaching after implementing any changes in your course design and delivery. What landed well with students? What could still be adjusted for the next iteration of the course? Practice learning in public through this process.

2. Look to existing models of anti-racist teaching for future inspiration. What lessons might you take from the examples shared here? 

  • The American Cultures Center both co-creates and promotes anti-racist teaching and learning experiences. In this video to the right, students of color who have taken AC courses discuss their experiences with anti-racist teaching, highlighting the importance of representation, willingness to discuss uncomfortable topics, and advocacy within the university. 

Play video
Anti-racist Pedagogy

3. Consider how you might advocate for anti-racism in your various spheres of influence.

References

Ash, A. N., Hill, R., Risdon, S. N., & Jun, A. (2020). Anti-racism in Higher Education: A Model for Change. Race and Pedagogy Journal, 4(3).

Blonder, B., Bowles, T., De Master, K., Fanshel, R. Z., Girotto, M., Kahn, A., Keenan, T., Mascarenhas, M., Mgbara, W., Pickett, S., Potts, M., & Rodriguez, M. (2022). Advancing Inclusion and Anti-Racism in the College Classroom: A Rubric and Resource Guide for Instructors (1.0.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5874656

Garcia, G.A. (2020). Is Liberation a Viable Outcome for Students Who Attend College? Higher Ed Jobs. https://www.higheredjobs.com/blog/postDisplay.cfm?post=2256&blog=28

Garcia, G. A., Núñez, A.-M., & Sansone, V. A. (2019). Toward a Multidimensional Conceptual Framework for Understanding “Servingness” in Hispanic-Serving Institutions: A Synthesis of the Research. Review of Educational Research, 89(5), 745-784. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319864591

García Peña, Loria. (2022). Community As Rebellion: A Syllabus for Surviving Academia as a Woman of Color. Haymarket Books: Chicago, Illinois. 

Haynes, C. (2023). “The Susceptibility of Teaching to White iInterests: A Theoretical Explanation of the Influence of Racial Consciousness on the Behaviors of White Faculty in the Classroom.” Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 16(1), 97–108.https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000256

Harney, S., & Moten, F. (2013). The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning and Black Study. Minor Compositions.

Harris III, F., & Wood, J. L. (2020, May 5). How to Respond to Racial Microaggressions When They Occur. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.https://www.diverseeducation.com/opinion/article/15106837/how-to-respond-to-racial-microaggressions-when-they-occur

Jones, K. & Okun, T. (2001). Dismantling Racism: A Workbook for Social Change Groups. ChangeWork.

Kelley, R. D. (2018). Black Study, Black Struggle. Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies, 40(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.5070/F7402040947 Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8cj8q196

Mathews, C. J., Robinson, D., & Wilkes, C. E. (2022). Cultivating Black Liberatory Spaces in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education: What Does it Take?. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 7, p. 985455). Frontiers Media SA. 

Pressimone, M., Maar, K., & King, V. (2022). Black Matters. Berkeley Science Review.

Ropp, S. (2021, October 4). Decolonizing Dialogue Reading Series: “Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence” by Derald Wing Sue. Padeia Program Perspectives. https://snfpaideia.upenn.edu/decolonizing-dialogue-reading-series-race-talk-and-the-conspiracy-of-silence-by-derald-wing-sue/

Settles, I. H., Jones, M. K., Buchanan, N. T., & Dotson, K. (2021). Epistemic Exclusion: Scholar(ly) devaluation that marginalizes faculty of color [PDF]. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 14(4), 493–507. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000174

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