Antiracism in the Classroom: Beyond White Privilege
About the Institute
This Institute is intended for educators who want to develop their antiracist pedagogy and better understand themselves as racial beings. We focus on Whiteness at the personal, classroom, and systems level as the problem of racism. Through curated reading, writing, and discussion, we will move our learning communities beyond deadlocked conversations and toward more productive antiracist pedagogies. In this way, we will be better able to support young white people as they wrestle with what it means to be white in a white supremacist society. This work is applicable to anyone who works with youth or is in education.
Goals
- To support educators as they develop an embodied practice that provides the capacity to deepen an understanding of the personal and generational trauma of white supremacy.
- To equip educators with tools to identify the presence and impact of white supremacy in their work (curriculum and pedagogy) and resources to respond to it.
- To grow educators’ examination of the structural impacts of white supremacy in their workplace, and the role that they play in enacting change.
- To articulate the balance of personal, classroom, and structural investigations of white supremacy to sustain life-long and multidimensional antiracist action.
This is for your school if:
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Teachers, administrators, and/or staff believe that racism is a problem but aren’t sure where to start.
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Teachers, administrators, and/or staff are committed to an antiracist classroom and school community but what they are doing doesn't feel like enough.
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Teachers, administrators, and/or staff feel like they are ready to change but feel stuck where they are.
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Teachers, administrators, and/or staff feel overwhelmed when thinking about making changes to the classrooms or community.
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Teachers, administrators, and/or staff are ready to act and are looking for support and accountability.
Kevin Lally is a Whiteness scholar, educator, and the author of Whiteness and Antiracism: Beyond White Privilege Pedagogy. His research concerns the sense-making and patterns of race talk among White, liberal high school students, and how those patterns inhibit their antiracist possibilities. His work reframes antiracist classroom work away from guilt and shame and toward a more embodied and change-oriented approach. Kevin has presented his work on Whiteness nationally and is currently a teacher educator and high school English teacher in the Twin Cities area.
Ellie Roscher is the author of The Embodied Path, 12 Tiny Things, Play Like a Girl, and How Coffee Saved My Life. She hosts the Unlikely Conversations podcast, teaches writing at The Loft Literary Center and yoga at Up Yoga. Through curious inquiry, commitment to the sacred ordinary and artistic collaboration, her work accompanies people to a more centered, whole, and embodied self. Ellie holds an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and an MA in Theology from Luther Seminary.