Introduction

On Day 1, we reflected on what it means to approach our teaching with an anti-colonial framework and how our social identities shape our interactions with our students. Central to our anti-colonial efforts is examining and questioning power (see Day 1). Inequitable power is problematic in teaching-learning spaces because it perpetuates the status quo and rather than allowing education to be a tool for liberation and emancipation, it makes education a tool for promoting and exacerbating existing inequities. Today we will examine power as manifested in racism and racist language in our syllabi. Then we will examine how anti-racist practices can be used in our syllabi to dismantle power.

Learning Goals 

1. Understand racism and antiracism in teaching-learning spaces  
2. Recognize how language explicitly and implicitly expresses power, privilege, and racism in our syllabi
3. Understand how the language used on the syllabus can convey anti-colonialism, anti-racism, decolonization, and support

Racism & Antiracism in Teaching & Learning

Objective 1: Understand racism and anti-racism in teaching-learning spaces 

Estimated Time: 15 minutes

Learning Activity: Review the descriptions of racism and antiracism. Then reflect on how racism has been manifested in your classrooms or educational institutions. 

Part 1: Read

What is racism and anti-racism?

Racism is the “creation or maintenance of a racial hierarchy, supported through institutional power” and the oppression of people based on race or ethnicity (Kohli et al., 2017, p.184). Colonialism has long pushed hierarchical relationships between individuals, contributing to racial inequality. The seeds of racism were evident with settler colonialism. European settlers enslaved Africans, believing they had the power and privilege to treat Africans inhumanely. We continue to see evidence of racism in our classrooms and institutions today. For example, compared to other races, black people experience more microaggressions (Douds & Houts, 2020). Microaggressions are subtle yet “layered insults based on one’s race” and other social identities (Solórzano et al., 2002) that can lead to lower self-esteem (Nadal et al., 2014), psychological distress (Robinson-Perez et al., 2020), and educational inequities among our college students. 

In the context of education, understanding how these inequities show up in our teaching-learning spaces (e.g., teaching practices, course policies, and attitudes toward teaching-learning) is essential to addressing racism. Anti-racism* “is the active process of identifying and eliminating racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices and attitudes, so that power is redistributed and shared equitably” (Alberta Civil Liberties Centre as cited in the Franklin & Marshall College Library’s Antiracist Resources). A conscious application of anti-racist practices requires peeling the layers of our socialization (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017). This is because we may be socialized into systems that inadvertently uphold the status quo. With regard to teaching-learning, the status quo or teaching as usual entrenches and bolsters existing inequities. If we want to be anti-colonialist and anti-racist in our teaching, we must interrogate how systems of power are embodied in our teaching-learning spaces.

*For more information on anti-racism and how it differs from other diversity, equity, and inclusion terms, please review the glossary.

Part 2: Reflect

Click this link to open the Padlet. Write one example of racism or specifically a microaggression that you have observed in your classroom or at your institution. If you’d like help brainstorming, click here to review this list of microaggressions. 

Deconstruct

Objective 2: Recognize how language explicitly and implicitly expresses power, privilege, and racism in our syllabi

Estimated Time: 15 minutes

Learning Activity: Review how language can be used to reinforce racism. Then critically reflect upon the language used in your syllabi.

Part 1: Read 

Language is fundamental to communication and interaction, enabling us to convey meaning and express our beliefs, values, and emotions. However, language can also reinforce and maintain power and privilege. Although well-intended, the language we use in our syllabi can be racist and further marginalize our students. Thus, it is important for educators to become aware of the power structures and unequal distribution of power that exist in academia more broadly and in our syllabi specifically. 

Read A Guide to Coded Language in Education Vol. I & II

Certain words and phrases such as grit, achievement gap, and growth mindset are common in academia and education in general. This piece challenges the use of such terms by revealing how they can perpetuate racism and White supremacy in education.

Part 2: Reflect

Please post your response to the following prompt in Padlet.

Pick one syllabus from a class you teach or have taught. Now read the syllabus. Using the previous guide, determine if you have heard some of the words and phrases that perpetuate racism. On Padlet, write some of the words that you have used that may demonstrate racism. Then, write 1 sentence explaining how these words contribute to power and racial inequity. 

Rebuild

Objective 3: Understand how the language used on the syllabus can convey anti-colonialism, anti-racism, decolonization, and support

Estimated Time: 25 minutes

Learning Activity: Please explore the resources listed below. Choose at least one of the three resources.  

Part 1: Read

In this section, you will use anti-colonial and anti-racist language in your syllabi to empower students. As highlighted in “A Guide to Coded Language in Education Vol. I and II,” language can maintain power structures. The resources below demonstrate how language can also dismantle these structures. They emphasize the need to challenge the power and privilege of historically dominant communities while uplifting and empowering marginalized students. 

Choose at least one of the following resources to read.

Resource 1: Honor as Power: The Practical Keys to Antiracist Teaching

Fitzgerald (2021) discusses in this article the ways in which educators can provide a classroom environment that allows all students to exercise their power through anti-racist teaching. The author describes the importance of identifying and acknowledging the issues of power so that they can be confronted and marginalized students can be empowered.

Resource 2: Language in Academia Beyond “De-Colonizing” 

Like Tuck and Yang (2012), Appleton (2019) thinks the term ‘de-colonizing’ is a metaphor and expresses concerns about its use in the absence of structural change. Instead of the term ‘de-colonizing,’ Appleton recommends and defines alternative terms teachers can use.

Resource 3: Guide to Considering Syllabus Language

The University of Virginia’s Teaching Continuity offers a comprehensive guide for instructors to consider when modifying the language in their syllabi. The resource covers a variety of topics, such as communicating care by acknowledging institutionalized racism and communicating advocacy to address oppressive practices. 

Part 2: Reflect 

Please respond to this prompt on Padlet.

Pick a syllabus from one of the courses you teach. Using Fitzgerald (2021), Appleton (2019), or the University of Virginia Guide, evaluate your syllabus, paying particular attention to language. Does the language convey anti-colonialism or anti-racism? If so, in what ways? If not, describe which strategy you might use to revise the language in your syllabus based on the resource(s) you reviewed. 

References

Appleton, N. S. (2019). Do not ‘Decolonize’… If you are not decolonizing: Progressive language 

and planning beyond a hollow academic rebranding. Critical Ethnic Studies, 4.

Douds, K. W., & Hout, M. (2020). Microaggressions in the United States. Sociological Science, 7.

Kohli, R., Pizarro, M., & Nevárez, A. (2017). The “new racism” of K–12 schools: Centering critical research on racism. Review of research in education, 41(1), 182-202.

Nadal, K. L., Wong, Y., Griffin, K. E., Davidoff, K., & Sriken, J. (2014). The adverse impact of racial microaggressions on college students’ self-esteem. Journal of College Student Development, 55(5), 461-474

Robinson-Perez, A., Marzell, M., & Han, W. (2020). Racial microaggressions and psychological distress among undergraduate college students of color: Implications for social work practice. Clinical Social Work Journal, 48(4), 343-350.

Sensoy, O., & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Is Everyone Really Equal? An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education (Multicultural Education edition). New York: Teachers College Press.

Solórzano, D., Allen, W. R., & Carroll, G. (2002). Keeping race in place: Racial microaggressions and campus racial climate at the University of California, Berkeley. Chicano-Latino Law Review, 23(1), 15-111.

Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, education & society, 1(1), 1-40.