Teaching Note—Time for a Teach-In? Addressing Racist Incidents on College Campuses

ABSTRACT

This teaching note discusses a teach-in organized in response to a racist incident on a college campus. An examination of the history of teach-ins demonstrates that social work educators have been involved with them since the beginning of the profession, and the method is a natural fit for social work given its historic role. Social work educators have unique professional and ethical responsibilities to respond to hate crimes and other racist incidents on campus and to develop the competencies of social work students to do the same. Teach-ins are a model for doing so in ways that demonstrate the profession’s commitments to social justice advocacy, social justice education, and a robust implicit curriculum.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joseph Kuilema

Joseph Kuilema is assistant professor, Kristen Alford is associate professor, Rachel Venema is associate professor, and Stacia Hoeksema is assistant professor at Calvin College. Lissa Schwander is assistant professor at Central Michigan University.