Race Matters: A Family–Educator Antiracist Curriculum Collaboration

ABSTRACT

Systemic institutional racism in schools engenders different and difficult educational experiences for students of Color. Relatedly, there is an enduring divide between home and school that often influences school curricula, teachers’ pedagogies, and students’ educational progress. Considering this preclusion to learning, this case study gleans insight from a K-5 urban elementary school that partnered families and educators in an antiracist curriculum collaboration. Utilizing tenets of critical race theory and community cultural wealth, three salient themes emerged: (1) centering family voices and experiences, (2) calling for more antiracist practices and curricula, and (3) moving beyond the racist/not racist binary. We conclude with recommendations for schools engaging in antiracist work with family members.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ See Mapping Racial Trauma in Schools on Facebook @mappingracialtrauma

² See “Father Angry After Teacher Cuts Biracial Daughter’s Hair,” U.S. News & World Report, April 20, 2021, https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/michigan/articles/2021-04-19/father-angry-after-teacher-cuts-biracial-daughters-hair

³ For the purpose of this study, “educator” refers to staff members whose roles include delivering instruction and instructional services to students in the classroom setting.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Abiola Farinde-Wu

Abiola Farinde-Wu is an associate professor of urban education and the graduate program director of the Urban Education, Leadership, and Policy Studies Program in the Department of Leadership in Education at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Farinde-Wu’s research, teaching, and service focuses on preparing educators for diverse student populations. More specifically, she is a critical qualitative researcher who draws from critical theories and pedagogies and her scholarship explore the experiences of teachers and students of color. Her professional activities include serving as an editorial board member of Educational Researcher and the American Educational Research Journal (AERJ). Relatedly, she is the co-editor of Black Female Teachers: Diversifying the United States’ Teacher Workforce (Emerald, 2017) and Mentoring While White: Culturally Responsive Practices for Sustaining the Lives of Black College Students (Lexington Books, 2021).

Melissa Winchell

Melissa Winchell (she/her) is an associate professor in Secondary Education and Educational Leadership and the graduate coordinator of the Accelerated Postbaccalaureate Program at Bridgewater State University. She is also the university’s Coordinator of Part-time Faculty Development. A veteran of Massachusetts urban public education for over 20 years, Dr. Winchell is Vice President of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME). Her research interests are in social justice pedagogy, especially in antiracist education, disability studies, and teaching and learning in higher education. Dr. Winchell is co-editor of a forthcoming volume on what White faculty can do to sustain the lives of Black university students; she is well-published in critical race and critical whiteness theories and pedagogies. Dr. Winchell is the founder of the non-profit Inclusion Matters and a community activist with Massachusetts’ Federation for Children with Special Needs and the Commonwealth’s Department of Developmental Services.

Michael Baulier

Michael Baulier, PhD, is principal of the Willett Early Childhood Center in Norwood Public Schools and an Influence 100 Fellow with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Previously, he was principal of the Mozart Elementary for 5 years in Boston Public Schools. He is also a National Board-Certified Teacher and a former English Language Arts teacher.

Amy L. Cook

Amy L. Cook, PhD, is an associate professor and the Department Chair of the Counseling and School Psychology Department, College of Education and Human Development, at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She received a PhD in Educational Psychology, with a concentration in Counseling Psychology, from the University of Connecticut Storrs. She has worked in urban schools and community mental health organizations, providing counseling services to students and families. Dr. Cook’s research team, Supporting Equity & Access for Social Emotional Learning (SEASEL), explores the development and implementation of transformative practices that promote youth development and equity-oriented outcomes largely via community-engaged participatory research with youth and educators in partner schools and organizations. Dr. Cook teaches courses in collaborative consultation in schools; professional, ethical, and legal issues; sociocultural considerations in counseling; research in counseling and psychology, and practicum. She also serves as co-PI on Project Teachers Learning with Counselors (TLC), a personnel preparation grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, along with Kristin Murphy, PhD (PI), Chris Denning, PhD (co-PI), and Laura Hayden, EdD (co-PI). Project TLC focuses on providing interdisciplinary preparation of master’s level candidates across Special Education and School Adjustment Counseling programs, with a focus on incorporating transformative social-emotional learning training to master’s scholars that support academic outcomes for children with emotional and behavioral disorders.