Practical Application of Critical Race Theory: A Social Justice Course Design

ABSTRACT

Social work education aims to prepare students to effectively engage with diverse people and groups. This article presents a practical application of critical race theory (CRT) toward that end. It describes a brief history of curricular approaches to teaching diversity and social justice and examines a few of the challenges with current curricular approaches that CRT has the potential to mitigate. I provide an overview of CRT and discusses the utility of applying CRT to the design of a diversity and social justice course in a social work education program. A logic model, which illustrates the application of CRT and a social justice approach, is presented and discussed. The model includes strategies, course methods, student outcomes, and influential factors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rose M. Pulliam

Rose M. Pulliam is an Assistant Professor at Texas State University.