The impacts of processing the use of derogatory language in a social work classroom

ABSTRACT

Classroom content focused on diversity often includes dialogue and student use of derogatory language, as well as opportunities for self-reflection, modeling, collaboration, and continuous development. This article is a critical reflection by a White teacher, a White student, and a student with Mexican American heritage on a critical incident involving student use of racially derogatory language in a story. The experiences are framed with Mezirow’s accidental disorienting dilemmas and a decolonizing teaching pedagogy, which create an opportunity for transformative learning.

The approach resulted in a strong process and storytelling orientation for the class and a deeper appreciation for the power of language.

KEYWORDS:

• Biracial or multiracial
• Caucasian American population
• Hispanic/Latino population
• immigrant and refugee
• social work education and training
• cultural competence/cultural humility
• microaggressions
• postcolonial theory
• social work curriculum