“I Would Want You to Understand It:” Students’ Perspectives on Addressing Race in the Classroom

Abstract

This article reports on qualitative research addressing pedagogical issues related to race in the classroom. In 5 focus groups and 14 one-on-one interviews, researchers asked students to share their expertise regarding the challenges to and possibilities for talking about race in college and university classrooms. Results are reported related to instructor practices and student practices. Data point to the importance of instructor support for diversity and of self-reflexivity on the part of instructors related to race.

Keywords:

• Race
• Higher education
• Pedagogy
• Students
• Instructors

Acknowledgements

The research on which this article reports was supported by a summer research grant from the Purdue Research Foundation. The authors thank two anonymous reviewers of this journal for their instructive feedback, Leda Cooks for her comments on a draft of this article, and Alma Clayton-Pedersen for the insights she shared related to the issue of grading and discussions of diverse issues. We also thank the students at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne who contributed their time and expertise to this article as research participants.

Notes

Notes

[1] The terms race and ethnicity are often used interchangeably. In this article, the term race refers to groups including African American, European American (also referred to as white in this article), Latin American, American Indian, and Asian American. Ethnicity often refers to cultural groups sharing a common nationality.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer S. Simpson

Jennifer S. Simpson(PhD, Northwestern University, 1997) is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Angelique Causey

Angelique Causey (MA, Indiana University–Purdue University, Fort Wayne, 2004) is a graduate of the Communication Department.

Levon Williams

Levon Williams is a student in the Communication Department at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne.