Discussing Race in the Classroom

In Bolgatz’ (2005) “Talking Race in the Classroom”, some strategies for discussing race and racism with schoolchildren are illustrated, as well as ways in which students often use deflection strategies in order to avoid offending others or directly addressing racism. For example, many students in the class used diversions to deal with their discomfort, used backpedaling to retract or negate what they previously said, or even used simplification to avoid the complexities of certain topics and how deeper connections between issues may exist. Given this situation, Bolgatz (2005) suggests many techniques to encourage open and safe conversations, including varying the size of discussion groups, using individual reflection periods, organizing students by characteristics to create homogenous groups, modeling risk taking, engaging in online conversation, doing some written work, and teaching specific vocabulary about racism.

As I was reading this article, I felt as though Dowsett’s (2014) “What my bike has taught me about white privilege” could be used in the classroom, as a strategy, to help students understand racism and white privilege better. I used this piece of writing in a lesson plan I wrote on racial stereotypes for sixth graders because I think the metaphor of the bike on a busy street illustrates what it’s like for non-Caucasian people to live in a society that values whiteness. Just like how the street favors drivers and is safer for people in cars, society favors whiteness and offers more care and respect for those who are white. I think this comparison could be a useful technique because students can connect white privilege and race to the concrete situation of a bike on a busy street, seeing as how some students have difficulty with abstract concepts like race. It’s important to use Bolgatz’ strategy of distancing students from racism by reassuring them that none of them chose to grow up in a racist society. I say this is important because there will undoubtedly be white students in the class, and these children shouldn’t be blamed for racism because of the privilege they might have.

I did some reflecting on this topic in my first semester in university because of an article that I read in my Multicultural class, entitled, “Challenges to the classroom authority of women of color” by Lee and Johnson-Bailey (2004). The article looked at female teachers of color, who are often perceived as the “other”, which brings up many problems of mastery, voice, positionality and authority. This idea also relates to how students in Bolgatz’ article reacted when one of the teachers, Lewis, discussed race. Students were more resistant to his invitations to discuss the issue because he was black. When I worked on Lee and Johnson-Bailey’s article, I reflected on my time at Dawson College when I had a teacher who was of Indian descent. I had overheard other students complaining that they were going to fail the course because they could not understand what the tea

cher was saying because of her accent. When I heard this, I automatically felt myself giving in to this prejudice and agreeing with these students, but I quickly stopped myself because I felt as though it was racially unjust to the teacher. With all of the reading I’ve done on racial awareness and racial sensitivity, I think I’m better equipped to recognize when I’m stereotyping someone or giving in to racial prejudices.

I think these reflection have definitely impacted my teaching practices, simply because I’ll be more aware of how I handle the issue of race in my classroom and I’ll be better prepared to deal with any insensitive comments made by students, if any. Specifically, I think this shows growth with regards to Professional Competency 1, for many reasons. It’s important to be able to look at my own race and origins in order to evaluate how that will have an impact in the classroom. As it was mentioned in Bolgatz’ article, it’s also the teacher’s responsibility to create a safe space where students of all cultures and races feel comfortable and secure, especially when topics like race are discussed. Because I’ve been thinking more about how I’m going to bring up sensitive topic like race to my students, I think I’m also developing the Professional Competency 2. In other words, it’s important to be able to communicate my ideas effectively and with the correct vocabulary. Another part of this competency is being able to support my ideas in a constructive and respectful way during discussions, which is especially important when discussing racism.

Finally, I think I can play an important role in children’s lives when it comes to understanding race and constructing their own identity. However, it’s also difficult to do so because I can only do so much in confines of the actual classroom. Once students go home, they are exposed to a lot of racial opinion, either from direct family, friends, and especially the media. Therefore, because the media plays a large role in perpetuating ideas of racism, I think it would be beneficial to bring media work into the classroom and discuss it as a class in order to help students be more critical of what they may be exposed to at home. Developing critical analysis skills is really important because it can be easy, especially for children, to simply take everything the media says as fact. It’s impossible to protect children from all media outlets, so the alternative is to better prepare them to consume such media. Therefore, I will try to be more aware when I see media productions in my everyday life that I feel I could potentially use in my classroom, in order to store them for future use.

Bolgatz, J. (2005). Chapter 6: Social dynamics in the classroom Talking race in the classroom (pp. 93-112). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Dowsett. J. (2014). What my bike has taught me about white privilege. A Little More Sauce. [Web blog]. Retrieved from http://alittlemoresauce.com/2014/08/20/what-my-bike-has-taught-me-about-white-privilege/

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