Becoming Anti-Racist English Teachers: Ways to Actively Move Forward
by Michelle M. Falter, Chandra L. Alston , and Crystal Chen Lee of North Carolina State University
The senseless police-initiated murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, amongst hundreds of other murders of Black women, men, and children in the United States over the past 400 years due to systemic racism and anti-blackness, has become a much-needed call to action for all. This is particularly true and needed in our schools and in our classrooms, as we look to affirm, celebrate, and advocate for all students in our classes, but especially our BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) students.
In his book, How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi (2019) writes, “The opposite of racist isn’t ‘not racist.’ It is ‘anti-racist.’ … One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an anti-racist. There is no in-between safe space of ‘not racist'” (p. 9). No one is born racist or antiracist; these result from the choices we make. Becoming anti-racist is different for different racial groups, but all racial groups struggle under white supremacy. For white people, being anti-racist involves acknowledging and understanding one’s privilege, working to change one’s internalized racism, and disrupting racism when one sees it. Developing antiracist identities as people of color starts with recognizing how race and racism have also been internalized. As Dr. Anneliese A. Singh says in her book The Racial Healing Handbook,(2019), “It means recognizing that people of color groups are not always united in solidarity under a larger umbrella of people of color. Misinformation, prejudice, and harm can exist between people of color groups, and these need to be confronted just as White racism must be challenged” (p. 92).
Teaching for an anti-racist future starts with educators. This is work that is needed for all teachers and all students, whether your school has a predominantly white population or is quite diverse. We also acknowledge that this work looks different for white teachers than it does for BIPOC teachers. An anti-racist educator must actively work to dismantle the structures, policies, institutions, and systems that create barriers and perpetuate race-based inequities for people of color. But how does a middle and high school ELA teacher work towards becoming an anti-racist educator?
As current English language arts teacher educators and former middle and high school English teachers, this document represents a collaborative effort to compile a list of resources, suggestions, and recommended actions for English teachers grades 6-12 to help us all do the work we must do to support students in our schools. We acknowledge that our positionalities as a White female, a Black female, and an Asian American female influence the ways in which we have curated these resources. We also hope that our collaborative background gives breadth and diversity to the work here and inspires others to talk and work across difference. We recognize there are many perspectives and resources on becoming anti-racist teachers, and are grateful for the many scholars, teachers, and activists we list here who have theorized, analyzed, and done the anti-racist work detailed in this document. We hope you will learn from them as we have, and continue to cite and read their original works. We are listening, self-reflecting, and self-examining as we also work alongside you towards becoming anti-racist teachers ourselves through the curation of this document.
In our White paper, we offer five steps for actively moving forward towards anti-racist ELA teaching. We suggest beginning with listening and reflection. As Kendi (2019) writes, “….being an antiracist requires persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination” (p. 23).
To read the full paper and to access the links within it, go to: https://go.ncsu.edu/antiracist-ela
Here is an outline/preview of the contents:
- Listen and Reflect
- Positioning
- Listening
- Reflecting
- Read
- Culturally and Historically Responsive/Social Justice Frameworks and Methods
- Conversations and Discussion Approaches
- Writing and Language Study
- Literature Study
- Intersections of Gender, Race, and Literacy
- White Anti-Racist Educator Narratives
- Interrogate
- Interrogate Your Curriculum and Instruction
- Curriculum Violence
- Interrogate Your Texts
- Interrogate Your Approaches to Text Analysis
- Part One: Critical Literacy
- Part Two: Extending the Critical Literacy Lens
- Part Three: Bring Your Lenses to Action
- Interrogate Your Approaches to Writing
- Interrogate Your Curriculum and Instruction
- Act
- School Culture
- Standards
- Students
- Part One: Amplifying Student Voices
- Part Two: Five Steps for Centering and Publishing Youth Voices
- Texts
- Middle School Recommendations
- High School Recommendations
- Actions to Stop
- Repeat
To cite the White paper: Falter, M. M., Alston, C. L., & Lee, C. C. (2020). Becoming anti-racist English teachers: Ways to actively move forward [White paper]. North Carolina State University. https://go.ncsu.edu/antiracist-ela
Michelle M. Falter is an assistant professor of English Education and Literacy in the department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences at North Carolina State University College of Education, and a former middle and high school English teacher. She was a 2016-2019 member of the Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English within the National Council of Teachers of English. Her teaching, research, and scholarship demonstrate a deep commitment to diversity and social justice, helping English language arts and literacy educators’ co-construct knowledge with their students using critical, feminist, and dialogical teaching practices. At the heart of her work as a scholar and teacher is advocacy and allyship for and with teachers and students. She can be reached at mfalter@ncsu.edu
Chandra L. Alston is an incoming assistant professor of English Education and Literacy in the department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences at North Carolina State University College of Education and a former high school English teacher. Her research has come to center around 1) documenting instructional practices and materials that support literacy teachers to see, empower, and support children of color; 2) pedagogies and practices to support prospective literacy teachers in acknowledging and disrupting the systemic structural inequities in facilitating discussions and teaching writing; and, 3) investigating the extent to which educational policies, structures, and materials support observable, positive change in literacy teachers’ practice. She can be reached at calston3@ncsu.edu
Crystal Chen Lee is an assistant professor of English Education and Literacy in the department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences at North Carolina State University College of Education. Her research lies at the nexus of literacy, teacher education, community engagement, and underserved populations. She is the founding director of The Literacy and Community Initiative (LCI), a collaboration between NC State’s College of Education and the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, that partners with community-based organizations to examine and empower youth voices. The mission is to amplify student voices through student publications, advocacy, and leadership. A former high school English teacher, she received her doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University. She can be reached at cchen32@ncsu.edu