Antiracist Pedagogy
Antiracist Pedagogy in Online Education
In “Antiracist Pedagogy: Definition, Theory, and Professional Development” (2005), Alda Blakeney provides the following definition of antiracist pedagogy: “Antiracist Pedagogy is a paradigm located within Critical Theory utilized to explain and counteract the persistence and impact of racism using praxis as its focus to promote social justice for the creation of a democratic society in every respect.”
In other words: antiracist pedagogy isn’t just about being “not racist” in your teaching practices. It is about recognizing the presence of racism in students’ lives and in our institutions, and taking active measures to counteract its impact in the classroom.
While the core tenets of antiracist pedagogy apply to any teaching modality, online education poses a unique set of challenges and opportunities for antiracist practice. Below, we describe:
Recommendations for antiracist practices in online courses
The five fundamentals of antiracist teaching (in-person or online)
Resources on antiracist pedagogy
Antiracist practices for online courses
A few ways to enact antiracist pedagogy in your online course
Require students to engage in critical self-reflection and discussion, in journals and/or asynchronous discussion forums (Valcarlos et al. 2020). Online forums like Canvas Discussions, Piazza, or Discord should be frequently monitored by your teaching team, and students should agree to and follow discussion agreements.
Legitimize students’ emotions, identities, and cultures (Valcarlos et al. 2020). This can include incorporating course materials from diverse scholars, as well as making space in your course for students to draw connections between course materials and their own lives. This can happen in online forums, using an asynchronous video tool like Flipgrid, or live in Zoom breakout groups.
Mitigate stereotype threat by communicating your belief in students’ ability to achieve the high standards you’ve set for the course—especially for high-stakes assessments and assignments. It also helps to provide students concrete, actionable feedback on their work (Brown University 2020). Giving students substantive comments in a Canvas rubric or recording short, informal videos to describe upcoming major assignments are two ways to offer this support in an online course.
Addressing microaggressions in the online classroom
A student’s perspective
“On one hand, the online course provided a platform where students felt comfortable expressing their opinions...But on the other hand, it also allowed students to speak almost without a filter.... students feel more comfortable making comments that are offensive to other students when they’re online.” (Ortega et al. 2015)
Responding in the moment
From Ortega et al. 2018: “Employing an anti-racist pedagogy to online learning requires that we be prepared for when a microaggression occurs, not if.”
Focus on supporting the students and their emotional reactions rather than being defensive if you did not notice the microaggression
Assign a reading on microaggressions relevant to the incident
Engage students in critical self-reflection in an online forum
Responding to racial microaggressions.pdfThe Five Fundamentals of Antiracist Teaching
Reflection: Strengthen awareness of racial exclusion and engage in critical reassessment of one’s practices
Climate: Foster an antiracist classroom climate
Curriculum: Revise course and program curricula to better reflect diverse contributions to (and address exclusions from) the discipline
Equity: Investigate and take responsibility for equitable access and outcomes at the course, program, and campus level
Inclusion: Practice inclusive course design and delivery
Resources
Anderson, Melissa (Oct, 28, 2020). ‘You’re Out of Your Mind if You Think I’m Ever Going Back to School’ When learning is virtual, Black parents can watch for unfair treatment. The New York Times.
Becoming an Anti-Racist Educator (2020). Wheaton College Center for Collaborative Teaching and Learning.
Blakeney, Alda (2005). Antiracist Pedagogy: Definition, Theory, and Professional Development. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 2:1, 119-132, DOI: 10.1080/15505170.2005.10411532
Brown University. (2020). Effective Teaching Is Anti-Racist Teaching. The Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning-Teaching and Learning Resources. www.brown.edu/sheridan/teaching-learning-resources/inclusive-teaching/effective-teaching-anti-racist-teaching.
Cite Black Women Collective (2020)
Condon, F., & Young, V. A. (Eds.). (2016). Performing antiracist pedagogy in rhetoric, writing, and communication. WAC Clearinghouse.
Ortega, Amelia, Andruczyk, Malwina, and Matthea Marquart (2018). Addressing microaggressions and acts of oppression within online classrooms by utilizing principles of transformative learning and liberatory education, Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 27:1, 28-40, DOI: 10.1080/15313204.2017.1417945
Ortega, Amelia and Matthea Marquart (2016, June). Anti-oppression strategies for online educational environments. Workshop presented at the St. Cloud 7th Annual ARPAC Workshop - Anti-Racist Pedagogy Across the Curriculum.
Ortega, Amelia., Marquart, Matthea, and Malwina Andruczyk. (2015, April). Addressing acts of oppression within online classrooms: Best practices and collaborative solutions. Workshop presented at the Social Work Distance Education Conference, Indianapolis.
Valcarlos, M. Wolgemuth, J. Haraf, S., & Fisk, N. (2020). “Anti-oppressive pedagogies in online learning: a critical review.” Distance Education, 41:3, 345-360., DOI: 10.1080/01587919.2020.1763783