The Next Generation of Change: Creating Anti-Racist Schools Together

Students Drive the Journey to an Anti-Racist World

All educators – administrators, teachers, and other members of the school staff – acknowledge the importance of creating a new and better culture of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in each school and every classroom.

Beyond professional development, seminars, speakers and conferences, it still comes down to every single person in your school. And this means the students, too.

Making an intentional effort to impact students will also help educators to continually evolve their practice while directly supporting students’ academic growth and social-emotional skills.

Providing staff with opportunities to learn about anti-racism and supporting their application of this learning is a necessary precursor to engaging students in these conversations.

However, as we apply what we’ve learned, many of us may still be unsure about how to directly engage students in this work, outside of teaching lessons.

As the extraordinary Mary McLeod Bethune wrote, engaging students is the key to your school’s success and your students’ growth.

The Solution: Get Students Engaged

As your school engages in professional learning to support antiracism, you’ll want to be intentional about how you involve students. Create ways for students to participate in anti-racist efforts that go beyond adding books and creating diverse libraries.

Although these elements are extremely valued, students need opportunities to actively engage in discourse with each other and with high-quality resources.

By involving students in anti-racist learning, you create an environment that values and affirms their identities and amplifies their voices. For many students, school is where they learn—usually inferentially or unintentionally—what cultural identities and behaviors are most valued and considered the “norm.” Through anti-racist learning, students are supported in developing their own positive identities and learning about identities different from their own.

From the Classroom to the Community

Additionally, anti-racist teaching and learning requires students to think critically and engage in discourse designed to strengthen their independent thinking and reasoning. Not only is this a necessary life skill, but it also supports their academic growth and development as members of society. Anti-racist teaching will provide opportunities for students to learn about various topics that broaden their worldview and help them understand experiences that shaped who they are, as well as develop empathy for those with different life experiences. 

Beyond the academic benefits, engaging students directly develops a stronger sense of belonging and school community. Schools can be places where students do not feel valued, particularly students of color in settings that lack racial diversity. By creating an environment that celebrates the identities that make up a school and community, educators nurture a stronger sense of belonging and support the connectedness of the school community.

This practice is also beneficial for predominantly white schools and communities. Students need to understand that there is no cultural identity that is the “norm” and that all individuals have culture. Working to develop a sense of belonging and school community will help students build deeper connections with one another and gain a better understanding of their own diverse identities.

Getting students engaged in anti-racist learning looks different across many environments, depending on your school’s needs and capabilities. Ranging from lesson content and instruction, student-run and student-centered activities, to providing opportunities to hear about student experiences, many ways exist to ensure that anti-racist efforts are directly benefiting students.

Final Word

With the possibility of so many valuable yet differing opinions from different stakeholders, we must remain guided by our focus on doing what is best for students. By engaging students in conversations and activities related to anti-racism and DEI work, we uplift student voices and create avenues for them to share their experiences and connect.

The students we serve today are the changemakers of tomorrow. If they have a better understanding of their own identities and the world around them, we can create a more supportive, affirming environment within the school. They will be prepared for the future by having a greater critical consciousness and the confidence to advocate for themselves and others.

Click here or on the book image to read Anti-Racist Teaching.

Resources:

• Part of this text is taken from Anti-Racist Teaching by Symone James Abiola.
• The 4 friends image used in the quote is by Ivan Samkov from Pexels.
• Boys playing image is by Eric Musiat from Pixabay.