Education Week - March 9, 2022 - 14

population and, so, as issues tied to our
increasing racial diversity take center
stage, educators should increase their
racial literacy by reading books, short
stories, and novels by and about people
of color. Discussions with colleagues
or friends of color about race relations,
their experiences as people of color,
or ways to be an ally can also increase
our racial literacy. But not acting is
accepting ignorance and runs counter to
what we ask our students to do every day
as classroom learners.
* Talking race is not critical race
theory. With all of the tension, anger,
misunderstanding, and uproar over
critical race theory, many educators
have conflated any discussions about
race, racism, or racial injustice with
critical race theory, and they are not.
Critical race theory examines racism
in the law at the graduate school
level. Discussing events of the day
is not theoretical but a reality. Our
nation's history and present day are
shaped by the experiences of people
of color. We are still far from being a
racist-free society. In their own social
circles, our students frequently discuss
race and racism. They can handle such
discussions in the classroom. Teaching
anti-racism is-and should be-
considered a core American value.
Students Want
To Talk About Race
Here's how to help them
By Tyrone C. Howard
& Keara Williams
T
he guilty verdicts last
month in the federal
case against the men
who murdered Ahmaud
Arbery serve as yet
another reminder that
we need more classroom
conversations about how to talk to students
about the volatile situations that remain
connected to racial justice in America.
We also need to be reminded of just how
to conduct them. The aftermath of the
deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd,
and Breonna Taylor-as court cases in all
three tragedies have either concluded or
are ramping up-have left feelings of hurt,
anger, and despair among students who
are trying to process the totality of these
horrific events.
If we go back to the spring and summer
of 2020, we must remember the historic
and massive protests that erupted in the
streets of this nation that Black lives do
matter and that we must fight systemic
racism. Among the protesters marching
in the streets were school-age youth
who were challenging adults to be better
in acknowledging, confronting, and
eliminating racism. Those particular
protests may have ended, but our students'
feelings have not.
To be clear, the racial reckoning of
2020 continues to reverberate. Even as
conversations have shifted to the banning
of books in school systems like the Katy
Independent school district in Texas, furor
has mounted over critical race theory and
the desire to eliminate race talk-and, in
some cases, history altogether. Each of
these realities has highlighted how race
still grips and divides America. Many
educators find themselves unequipped or
unwilling to address racial topics that may
lead to legal bills and/or fines (or worse) or
cause emotions to run high and parents to
show up en masse to protest or prompt the
unwelcome ire of administrators.
As race, racism, equality, our racial
past, and the intersection with our schools
remain critical topics for discussion (and
will certainly inform politics in the fall
midterm elections), what do educators need
to know? How can they respond?
We offer the following guideposts:
* Create space to let students talk
about issues of the day. Students,
even those as young as upperelementary
and middle school, are
constantly consuming information
about events of the day. Often, students
do not have the space to talk with
their peers in a structured, respectful,
and informed manner. Students
want to talk about race because they
live it daily. Educators can open up
discussions about race and racism by
asking students what they think and
why they think the way they do. Solicit
their divergent viewpoints by asking
them how our country can eliminate
racism and ensure equity for all. Such
spaces should be centered on healthy,
14 | EDUCATION WEEK | March 9, 2022 | www.edweek.org/opinion
civic dialogue that honors and respects
multiple student viewpoints. This is
about what the students think, not the
teacher. Shifting the teacher's role to
facilitator guarantees that students
are building the skill set to critique,
understand, disagree, and agree-all
while respecting each other.
* Acknowledge what you don't
know. Many educators shy away from
conversations about race and racism
because they fear saying something
wrong, looking wrong, or saying
something racially offensive. To
challenge this, educators should tell
students where they feel informed and
where they don't. Learning together can
be one of the more powerful knowledgebuilding
tools. Saying to students " I
don't know " can be a transformative
learning exchange that lets students
know that educators are not allknowing
but see students as sources of
information where they can teach and
teachers can learn. It also demonstrates
vulnerability and honesty.
* Discussing current events can
stimulate learning. Diana Hess, the
dean of the University of WisconsinMadison's
School of Education, has
written about how discussion of
controversial issues and current events
can stimulate students' learning.
When done properly, these discussions
can increase student engagement
and enhance learning opportunities.
Teachers, no matter their grade or
subject matter, should create space
in an age-appropriate manner for
students to talk about issues in the world
around them. Whether it be the current
crisis in Ukraine, the current debates
about COVID-19, or racial and gender
inequities, we can create critical, civicminded
citizens by instilling a sense
of learning, thinking, and discussing
topics of the day.
In light of some progress that we
Students want to talk
about race because
they live it daily.
* Increase your racial literacy.
Not knowing is acceptable for all of
us. Not taking the steps to learn more is
unacceptable. Young people of color are
now more than 50 percent of the student
have made around race relations, it is
important to remember that the quest for
racial justice remains elusive for African
Americans and other people of color in this
nation. Schools as laboratories of learning,
inclusivity, and collaboration can-and
should be-the places our students come
to learn, think, reflect, heal, and act.
Our students deserve nothing less. It is
imperative for adults to demonstrate the
required courage to create the spaces that
many students are yearning.
HOWARD is a professor of education
at the University of California, Los
Angeles. He is the director of the UCLA
Center for Transformation of Schools,
and the director of the UCLA Pritzker
Center for Strengthening Children and
Families. He is also the president-elect
of the American Educational Research
Association. WILLIAMS, a former English
teacher, is a Ph.D. student at UCLA.
Her research interests are race, urban
education, and Black students.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week and iStock/Getty
http://www.edweek.org/opinion
Education Week - March 9, 2022

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