Reading, Writing, and Racism by Bree Picower

Author:Bree Picower [Picower, Bree]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 2021-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

INSTITUTIONAL REFRAME: MOVING FROM CHARITY TO JUSTICE

As teachers reframe institutionally, they can start to ask different questions that can shift their target for change. As one preservice teacher suggested, “When we see an issue, we must figure out the root cause in order to make a permanent change. . . . We get so caught up in helping others that we forget to examine why others need the help in the first place. Why is there an achievement gap? Why is there overrepresentation of Black and Brown students in special education?” This preservice teacher went on to think about how this line of questioning shifted her thinking about her own role: “I wanted to work in an urban special education setting because I thought I would know how to teach these students and I want to help ‘fix’ the achievement gap. But now I find myself thinking about why certain people need to work harder than others, and why there even is an achievement gap or overrepresentation to begin with.” By reframing her thinking about the role of institutional oppression, rather than targeting individual students, this White teacher shifted her self-image as a helper with all the answers to that of a person who questions broader societal structures.

This shift leads teachers to be able to work from an anti-racist perspective, rather than seeing their role as charitable or viewing themselves as a good White person for helping “those kids.” When teachers work from a charitable perspective, they see themselves as pure-hearted for wanting to help students of Color. When teachers can reframe to start examining social issues, they can begin to question why some people are in need of help. Rather than make children feel more comfortable while experiencing oppression, teachers can start to change the conditions that leave certain people with less comfort.

This reframe from charity to justice plays a significant role in teachers laying down their curricular Tools of Whiteness for a number of reasons. First, they reframe themselves as good, charitable people to recognize how they have benefited from a system. They can no longer congratulate themselves and think that simply their presence in schools is enough, but instead, they must learn about systemic issues facing their students. It also shifts their curriculum from teaching that there is something wrong with people of Color to teaching about how to change systems. One preservice teacher depicted this shift by saying, “When educators understand the effects that institutional racism [has] had on these ‘historically looted communities’ and people of Color, they can work against these systems of injustices such as the school-to-prison pipeline, and educate children in a positive and culturally relevant way.”24 She warned of what happens without the reframe:

On the flip side, educators who continue to perpetuate institutional racism hold the power to keep those who do not fit in with the ideals that society deem[s] desirable from doing well in school by labeling the child as having a behavior problem or referring the child for special

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.