Making the Case for Race in Middle School

Supporting Adolescents and Teachers in Critical Racial Consciousness and Advocacy

Tina M. Durand

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Year: 2024
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781475858600
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Curricula

Race matters in the lives of youth. A new set of politicized, strategic, and public assaults on the teaching of race or other "divisive" concepts in school have had a chilling effect in classrooms across the nation. This poses a threat to students' right to learn in educational spaces that are accountable for supporting all young people with equity and affirmation. Drawing upon the voices of adolescents in four middle schools, Making the Case for Race in Middle School: Supporting Adolescents and Teachers in Critical Racial Consciousness and Advocacy advances the argument that providing youth with the space and opportunity to think critically about the pervasive dynamics of race in society, and in their own lives, is not partisan, but an essential element of being a teacher in a multiracial democracy. The academic literature on critical multiculturalism, ethnic-racial identity, and anti-racist pedagogy is brought together to provide theoretical and practical direction for educators, with a particular focus on reflective praxis among White classroom teachers. This book is a celebration of the agency of teachers who are committed to supporting students in their racial consciousness and potential for social justice advocacy during early adolescence, when they are unabashedly open, curious, and hopeful in their desire for a better, more inclusive world.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• 1 (Re) Framing the Case of Race in Schools: Unmasking the Irony
• 2 The Salience of Race and Identity in Middle School: “The World Isn’t Black and White” for Students of Color
• 3 The Salience of Race and Identity in Middle School: “There’s Just Nothing Really There” for White Students
• 4 Starting with Our (White) Selves: Teachers, Teaching, and Race in Middle School
• 5 Centering Race in Critical Multicultural Praxis: Pedagogical Possibilities and Classroom Strategies
• 6 Do What’s in Your Power to Do: (Re) Claiming our Agency in Making the Case for Race in Middle School
• Notes
• Index
• About the Author