The Blog

Four Barriers to Antiracist Work anti-racist schools antiracist antiracistedu education equity racism Jan 12, 2024

While there are many more barriers than 4, these are four common objections people raise when they're trying to explain why they are hesitant about anti racist work in schools. 

We have found that these are easy grabs for people, but actually reveal underlying issues, typically rooted in...

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More than anyone, white kids need explicit anti racist instruction. #antiracistedu abar anti-racist schools antiracist antiracistedu classroom curriculum racism May 12, 2023

Let me preface this entire blog post by saying that all white kids are not evil or bad. They are not our enemies. This isn't an 'all white people' blog post. This is about what is missing from education and how it's disproportionately affecting white children. 

Recently, we posted on...

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We Have a Racist Imagination #antiracistedu anti-racist schools antiracist antiracistedu books diversity educational equity ela inclusive racism Sep 06, 2022

That might sound harsh. It might make you feel defensive. No, I'm not just talking to white people. Yes, this is to everyone. 

Think about it: the way our media (books included) have centered Whiteness and kept us in the shadows has certainly shaped the way people see others and themselves....

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4 Questions to Guide Your Back-to-School Planning #antiracistedu abar anti-racist schools classroom curriculum reflection Aug 12, 2022

When we're planning for the new school year, we're often thinking about classroom set up, decorations, start-of-the-year activities/events, and even what our first book or reading might be to welcome students. While those aspects are important, they're not the crux of teaching. You can have all...

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4 Tips for School Leaders Starting DEI Work #antiracistedu abar anti-racist schools diversity education educational equity equity May 31, 2022

Are you a school leader who wants to start or continue (in the early stages of) inclusivity work at your school? Are you unsure of how to start by building a strong foundation? 

Not doing this work at your school sets you up for failure. What will you say if/when one of your teachers lands...

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Talking, Laughing, Playing, & Naming in the Classroom #antiracistedu abar anti-racist schools curriculum resources social justice teachers Jan 05, 2022

Taking anti bias and antiracist (ABAR) ideas into practice is something like reinventing the wheel. Most of us didn't experience that in our own k-12 educational journeys, so we need to reimagine and reinvent teaching and learning in order to dream what ABAR teaching and learning might look...

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Is my school welcoming to People of Color? anti-racist schools antiracist bipoc csp diversity inclusive reflection resources welcoming Aug 07, 2019

I recently read Kiese Laymon’s book Heavy. I can’t stop talking about it. It was powerful, raw, beautiful, impactful, and heavy. (Pun intended!) One of the moments he narrates is about an incident that happened to him as a college professor. He was the only Black male professor...

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Caliban oh, Caliban! anti-racist schools books csp educational equity professionaldevelopment Jul 18, 2016

As part of a professional development session, we offered about racial identity and how that relates to teaching, we discussed Caliban from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. We analyzed him as the first indigenous person in the Western literary imagination. We thought about how he was...

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