How Can Middle and High School Educators Combat the Effects of Classroom Racism? A Research Brief
This essay was written in 2021, during my second year in college.
Background
Classroom racism is one of the most pervasive forms of experienced discrimination today. Because of curricula that shapes American exceptionalism (by means of factual manipulation and erasure, typically at the expense of historical minority agency), students bringing their own learned prejudices to class, and educators and administration who (perhaps unintentionally at times) reinforce these ideas through their instructional practices and beliefs, educational institutions across the world play a large role in perpetuating racism. This is unacceptable for numerous reasons, but the one on which I focus in this study is the internalization of racial stereotypes by Black students. Now more than ever is there an abundance of studies, both qualitative and quantitative, that document the existence of racial disparities in academic success. However, there are less studies that document the psychological harm students of color are subject to in both urban and suburban educational settings due to the manipulation of their racial identity, yet I believe these to be connected. For example, there are multiple studies that document a perceived correlation amongst students between academic success and being White (Fryer and Torelli 2009, Ogbu 2004, Cook and Ludwig 1998). Until educational institutions center the psychological development of students of color, it is my belief that racial disparities in academic achievement will persist. In this essay, I pull from multiculturalism and critical race feminism as an educational framework to provide middle and high school educators globally with instructional tools on how to combat racism and its effects in their classrooms.
Analysis
One of the most salient forms of classroom racism is the perception of ‘acting white’ and ‘acting black.’ These stereotypical archetypes form the base of racial awareness in middle and high schools across America. A study including a nationally representative sample of over 20,000 7-12th graders demonstrates that as students’ GPA increases, racial disparities emerge in student popularity (Fryer and Torelli 2009). Since “fitting in” is a relevant issue in the mind of most 7-12th graders, racial disparities in social status often cause Black students to feel as if they have to sacrifice their racial identity (not “fitting in with other Black students and others) and social status (not “fitting in” amongst a general student body) by chasing academic success. In reflecting on her treatment in high school, Chloe, an African-American female college student said “I felt like a token… and it would always give others the excuse to make these jokes. Am I here because y’all like me? Or am I here because y’all feel like I’m an exception? They would always say stuff… like, “Oh, but you’re one of the other Black people. And it’s like, “What other Black People?'' (Leath et al., 2021, p. 11). While Chloe does not seem to subscribe to the racial pre-misconceptions of her peers, many students of color come to believe this modern day form of racism. Nick, a Black seventh grader on an honors track, said, “The teachers and the administrators too, they really feel like Black kids are bad and it’s ‘cause they are. But being in the advanced class, they may think of me in a positive way” (Legette 2017, p. 7). Nick’s quote demonstrates the acceptance of these anti-Black stereotypes (despite his own debunking of them) as well as the fact that teachers and administrators are liable to reinforce these stereotypes as well.
Multicultural education is a form of pedagogy that is shown to improve racial attitudes amongst pre-kindergarten to adult students. Not only does it increase respect between students of different ethno-racial backgrounds (which is linked to academic achievement), it also increases their self respect and determination (Okoye-Johnson 2011). As Okoye-Johnson mentions in the same study, culturally relevant curriculum and pedagogy has the power to promote and intensify diverse students' acquisition of cultural pride and identity, which ultimately affects their academic achievement in a positive manner. The same goes with culturally responsive pedagogy, which focuses on using culturally relevant content and practices to empower students “intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically” (Ware 2006). (Banks 1996) provides a critical multi-leveled approach to administering multicultural education, one in which strives towards preparing students to make decisions and take action that helps solve social issues around them as they grow and develop towards productive members of society. This is approached on a superficial basis by including work from established individuals of color (authors, artists, scientists, etc) into curricula, celebrating prominent individuals within respective marginalized communities. To achieve deeper understanding is to center historically marginalized narratives in curricula and engaging students in civic action decisions.
As mentioned earlier, teachers can unknowingly perpetuate racial stereotypes amongst their student body. This should not override the fact that teachers also have the potential to be effective mediators of positive racial attitudes amongst their students, even beyond curriculum reform. One established pedagogy known for this is that of the “warm demander,” which enables educators to provide psychological support specifically for their students of color through demanding fair, but high standards while simultaneously communicating their desire and willingness to help them reach those standards. In describing one of her preferred high school educators, one Black female student said that the teacher encouraged her to apply to Ivy League schools. “He told me… ‘You don’t have to stay here, you can do it.’ He really believed in me even though physics didn’t come easy. He’s one of the ones who made me think I really had a chance.” (Fryer and Torelli 2009, p. 12). The teacher’s belief in his student’s ability to achieve large goals, accompanied by his willingness to engage with her on a personal level seemingly defeated her self doubt and actively dismantled any stereotypical narrative surrounding her achievement.
Implications for practice
Three practices I have identified to administer positive racial attitudes within a classroom through empirical research are setting fair, but high standards, the inclusion of culturally responsive multicultural education and the deliberate clearing of space and time for students of color to address their thoughts and feelings, if any, on their racial identity in connection with course material and/or contemporary life in general.
As stated in the last paragraph of the analysis section, educators who provide fair, but high standards for Black students in their classes cultivate better relationships with them. Contrary to some beliefs, Black students are not looking to be coddled in the classroom; while some may seem more competent than others, most want to be challenged to some capacity. The hard part is framing the challenge properly. Results from (Ware 2006) and (Leah et al., 2021) show that communicating high standards alone is incomplete, for, these standards should be accompanied by a willingness to help and an acknowledgement of potential success. These results imply an alternative approach to tracking and/or ostracization for academic misfortune; sometimes a student needs not a different pace, but a different framing of academic achievement. More meaningful teacher-student relationships may prove to be the first step in creating this framework in classrooms across the country.
As mentioned in the second paragraph of the analysis section, Multicultural Education (ME) is a crucial aspect in creating an environment in which the average student of every background can thrive. Combining different practices from the Transformation and Social Action approaches of (Banks 1996) to administer ME would be ideal, as results from (Okoye-Johnson 2011) state that the inclusion of ME as a shift in curriculum, as opposed to separate, ungraded programs provided the largest positive change in racial attitudes. As state curriculum requirements have become increasingly comprehensive, (Banks 1996) ‘Contributions’ approach of including superficial information about a culture and the ‘Additive’ approach of including present and historical concepts, themes and perspectives of marginalized communities may be the only implementable option for some. Those two are still more effective than nothing, the latter more so than the former (Banks 1996, Okoye-Johnson 2011). With that being said, it is important not to assume a student will connect with culturally responsive material just because of their perceived cultural or racial identity; introducing multicultural material as important and necessary for all students prevents possible alienation of students of color in the classroom.
(Leath et al., 2021) implies that clearing space and time for conversations about race can be beneficial not only for Black female students, but all students of color and White students alike. Whether the conversation happens within a group or one-on-one with a student of color depends on many factors. Therefore, proceeding suggestions are tailored to group discussions of race. It is my belief that there must be a purpose for said conversations, and that every conversation should look different depending on the purpose and content. Some purposes include addressing a racial incident, correcting misleading content, discussing the erasure of entire cultures’ histories, highlighting the work of individuals from marginalized social communities, and a handful of others. In adopting the belief that the peak of education promotes social action, it is important to allow students to voice their own feelings, frustrations and concerns in regards to contemporary issues, especially with social media and young people’s reliance on technology increasing the salience of global issues such as racism.
It is not enough to merely acknowledge these key points mentioned previously. As educators, we must implement practices that embrace these facts to their fullest extent if we want education to reach its greatest potential. This may require completely shifting how one view’s themself as teachers, from a fact-relayer to a life-developer, one who values their students’ holistic development over academic achievement alone. While the previously mentioned pedagogical tools are only some of many, I believe them to be fundamental to fostering a classroom environment that is capable of rising above the negative effects of racism.
Appendix
In ‘School Tracking and Youth Self-Perceptions: Implications for Academic and Racial Identity,’ the author set out to examine whether the racial and academic identities of Black teenagers vary within a school tracking system. This study consists of interviews with 20 Black students (14 female) who were selected from a larger, but similar mixed method study conducted in a southeastern United States school district. Students were selected for the study if they identified as Black/African-American, were tracked in either honors or non-honors classes, and were first time seventh graders. In the interviews, students were asked about their future after school, their racial identity and their experiences within tracked classes (honors or non-honors). The purpose was to observe whether students perceived division or differences between the two tracked groups, and how these perceptions interacted with their racial identities and perceived future opportunities and trajectories. Afterwards, responses were organized into themes of racial and academic identity. Responses from honors students revealed an ‘esteemed’ academic identity and an ‘internalized but resistant’ racial identity, while responses from non-honors students revealed a ‘stigmatized’ academic identity and an ‘internalized persona’ racial identity. Students in both honors and non-honors classes perceived an association between Black students and undesirable behaviors (academic misfortune, disruptive acts in class) which were reinforced by teachers and peers. The difference was that the Black students in honors classes viewed these perceptions as a reflection of themselves, whereas Black students in non-honors classes believed themselves to be exempt from this perceptual classification. I included findings from this study because it gave a qualitative example of school structures being directly associated with developing anti-black sentiment amongst Black adolescent students. This study had a limited sample size (only 20 students, all of which were in the 7th grade, and only six of which were boys) so larger, more representative studies are needed to solidify these findings in the future. Nonetheless, this work gave a crucial glimpse into how an educational environment can affect students' academic and personal development.
In ‘Does Multicultural Education Improve Students’ Racial Attitudes? Implications for Closing the Achievement Gap,’ the author set out to examine the effect of Multicultural Education (ME) on students’ racial attitudes in regards to four different criteria (age, geographic location, type of instruction & method of instruction). For the purpose of this study, Multicultural Education is defined as any program or curriculum that deals with cultural and racial diversity. To measure the effectiveness of ME, a meta-analysis was performed on 30 studies that examined the effects of ME on pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade students’ racial attitudes in the classroom. The meta analysis was conducted by calculating the ‘ES,’ which is the mean difference between the racial attitudes of the experimental groups (students who received ME in some capacity) and control groups (students who did not receive ME) and dividing that difference by the standard deviation of the control group. The Mean ES of every original study was above the educationally significant threshold. This means that on average, Multicultural Education positively affects students’ racial attitudes. ME was found most effective in urban areas as opposed to suburban, as well as when ME was included into graded curriculum as opposed to a separate, gradeless program. Only race was considered, leaving out gender, ability, SES, and other factors that should factor into ME. There was no uniformity in the types of ME programs and curricula used in the original studies, nor was uniformity present in the measurement of students’ racial attitudes across studies. 24 out of 30 studies used in the meta-analysis date back to the 1960’s or 1970’s as well. So while this research is sound and holds promising results for the future of ME, using more recent and more inclusive data should be the goal for future studies on ME. I found this paper useful because it provides great insight for educators on what Multicultural Education could and should look like, as well as highlights the beneficial effects of culturally responsive education on racial attitudes, which can make or break an educational environment for students of all ethnoracial backgrounds, but specifically Black students.
In ‘An empirical analysis of ‘acting white,’ the authors asked whether or not ‘acting white’ is a statistically significant social phenomenon that exists amongst youth in educational settings. They assumed that ‘acting white’ should exist if statistically significant racial differences arise in the relationship between students’ academic achievement and social status. They measured social status by gathering 20,745 students entering 7-12th grade (from a nationally representative sample of over 90,000) and 17,700 of their parents to answer questions about the students’ best male/female friends, and their interactions in and outside of the classroom. Three interviews took place in 1995, 1996 and 2002, respectively. Interview transcripts were then put in a three-pronged equation to distinguish which students received the most intense and frequent interactions from their peers. Results from the equation were then plotted onto a graph with their GPA as the independent variable and their social status as the dependent variable. What emerged were statistically significant trends that aligned with Fryer and Torelli’s predicted model of acting white. While they were minimal amongst students with a lower GPA, racial differences in social status began to emerge around a 2.5 GPA. From a 2.5 GPA to a 4.0 GPA, White students receive a higher social status than both Black and Hispanic students. Above a 3.5 GPA, White students garner almost three times the social status of Black students, and even more for Hispanic students. Even when controlling for external factors (effort in school, extracurricular involvement, socioeconomic status) Black and Hispanic students remained less popular. Something to take into consideration, however, is the social status index that the authors used. It is possible that their methods did not accurately capture popularity, as peer interactions may not be the best representation for popularity (a quarterback may be “popular” but students may not consider him as their friend, per se). This paper does not give great insight into the causes of these disparities either. Still, I included findings from this study because it is a valuable resource in qualitative evidence of White academic achievement being more readily identified and reinforced within educational environments.
In ‘A Qualitative Study of Black College Women’s Experiences of Mysoginoir and Anti-Racism with High School Educators,’ the authors used Critical Race Feminism as a theoretical framework to qualitatively examine the uniquely racialized and gendered interactions between Black female undergraduate students and their former high school educators. To do this, they held semi-structured interviews with 50 female students who a) identified as Black or African-American, b) were enrolled in one of two chosen predominantly white collegiate institutions. The interviews focused on the socialization of race and gender within the students’ lives, as well as their awareness of the stereotypes formed against Black women in general. The team of researchers independently analyzed the data for coding domain lists before collaborating to finalize two separate lists of coding themes: discriminatory codes and anti-racist codes. The discriminatory codes organized some of the data into five categories of discriminatory acts committed by the interviewees’ teachers. The anti-racist codes organized data into three categories of teacher practices that the interviewees’ identified as effective in building and maintaining relationships with their teachers as Black women. These findings are critical to my paper, as part of my goal here is to identify strategies that educators can use to build more intimate relationships with Black children in their classroom. Better teacher to Black student relationships Limitations include the fact that the study is reflective, and asks interviewees to use memory from years prior to provide data (as opposed to interviewing contemporary high school students). Interviewees were told to only report memories from highschool, which could also limit the scope of this research. Recent, independent research also demonstrates different experiences between African American women born in the U.S. and Black African women who migrated to the U.S. Since this study did not take said differences into account, it could hint at a lack of nuance within the results. Teacher testimonials for verification of the practices recommended would strengthen the study as well.
In ‘Warm Demander Pedagogy: Culturally Responsive Teaching That Supports a Culture of Achievement for African American Students,’ author Franita Ware performed a qualitative case study on two different African American female teachers to identify and compare their instructional practices and beliefs within their classrooms. Ms. Willis, a 16-year teaching veteran and urban elementary educator, was the subject for the pilot study. The subject for the comparative study was Mrs. Carter, a relatively new educator who taught middle schoolers in a suburban environment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted aside live, respective classroom observations of both subjects. The research team found eight different coding domains that best organize the data into progressive pedagogical tools and paradigms for educators of Black and Brown individuals. These tools serve as instructional and interpersonal recommendations in my brief. This studies small sample size and incongruence in grade being taught present themselves as possible limitations for the results. While the two educators chosen for this particular study were both African-American, there is no indication that these pedagogical tools are not effective with non-Black educators.
References
Banks, J. A., & Banks, C. A. M. G. (2004). Multicultural education: Issues and perspectives (pp. 229-250). Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.
Cook, P. J., & Ludwig, J. (1998). The burden of "acting White": Do Black adolescents disparage academic achievement? In C. Jencks & M. Phillips (Eds.), The Black–White test score gap (pp. 375–400). Brookings Institution Press.
Fryer, R. G., & Torelli, P. (2009). An empirical analysis of ‘acting white.’ Journal of Public Economics, 94(5–6), pp. 380–396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2009.10.011
Leath, S., Ware, N., Seward, M. D., McCoy, W. N., Ball, P., & Pfister, T. A. (2021). A Qualitative Study of Black College Women’s Experiences of Misogynoir and Anti-Racism with High School Educators. Social Sciences, 10(1), p. 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10010029
Legette, K. (2017). School Tracking and Youth Self-Perceptions: Implications for Academic and Racial Identity. Child Development, 89(4), pp. 1311–1327. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12748
Ogbu, J.U. Collective Identity and the Burden of “Acting White” in Black History, Community, and Education. The Urban Review 36, pp. 1–35 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:URRE.0000042734.83194.f6
Okoye-Johnson, O. (2011). Does Multicultural Education Improve Students’ Racial Attitudes? Implications for Closing the Achievement Gap. Journal of Black Studies, 42(8), pp. 1252–1274. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934711408901
Ware, F. (2006). Warm Demander Pedagogy: Culturally Responsive Teaching That Supports a Culture of Achievement for African American Students. Urban Education, 41(4), pp. 427–456. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085906289710
