Anti-racist educators

teacher speaking in class
Anti-racism is a verb.It is an ongoing process of unlearning, relearning and changing to eliminate all forms of racism. Anti-racism work means to deeply examine and challenge our structures and individual biases that uphold racism and its power imbalances. 

In any given situation, we have the ability to choose either anti-racist action, or racist action. This is especially important for educators as they role-model healthy behaviour for the next generation of leaders — their students. How can educators ensure they are fostering an anti-racist learning environment where cultures and different ways of being are valued, taught and understood equally? ​

Change starts with you —  strive to be anti-racist.

How can white teachers role-model anti-racist behaviour for students?
  • Recognize and take responsibility for your power and privilege.
  • Hold yourself accountable.
  • Acknowledge any reservations or uncomfortable feelings you experience in response to increased racial diversity.
  • Cultivate curiosity to grow your own knowledge, relaying it back to your students.
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How can racialized teachers role-model anti-racist behaviour for students?
  • Understand class differences between people of colour.
  • Recognize that various racial groups struggle in different ways — and, thus, aren’t always united in solidarity — under white supremacy.
  • Cultivate curiosity to grow your own knowledge, relaying it back to your students.

Starting questions

​Below are some questions, developed by educator and community advocate Dr. Sonia K. Aujla-Bhullar, that will guide you in beginning to develop cultural competency and inclusivity in your classroom:.

In ongoing conversations with teachers around equity, diversity and inclusion (aka EDI)- I consistently refer to the need for teachers to bring the student's world into the classroom. This is especially important in today's day and age of curriculum gaps, omissions, and misinformation inundating us through social media. It is a journey where the teacher becomes both the learner and teacher alongside their students. This requires some foundational work on the part of the teacher, a school environment committed to ensuring equitable and safe spaces, and finally the checking and re-checking how students world-views are being seen, heard and felt.

It can look like the following questions being asked:

Teacher work: What are your lived experiences that you most value? What lived experiences have challenged you in the classroom? How does your identity "show up" in your teaching interactions with students? How do you see your position as a teacher being beneficial to student learning? What are your thoughts on power and authority in the classroom? Which views are centred in your classroom (i.e. textbooks, student-centred inquiry)? Are you able to name your identity markers with ease or discomfort?

School environment: How does your school show value to student experiences? Do diverse experiences exist as "add-ons" to the core curriculum and staff development? Is there time dedicated for teachers and leadership to delve into understandings on diversity, equity and inclusion? How do "touchy" subjects get time to be worked through? Is there an understanding of EDI and anti-oppression of marginalized communities? Are there leaders in the school who are informed and able to support the work on EDI? How is diversity valued and understood in your school? Is diversity and Indigenous worldviews centred in the work around teaching and learning? Or is it performative (see a checklist and surface level engagement)?

Worldview: This is where all of the above questions really come into play. We can see this in how issues around the world are ones that have direct and indirect impact on student lives. For example, Black Lives Matters (#BLM) is not a political position. It is a very real worldview in how racism and identity impact the lives of communities day in and day out. How are students, able to see themselves in this movement? Is it something talked about in the classroom directly? Is it indirectly referred to through topics and concepts of historical facts, rights and freedoms, present-day implications? I'll never forget the year that I had my students go search for information on Black Canadians, only to discover that the encyclopedia of Canada (house in our school library) had zero entries of Black Canadians nor other racialized groups. See how this erasure of person's in textbooks can impact how student's may see themselves in your classroom? And how they don't see others?

This applies to so many current events as well. The ongoing #farmersprotest in India is one that many students here in my community are hearing about at home and on the news. How is this brought into the classroom? Or is it a null and void point because it's not in the formal curriculum? For many of us who have studied how the hidden curriculum impacts our students- this is it. What is valued and told as knowledge comes from many directions. How students see themselves in teaching and learning of their schools/classrooms is where we can begin the discussion of equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Is it supposed to be easy? That depends on how value is equated to students being centred in the classroom. With their lived experiences as necessary opportunities to engage, learn and live fully. Inclusion is the recognition of who and what has been excluded. Starting here is where the students world is brought to the classroom.

Free online anti-racism training

The Canadian Cultural Mosaic Foundation is currently developing a free six-week online e-course, with expectation to launch summer of 2022, for anyone interested in beginning their anti-racism journey. 

Additional resources

This website is created by Canadian Cultural Mosaic Foundation