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Equity & Excellence in Education

ISSN: 1066-5684 (Print) 1547-3457 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ueee20

Racial Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Critical Interracial Dialogue for Teachers of Color

Rita Kohli

To cite this article: Rita Kohli (2012) Racial Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Critical Interracial Dialogue for Teachers of Color, Equity & Excellence in Education, 45:1, 181-196, DOI: 10.1080/10665684.2012.644187

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.644187

Published online: 10 Feb 2012.

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EQUITY & EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION, 45(1), 181–196, 2012 Copyright C© University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Education ISSN: 1066-5684 print / 1547-3457 online DOI: 10.1080/10665684.2012.644187

Racial Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Critical Interracial Dialogue for Teachers of Color

Rita Kohli Santa Clara University

Brazilian education activist Paulo Freire (1970) argues that to create social change, oppressed people must have critical consciousness about their conditions, and that this consciousness is developed through dialogue. He theorizes that dialogue allows for reflection and unity building, tools needed to transform society. When considering racial oppression in K-12 schools, racial minority teachers have an often-untapped insight and power to transform classrooms and schools (Kohli, 2009). Connected through a commonality of racial oppression, it is important for teachers of color to engage in cross- racial dialogues about manifestations of racial injustice in K-12 schools and to develop strategies for change. Utilizing Freire’s conceptual lens and a critical race theory (CRT) framework, this article highlights critical race dialogue about the educational experiences and observations of 12 black, Latina, and Asian American women enrolled in a teacher education program. Through cross-racial discussions, the women were able to broaden their multicultural understanding of racial oppression as well as strategize solidarity building among diverse students in urban classrooms. This study demonstrates knowledge and insights of teachers of color and highlights the importance of interracial dialogue in school contexts.

Several years ago, I was invited to attend a professional development session at a middle school in South Los Angeles serving mostly black1 and Latina/o students. The goal of the workshop was to guide teachers in resolving racial fights between youth on campus. In addition to student tension, dialogue revealed that the staff, made up of mostly teachers of color, also carried tension with their peers of differing racial and ethnic groups. While they were concerned about the student fights, the staff rarely interacted cross-racially and many teachers at the school had deep-rooted stereotypes and misconceptions about other races. They were unable to see commonalities of their oppression and, thus, had limited abilities to support students in solidarity building. All of these factors raised several questions for me: While teachers of color often have insight to racism in schools because of their own racialized realities (Kohli, 2009), how can they facilitate cross-racial understanding and unity among students without having cross-racial understanding themselves? And more importantly, how can teachers of color challenge racial oppression if they do not recognize racism as a systemic problem that impacts all people of color?

Over the past decade, there has been increased recognition of and need for teachers of color (Ladson-Billings, 2001; Villegas & Irvine, 2010). Teachers of color comprise only 10% of

Address correspondence to Rita Kohli, Santa Clara University, Liberal Studies, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053. E-mail: [email protected]

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the teaching force (National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teaching Force, 2004) and are drastically underrepresented even in districts serving almost entirely students of color (California Department of Education, 2011).

Many researchers have highlighted proven models for increasing the presence of teachers of color, including “homegrown” programs, in which students from urban communities are recruited to teach in the same or similar school district (Hudson, 1998; Irizzary, 2007; Lau, Dandy, & Hoffman, 2007; Sakash & Chou, 2007). This focus on recruitment, however, is complicated by low retention rates for teachers of color. Because teachers of color are placed at higher rates in underserved schools with many structural challenges, they experience faster burnout rates than white teachers (Achinstein, Ogawa, Sexton, & Freitas, 2010). Additionally, having limited networks of support in addressing school challenges can take its toll on the retention of teachers of color (Achinstein et al., 2010; Dingus, 2008; Hernández Sheets, 2001, 2004; Kohli, 2009).

Even with concern around retention, scholars have repeatedly demonstrated the benefits of having teachers of color in classrooms serving students of color, including heightened cul- tural understanding, connections to the community, and culturally relevant teaching (Kambutu, Rios, & Castaneda, 2009; Martinez, 2000; Quiocho & Rios, 2000; Williams, Graham, McCary- Henderson, & Floyd, 2009). Sleeter (2008) argues that the more students encounter teachers from similar racial and cultural backgrounds, the more culturally relevant and meaningful their educa- tion will be. This cultural match has been connected to many benefits, such as increased equity for bilingual students and college access for underrepresented students (Cammarota, 2008).

Although the presence of teachers of color is extremely important for the holistic success of students of color, as demonstrated in the example above, not all teachers of color are culturally equipped to serve multiracial classrooms and promote racial justice. In prior articles, I have argued that critical race reflections of their schooling can support the development of race- conscious practices in teachers of color (Kohli, 2008, 2009). This article broadens this argument to demonstrate how critical interracial dialogue between teachers of color can be instrumental in their growth as educators in multicultural contexts.

To prevent racial climate issues similar to the school I describe above, teachers must have cross-racial understanding. Teachers of color also must have an independent space to dialogue about manifestations of racial injustice and strategies for change. This does not mean that white educators cannot work to challenge racial inequity in schools (Picower, 2009), but rather that, at times, separate spaces are needed to discuss racial privilege and oppression (Kohli, 2009). Utilizing Freire’s (1970) concept of critical consciousness and a CRT framework, this article highlights insights gained through the dialogue of 12 black, Latina, and Asian American women enrolled in a teacher education program. The discussions broadened the participants’ multicultural understanding of racial oppression and encouraged a pedagogy of cross-racial solidarity building. This model can inform teacher preparation and school professional development practices.

FREIRE’S CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Brazilian education activist Paulo Freire (1970) argues that to create social change people must have conscientization or critical consciousness. Freire defines critical consciousness as a state in which people are aware of social inequality, understand their place in that inequality, and take action against oppressive elements in society. He theorizes that critical consciousness is

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developed through a “problem-posing” method, where learners come to their own understanding of injustice through a facilitators’ questioning. This study takes a Freirian approach to developing a critical cross-racial understanding about racial oppression with teachers of color from varying racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. Facilitated with a problem-posing framework, participants were given space to reflect on their own experiences, build cross-racial connections, and think through how to respond to racial oppression in school.

CRITICAL RACE THEORY

Critical race theory (CRT) also is used to frame this study. Developed in the 1970s in the field of law, CRT helped to bring racism into central focus through the experiences of people of color. As it extends into other disciplines, including education, it shifts analysis of racism from an individual problem to a structural issue, replicated by institutions within our society. CRT in education is guided by the following five tenets (Solórzano & Delgado Bernal, 2001):

1. Centrality of Race and Racism: All CRT research within education must centralize race and racism, as well as acknowledge the intersection of race with other forms of subordination.

2. Challenging the Dominant Perspective: CRT research works to challenge the dominant nar- ratives, often referred to as majoritarian stories.

3. Commitment to Social Justice: CRT research must be driven by a social justice agenda. Crit- ical race theorists define social justice research as work that (a) responds to the oppression of people of color, which includes intersections between racism, poverty, sexism, and dehu- manization; (b) aims to eliminate those oppressive conditions; and, (c) is centered around the empowerment, healing, and liberation of people of color (Solórzano & Delgado Bernal, 2001; Yosso, 2005).

4. Valuing Experiential Knowledge: CRT scholars believe in the power of story. Building on the oral traditions of many indigenous communities of color around the world, CRT research values the experiences and narratives of people of color when attempting to understand social inequality.

5. Being Interdisciplinary: CRT scholars believe that the world is multi-dimensional and research about the world should reflect multiple perspectives.

In this study, these five tenets are used as a framework to engage the voices of women of color educators with a focus on race, racism, and its intersection with gender, culture, and class. All data in this article were collected through qualitative focus-group interviews. Drawing on the fields of Ethnic Studies and education, this project utilizes theory and empirical research to demonstrate how critical race dialogue of diverse teachers of color can improve their understanding and articulation about racial inequity and, in turn, how this critical consciousness can influence their pedagogy. In 2002, Smith-Maddox and Solórzano paired CRT with problem-posing methods and case study to build racial consciousness with, as they described, mostly privileged students. This study uses these two frameworks to strengthen race consciousness in racially oppressed people. As women of color, the participants share struggles and strengths that are often undertheorized within teacher education. This project challenges dominant narratives that lead communities to believe that racial divisions among people of color are normal and acceptable. Instead, this article

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emphasizes the unifying dialogue between women from multiple racial and ethnic groups as an example of solidarity building against racial injustice in schools.

METHODS

CRT and Freire’s theory of critical consciousness also guide the design of the study. These frameworks encourage researchers to not see participants as data sources alone. Rather those who share their stories in interviews are people with voices, complex lives, and struggles (Pizarro, 1998). CRT and Freirian methods demand that research must benefit the participants and their communities (Kohli, 2009; Pizarro, 1998; Smith-Maddox & Solórzano, 2002).

Focus group interviews explored the narratives of women of color enrolled in an urban social justice-based teacher education program in Los Angeles, California. These interviews were designed as dialogues to learn about the impact of racism in schools from a multiracial perspective and provided a safe space for women of color educators to build community and develop as teachers. The women were prompted to reflect on the role of race and racism in their educational experiences with the goal of heightening their consciousness about racial injustice. Additionally, because teachers in multicultural schools need to understand how racism overlaps and diverges for different racial, ethnic, and cultural groups, the focus groups also were structured for participants to improve their cross-racial understanding.

Sample

Focus group interviews were conducted in 2007 with Latina, black, and Asian American female teachers. Human subjects approval was granted before any recruitment or data collection took place. I recruited from teacher education courses and potential participants were asked to fill out a form of interest after a short presentation. The 12 participants were narrowed from a larger pool of 43, based on racial and ethnic diversity and interest in the study. The women taught a range of subjects and grades, were between the ages of 22 and 26 years old, and varied in their comfort discussing race and racism. Each woman was purposefully assigned to a six-person group with two black, two Latina, and two Asian American participants to ensure diversity of race and ethnicity. Participants were engaged in three focus group interviews. All names used in this article are pseudonyms or were kept the same at the request of the participant. (See Appendix A for demographic details.)

Positionality

Although there has been an effort to recruit racial minorities into the teaching profession, the majority of teacher education faculty continues to be white (Ladson-Billings, 2001, 2005). In addition, most education research and teaching strategies are written by and for white teachers (Bennett, Cole, & Thompson, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 2005). As a South Asian American woman and former teacher, I had a unique positionality in facilitating dialogues with women of color preservice teachers. Within the focus group interviews, many of the women articulated that very

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little of their teacher preparation was taught by faculty of color and felt “relieved” to have a “safe space” to discuss their lived experiences with race and racism. I also hold a Ph.D. in Race and Ethnic Studies in Education and I am well versed in the shared realities with racism that communities of color have and continue to endure; thus, I was able to facilitate connections among the experiences of women from varying racial and ethnic groups.

In constructing interracial dialogue about topics of such a sensitive nature, my identity seemed to bring strengths to the work as articulated above. However, there were also several limitations involving my role as sole investigator. Being the only facilitator of the focus group interviews, the dialogues were shaped both by my perspective about race and racism and my facilitation style. Additionally, beyond member checking practices, the analysis was mine and was limited by the biases of my positionality.

Data Collection and Analysis

While many traditional research paradigms offer a firmly structured interaction between re- searcher and participant (Berg, 2011), there are emerging design structures that promote inter- group dialogue (Zúñiga, Nagda, Chesler, & Cytron-Walker, 2007; Zúniga, Nagda & Sevig, 2002) and active intervention through models of action-research (Cammarota & Fine, 2008; Pizarro, 1998). Building on these frameworks, I designed and facilitated all focus group interviews as critical interracial dialogues—discussions between diverse participants that analyze inequity and injustice—as it relates to race and schooling. The first focus group was a discussion of race and racism in the preservice teachers’ own K-12 educational experiences; the second addressed their observations with race and racism in the schools in which they work; and the third was a space for them to strategize how to address race and racism in their classrooms. Although one goal was to collect data, framed by CRT and Freire’s theoretical lens, the questions were also posed as a way for the women to learn from each other’s reflections and to gain interracial understanding about racism and schooling. Some sample questions included:

1. What experiences did you have with discrimination in school in your K-12 education? 2. How did these experiences impact your self or worldview? 3. Many of you mentioned that you wanted to hear how others defined race and racism. So, let’s

discuss this, what is race? What is racism? 4. Do you see race and racism playing out in the school that you currently work in? 5. Does it manifest in similar or different ways from your childhood experiences?

All data were transcribed throughout the study and were reviewed by participants. Grounded theory argues for themes to emerge from data (Flick, 2009); CRT research encourages a co- construction of sense making of data with participants (Pizarro, 1998). Building on these method- ologies, participants were asked to reflect on sessions at the end of each focus group to gauge their interpretation of the dialogues. In compiling the findings, I read and re-read all the transcripts, noted reoccurring themes and themes related to the research questions, and sorted the data into categories (Flick, 2009). For this article, I am sharing select findings from the larger study.

In particular, the women articulated that this study proved important for their personal and professional growth, helping them develop a more complex understanding of racism in schools. I highlight two main ways in which participants described critical interracial dialogue as beneficial

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to their development as educators: (1) enhancing cross-cultural understanding of racial oppression and (2) re-thinking race in the classroom.

ENHANCING CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING OF RACIAL OPPRESSION

Even though many women in the study shared that discussions of racial discrimination with family and friends were commonplace, most revealed that those conversations tended to happen in racially insular settings. Many of the women had parallel experiences with racism within their education, however very few had ever discussed these events in multiracial settings. Without experience talking about race and racism with people who differ racially or ethnically, a majority of the women felt that they had limited understanding of manifestation of racism in communities outside their own.

Because the focus groups were the first time many women had participated in cross-racial sharing of racialized experiences and perspectives, it improved their multicultural understanding of racial inequity. The participants articulated that this was important to their development as critical educators of multiracial or multicultural classrooms. In this section, I share several examples of cross-cultural engagement and understanding that occurred within the interviews, through discussions of: (1) names and ethnic pride, (2) accents, and (3) knowledge of self.

Names and Ethnic Pride

The dialogue often revealed differences or parallels in the racialized experiences of the mul- ticultural group of women of color. While each woman has a unique and complex story, the conversation allowed for black, Latina, and Asian American educators to understand that racism is something that affects all of their lives. Regardless of whether the conversations were specif- ically tied to the classroom, by learning where their racialized experiences diverge and overlap, participants were able to gain valuable exposure to multicultural perspectives.

One’s identity and self-concept are developed through parents’ accent, intonation, and pro- nunciation of their name (Sears & Sears, 2003). Additionally, names can connect children to their ancestors or their country of origin or ethnic group and often have deep meaning or symbolism for parents and families (Kiang, 2003; Kohli & Solórzano, 2011). Elaine shared in a focus group that she witnessed a teacher who was mispronouncing the names of one of her recent immigrant students. She expressed how the teacher’s disregard for the student’s name and identity reinforced to the student that his culture was not important. Sharing this encounter with the focus group led into a personal discussion about names, in which Elaine and Janet both revealed that they did not have names representative of their ethnic heritage because their parents were afraid of situations similar to what Elaine had seen while student teaching. Even though they understood that their parents were trying to protect them from racism, they both expressed how their names made them feel disconnected from their culture and roots. Janet shared,

I still complain to this day, “Why didn’t I get a more Mexican name?” People always ask me, “Wait, you’re Mexican and your and your name’s Janet. . .? Not even Janette. . .?” and I’m like, “No, Janet.”

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Don’t ask me what my dad was thinking. He’s been here since he was seven, so I think for him it was more that he went through a lot growing up, and [he] didn’t want [me] to have to go through the same. (Janet)

Empathizing with Janet’s longing to have a name reflective of her cultural heritage, Elaine responded, “I don’t even have a Korean name . . ., my name is [Elaine] . . . I never really under- stood why [my mom] didn’t go for a Korean name, but it’s probably also to make it easier.” Like Janet, Elaine shared that her mom had a lot of problems because of her Korean name when she moved to the U.S. and most likely did not want her daughter to experience the same difficulties. Elaine, however, endured a different set of challenges; she felt her “easier,” non-Korean name disconnected her from Korean culture and the Korean community. Despite their different back- grounds, an open discussion about these experiences allowed Janet and Elaine to see cross-racial commonalities in their personal struggles with ethnic identity.

Deanna and Alexis, the two black women in the group listened carefully as Janet and Elaine spoke. They then shared that because African Americans were robbed of cultural names due to slavery, the women could not exactly relate to Janet and Elaine’s struggles. They felt this was important to consider when understanding the names of many African Americans. Alexis shared, “[For us] it’s even more complicated because we were brought here as slaves, and we were given new names, so none of can really be like, ‘Oh, I’m from the Zulu tribe.’ No [African American] really knows what their ancestors’ names are, so there’s nothing to reclaim from that.” Deanna agreed. She furthered the conversation by explaining that some African American parents try to connect to their heritage by naming their children words from an African language. While she had a name that was commonly used in her community, she wanted others in the group to understand that when African American parents give their children names that may seem “arbitrary,” they are often trying to distance themselves from the European names imposed through slavery.

Although Alexis and Deanna had different experiences with the importance and origin of names than Janet and Elaine did, they all felt that names have an important connection to culture. The women agreed that whether names were stripped during slavery or rejected today out of fear of discrimination, names are a subtle way in which the European culture is prioritized over the culture of racial minorities. They expressed that hearing each other’s stories helped them to realize that this is not an individual experience but rather plays out in multiple racial and ethnic communities and is tied to racism.

Accents

An accent is a way of speaking, typically tied to a particular geographic location, often intersecting with factors, such as race, class, culture, and language. Speaking like the community in which you are part of has value and capital; it can play a major role in acceptance into that community or context (Perry & Delpit, 1998). In our education system, however, the way a student speaks is often wrongly tied to intelligence, and Standard American English (SAE) is typically valued and deemed superior (LeMoine & Hollie, 2007; Perry & Delpit, 1998). During one of the focus group interviews, several of the women began to engage in a discussion about their “accents.” They shared that their manner of speech often played a role in the way they were stereotyped in school.

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Unfortunately, many participants felt they had internalized the racist ideology embedded in these stereotypes, and this had affected how they saw themselves both culturally and intellectually.

JoAnn grew up in a working-class Latina/o neighborhood in the South side of East Los Angeles. Although she spoke English, when she got to her predominantly white college, she received many comments about her “accent” from her white peers. These remarks made her very self-conscious, and she felt inferior to her peers.

Through elementary, junior high, and high school, we all kind of had the same accent. We all sounded the same. When I started college, I would get white guys telling me, “Oh, you sound like a chola, but don’t worry, it’s cute!” They already start putting you in a box, and you begin [to] internalize that. Like, I don’t speak Standard English, I don’t have a white accent. I’m never gonna fit in.

Although JoAnn identified as a scholar, she was labeled a chola when she got to college. “Chola” is a Spanish word used to describe a female “gangster.” It bothered JoAnn that even though she had worked very hard in school, her peers reduced her identity to a stereotype about her community. This experience made a lasting impact on JoAnn, and began to affect her academic engagement. When one endures racism, the impact does not always end when the incident is over. Racism can seep into the psyche, and affect the way a person sees him- or herself and the world around him or her, a phenomenon defined as internalized racism (Cross, 1995; Kohli, 2008; Perez Huber, Johnson, & Kohli, 2006). JoAnn began to internalize the racist stereotype that her East Los Angeles Chicana/o speech was connected to violence rather than to schooling. She began to feel that she was not as smart or competent as her peers and, thus, stopped participating in class.

After JoAnn shared this emotional story about internalizing racism, Juliana responded by describing her own negative experiences with accents. She explained that growing up as a Latina in a predominantly black neighborhood, she dropped Spanish and practiced speaking English in order to fit in. But as a light skinned woman without a Latin American accent, whenever she said that she was Mexican, no one believed her.

I don’t speak Spanish that well. I always practiced my English because I grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood in Watts. That used to keep me from some communities growing up. [People] would tell me I wasn’t Mexican enough because I didn’t speak Spanish that well. I remember always feeling, where do I go then? I’m not really accepted anywhere.

Much like the borderlands feeling Anzaldúa (1999) describes for Mexican Americans living near the border, in trying to straddle fitting in within two separate communities, Juliana felt torn between two worlds. She felt pressure to let go of her culture and assimilate to the “accent” of the black majority around her, which left her not feeling “Mexican enough” when she was around her community. This tension between her two realities left her feeling confused and isolated.

Imani grew up in Santa Monica speaking Standard English and similar to Juliana, felt marginal- ized from the black community based on her accent. Imani attended diverse schools but was never around a significant black population. Whenever she would get around peers of her own racial group, they would label her as “white.”

What you are saying is reminding me of what black people thought about the way that I talked in my own community. They would tell me, “You talk white,” and label me the girl from Santa Monica. [It would hurt] when black people would tell me that. I wanted to know that culture so much, ‘cause I didn’t experience it that much in Santa Monica. But to not really be embraced by them, and just kind

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of be pushed into a box—okay, you’re not like other black people, so you just can’t kick it—that was kind of hard for me.

Like JoAnn, Julianna and Imani were judged and deemed outsiders based on their accents. However, it was their own racial peers that rejected them. As Imani shared, not to be embraced by her racial community because of the way she spoke had a negative effect on her racial identity. Despite her daily reality as a black woman, she saw herself as less black than her peers.

Ashley added to this discussion by sharing another perspective about being a black woman with a “white” accent. Always attending predominantly white schools, Ashley was embraced by her teachers for speaking in a way that was considered “white.” She was often pitted against the few black children in her school by being told that she was different and better.

The way I spoke—because it was considered white—was embraced by my teachers. I was often put up on a pedestal for being the model black student. I was always taught, “Well, Ashley’s different.” Or “Ashley’s very articulate; her vocabulary is extraordinary.” They would always push that the way I speak is much different than those other [black] kids. But once in a while I would slip up, and say “ain’t” or something, and my classmates would be like, “Ew! Why are you talking like that? YOU don’t talk like that.”

Unlike the other women who were made to feel bad for their accents, Ashley was made to feel that she was better than other black children because she spoke in a way that was considered white. Teachers affirmed for Ashley an intellectual hierarchy in which black American English was deemed inferior to SAE. Based on her race and the way she spoke, she was told she was “different,” “articulate,” and “extraordinary” compared to her black peers. These statements are hard to pinpoint as racial insults because they can seem like compliments. In actuality, they are subtle forms of racism that critical race theorists have labeled racial microaggressions (Solórzano, Allen, & Caroll, 2002). Through these comments, Ashley’s teachers and classmates reinforced the idea that Standard English is superior and forms of speech that deviate from this are inferior. As a result, Ashley internalized this racism and believed that she was superior to her less “articulate,” less “extraordinary,” black counterparts.

JoAnn, Juliana, Imani, and Ashley shared that it was useful to reflect on their experiences with racism and accents in a supportive setting. While complex and different from each other, it was important for them to hear that their struggles with speech and accent existed across race, ethnicity, class, and context. They expressed that hearing each other’s narratives helped them to heal from their own experiences with racism around the manner in which they speak, and offered them greater understanding to how power and privilege are tied to language and culture.

Knowledge of Self

Continuing the discussion of internalized racism, the women began talking about the lack of cultural representation in the curriculum in their history classes. As a Sikh, South Asian American in a predominantly white school, Sonia believed that much of her lack of esteem about her community was rooted in the absence of curriculum about her culture. She shared,

Looking back on my childhood, I used to actually wish I was white . . . I remember saying that out loud to my sister. “I wish we were white. Why was I born into this family?” I used to blame my

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ethnicity for all the problems in my life . . . And I think part of it was just not learning about my own community in our history classes. I think having a lack of curriculum about my community kind of made me feel like it wasn’t important.

Sonia internalized the bias of Eurocentric history curriculum, which she felt led to feelings of inferiority.

Juliana similarly expressed that she never learned her history. Compounding her experiences with speech outlined above, she also felt that a lack of education about Latina/o history in school led her to feel her identity was insignificant:

Within schools, history was always taught as black and white, and I used to think, then what am I? I used to have a lot of black friends and just wish I was black ‘cause it would just put me in a category. I just hated being in between, just not knowing. I mean, I knew I was Mexican American, but no one else perceived me as that, so it’s as though I wasn’t that at all. And I remember coming to college and not knowing who Cesar Chavez was. I had always heard his name, but it was never even mentioned in school at all.

Juliana shared that in several instances in college she had pretended to know who Cesar Chavez was because she had felt shame and embarrassment over not knowing. She became quite emotional with the realization that she had carried the burden of this shame even though it was not her fault. Overwhelmed, she posed the question to the group, “How can we get students to keep their self-esteem when they don’t learn their history in school?”

Kimmy responded that her strategy was adopted from her parents. In the 1940s, both her parents’ families were forced into Japanese internment camps, losing all of their property and material wealth. Due to this traumatic encounter, Kimmy’s mother and father took painstaking efforts to teach their daughter Japanese and Japanese American history and culture. With a great deal of encouragement and support from her parents, Kimmy dedicated every project in school that she could to the struggles and accomplishments of her ethnic community.

Ashley was struck by Kimmy’s perspective and was surprised to hear that Kimmy knew so much about her own history as a child. Like Sonia and Juliana, she was not taught her history in school but expressed that unlike other racial and cultural minorities, African Americans only have so much knowledge they can access about their history and heritage.

I feel like with my Latino students, a lot of them are Salvadorian and Mexican, and they do have a sense of pride ‘cause I feel like they do have a connection, somehow. Either from their parents not being born here, or their community . . . I don’t feel like there’s a sense of pride [for African American] students because we don’t know where we came from.

In a reflection after the focus group discussion, Kimmy shared that hearing Ashley’s perspective helped her to rethink her understanding about her own life and the lives of African Americans.

It was important for me to hear everyone’s experiences. I especially liked hearing Ashley talk about not having [an understanding of her] heritage because this was something that I was aware of in the African American community, but I had never really considered. It inspires me to ask her about that, because it is the opposite of what I feel I have undergone during my lifetime, and would love to hear more about.

Hearing a perspective different from her own inspired Kimmy to learn more. Before the discussion, she had not thought about the limited access African Americans have to pre-slavery history. She

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also never truly appreciated how privileged she was to have access to her own history. Through this exchange, she gained a newfound sensitivity to her own identity, as well as the identities of her future African American students.

Based on Freire’s (1970) model of problem-posing dialogue and CRT’s focus on challenging dominant narratives about race, the interracial focus groups helped women of color educators contextualize individual experiences with race and racism into a more structural analysis. The women were able to think through manifestations of oppression across race and culture, which offered new ways of seeing and understanding the world. This growth was useful to them personally, as well as in their development as teachers of multicultural classrooms.

RE-THINKING RACE IN THE CLASSROOM

The dialogues in this study provided space for participants to think about how their experiences fit into larger structures of racial oppression. As teachers, these reflections were particularly important because they translated to a more critical approach to their pedagogy and practice. As it relates to names, accents, and knowledge of self, the women felt a heightened awareness around these topics and brainstormed strategies to possibly address or challenge their manifestations in schools. For example, to maintain a respect for all students’ names, they discussed having students write out the phonetic spelling for the pronunciation of their names on the first day of school, and playing community building games centered around the meaning behind students’ names. To create equity around speech and language, they suggested having students translate phrases from black English to standard English to show how they are both valid forms of speech and brainstormed ways in class for Spanish speakers and English speakers to work together and feel equally valued.

In addition to addressing specific issues from their own experiences within their classroom, the dialogues also created a space where teachers began sharing, deconstructing, and problem- solving other issues of racial injustice in their teaching. For example, Kimmy reflected on a classroom incident when a black student said to a Latino peer, “Speak English! This is America.” Kimmy shared that she did not know what to do in the situation so she just glossed over it. She also revealed that she was “ashamed” that she did not have the tools to deal with racial tension in the classroom. Although Kimmy took on the burden of not effectively addressing the racial climate, this poorly facilitated pedagogical moment happened because she was not prepared to discuss race with students proactively, or at all. Kimmy said to her peers, “I need to start thinking of potential situations and ways that I can positively and constructively deal with them so I will be ready when they come up.” The women responded by thinking through steps with Kimmy to improve the racial climate of her multiracial math classroom.

Sonia expressed that she could not figure out how to engage her African American students about immigration during history class, so she came to the group wanting help. Collectively, the women agreed that the racial disconnects between black and Latina/o students was a pressing issue that many of them faced. They decided to create lessons to expose students to a Latina/o and African American shared struggle, as it relates to immigration. They developed four themes within the unit: (1) Migration and Integration, (2) Comparing Slave Legislation to Citizenship and Naturalization Legislation, (3) Parallels between Deportation in Immigrant Communities and Incarceration in African American Communities, and (4) Resistance: Marching to Know your

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Rights. The women pooled their subject matter knowledge and cultural perspectives to develop interdisciplinary ways of approaching issues of racial injustice and cross-cultural understanding.

Deanna shared with the group that through the dialogues she learned that cross-cultural relationships truly challenge stereotypes. In response, her group decided to plan lessons that cultivated interactions among students through anthologies for their classrooms. The women created both middle- and high school units that involved students interviewing each other, learning about each other’s lives, and compiling a book that brought everyone’s experiences together. Based on their guided interracial interactions, the participants were inspired to formally apply critical interracial frameworks to their teaching.

While many racial minority teachers have insights into race and racism through personal expe- rience, it cannot be assumed that they are fully equipped to navigate and facilitate race relations within diverse classrooms and schools. In this study, teachers were entering the profession with varying degrees of comfort discussing racial inequity. Carolina was not comfortable talking about race or racism when she started the study. During the dialogues, she had a difficult time articu- lating issues of race and struggled to characterize her own racial identity. However, recognizing that these topics are important to teaching and that they may come up in her classroom, she was excited by the opportunity to develop a language around racial oppression.

Juliana was comfortable talking about race and racism before the study, but because of limited critical race discussions in her classes, she was disappointed in her teacher education program. She felt that none of her peers really understood or cared about the problems that her students faced. Juliana shared that the interracial dialogues helped her connect with other teachers and commented, “Before meeting up with this group, I felt that no one in [my teacher education] remembered the struggle and the students. This group helped me get re-connected to that.” By discussing issues of race and racism among a diverse and committed group of educators, Juliana felt “re-connected” to the passion of educational justice that initially brought her to teaching.

Several women agreed that the discussions re-kindled their enthusiasm for education. Kimmy made the comment that she felt “inspired” after the focus group discussion. Sonia mentioned that she felt “pumped!” JoAnn initially expressed that she felt isolated from other teachers based on her perspective. She commented, “There isn’t really a space where people can have these critical conversations about racism that I feel are important in order for people to grow as individuals.” However, whenever she met with her group for the interviews she felt “rejuvenated” and motivated to make social change through teaching. She also expressed a sense of relief having the opportunity just for people of color to discuss these issues. She shared,

People of color—we need to act a certain way in white space—and it’s like we’re accommodating white people. It’s something I deal with, too, because you don’t want to sound angry, but I think these are really emotional issues for some of us. Going into schools of color, it’s very emotional. It’s very personal, so, yes, I’m going to talk about it with emotion. I’m not attacking you. Maybe for her, or for those students, it just seems something very abstract, but for me, it’s very personal, it’s very emotional.

Seeing youth of color enduring oppression can be an emotional experience, particularly for teachers from similar communities (Kohli, 2008). In her program, JoAnn felt criticized by white peers for discussing issues of racial oppression in an emotional way. For that reason, it was important for her to have an independent space with peers who could relate to these emotions.

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Ashley agreed that she could be herself in this separate space. She reiterated the importance of being able to dialogue about race and racism without the presence of white teachers.

If we included white teachers in the discussion, I feel like a lot of us would feel the need to censor, or maybe bring down what we were saying because we don’t want to make them feel uncomfortable. I had actually been approached by a student in our cohort [who said] that the way I spoke made white people feel uncomfortable, and made them withdraw. And so [in class] I’m constantly wondering, is [changing how I speak] something that I need to do?

Several of the participants agreed and expressed that the presence of racial privilege in a discussion about racial oppression would compromise the openness of the dialogue.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS CROSS-RACIAL MODEL

The women’s voices reiterate the need to include critical interracial dialogues in the education of teachers of color. However, there are several limitations in the application of this study that are important to note. Teacher education programs and schools do not always have balanced racial demographics where all racial minority teachers can feel equally represented in the conversation; thus, dialogues would not be equal between racial and ethnic groups as they were in this study. Additionally, urban school contexts are often plagued with urgent issues and limited resources; thus, there is rarely the personnel to facilitate intimate dialogues with small groups of teachers or the time to explore personal histories and experiences. Even with these limitations, it is important to consider what aspects of the interracial dialogue highlighted in this study can by recreated in both teacher education programs and school-based professional development.

First, creating independent spaces for white teachers and teachers of color to discuss racial privilege and oppression can enhance racial awareness. Similar to the data presented here, Picower (2006) documented dialogues with white teachers about race and racism and suggests that white teachers were perhaps more open and honest about their racial privilege in racially insular settings. Based on these findings, it may be productive for teacher education programs or schools to separate white teachers and teachers of color for dialogues about race and then bring them back together to debrief the discussions. This could be done as a one-time workshop or as an ongoing series.

Second, teacher education programs and schools should be committed to hiring diverse faculty and administrators with a comfort in facilitating conversations on race and racism. Often, teacher education programs and schools operate without a clear definition of social justice (Cochran- Smith, 2004; Kohli, 2009). As revealed through the power of the dialogues, teacher education should include diverse faculty that are equipped to guide critical discussions about racial injustice. Likewise schools must provide professional development opportunities by diverse school leaders with similar expertise.

Third, teachers of color have unique insights about racial inequality in schools that should be acknowledged and built upon within their learning (Kohli, 2008, 2009). Building on Freire’s (1970) framework, teachers must reflect on their experiences and those of other oppressed people to develop a critical consciousness. Paired with CRT, critical interracial dialogue about race in schools can support the development of critical consciousness in teachers of color, which can enhance their critical and cross-racial classroom practice.

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CONCLUSION

Paulo Freire (1970) theorizes that only through critical dialogue can oppressed people develop a critical consciousness. As CRT emphasizes, because of the reality of race in their lives, there is a need for teachers of color to discuss their racial oppression (Freire, 1970; Martinez, 2000; Kohli, 2009). This study connects these models to provide a space for critical interracial dialogue among teachers of color. The teachers expressed that reflecting in a multiracial setting allowed them to improve their cross-cultural understanding and to understand racism as a larger system of oppression. In addition, these reflections inspired them to apply cross-racial lenses to their curriculum and pedagogy. Because racially representative teachers are important to the academic and emotional well-being of youth of color (Sleeter, 2008; Sleeter & McLaren, 1995; Kohli, 2008), teacher education programs and schools must not only acknowledge and appreciate the wealth of their experiences but must also support their development to navigate the racial climate of schools and successfully teach in diverse classrooms.

NOTE

1. The terms black and African American are used throughout this paper to reference people of African descent. African American refers to people with a historical connection to the United States, while black references a broader diasporic community. In the presentation of data, some participants subscribed to one label or another, while others used the terms interchangablely. The use of these terms in reference to participants is guided by their self-designation.

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Rita Kohli is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Urban Education and Pre-teaching pathway of the Liberal Studies Program at Santa Clara University. She researches urban education, teacher education, racial justice, race relations in schools, critical race theory, and internalized racism.

APPENDIX A

Participants’ Demographic Data

Name Group Ethnicity K-12 School Demographics Grade/Subject

Alexis 2 African American White private middle school/black and Latino HS

Black and Latina/o high school/English

Ashley 1 Black, African American Predominantly white Predominantly black middle school/science

Catherine 2 Taiwanese American Middle-class predominantly Asian Latina/o high school/math Carolina 2 Mexican American Working-class Latino

elementary/predominantly white suburban high school

Predominantly Latina/o elementary

Deanna 2 Black, African American Predominantly Asian American elementary/predominantly black HS

Predominantly black elementary

Elaine 2 Korean American Predominantly Asian American schools

Latina/o and Asian American elementary

Janet 2 Mexican American Predominantly white elementary/Latina/o & Filipino middle and high school

Predominantly Latina/o elementary/ESL

JoAnn 1 Chicana Working-class Latino Predominantly Latina/o elementary/ESL

Juliana 1 Chicana Working-class black Black and Latina/o high school/English (same HS she attended)

Kimmy 1 Japanese American Predominantly white Latina/o, black and Asian high school/math

Imani 1 Black, Ugandan/African American

Diverse middle-class Latina/o and black high school/social studies

Sonia 1 South Asian Upper-middle-class white Latina/o and black high school/social studies

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