ARIE Research Update: Anti-Racism Workshops and Strategies for Inclusive Classrooms

 Anti-racism: “an active and consistent process of change to eliminate individual, institutional, and systemic racism as well as the injustice racism causes”. 

 (District School Board of Niagara)

With a commitment to education and community-building, the team at CREAN has organized a series of adult and youth-led workshops and discussions related to anti-racism in BC schools. These workshops are designed to better inform middle and high school educators about effective anti-racist practices, tools for addressing racist incidents, and strategies for implementing anti-racist initiatives in the curriculum and classrooms. The workshops build on the ARIE findings collected since 2018, and cover a diverse range of topics such as: 

  • The importance of anti-racism in classrooms

  • Black student experiences in Victoria

  • Bystander intervention in an educational context

  • Principles of inclusive education

  • Culturally responsive lesson planning that embraces students’ cultures, experiences, and backgrounds, and relates them to classroom learning 

  • Tools and resources for educators to engage in anti-racism initiatives

 

What does anti-racism in education look like? 

Anti-racist education and anti-racist schooling cannot be condensed into a neatly defined structure or a predetermined set of steps, criteria, or methods. Educators committed to anti-racist principles must confront their own beliefs, perspectives, ideologies, and prejudices concerning the world, education, and the students they engage with (Pitts, 2020). Anti-racism education is crucial in overcoming the obstacles racialized students face on a daily basis and ensuring their success in the school system. Anti-racism education requires educators to play their part in establishing an educational system that is fair and devoid of racial discrimination (Dei et al., 2021). 

The importance of anti-racist training

Anti-racism workshops are vital tools in the fight against racism. They offer a structured and empathetic environment for participants to engage in meaningful conversations, confront implicit and unconscious biases on race and racism, and develop strategies to combat it. Our anti-racism training is designed to provide educators with actionable strategies and practical tools and resources that they can take back to their classrooms, ultimately enhancing the educational experiences of racialized students and promoting a more inclusive learning environment.

Some next steps

We've gathered a variety of inclusive materials for both educators and students - below are some examples pulled from our workshop slides. 

To access the list of resources we share after workshops, please see the pdf link below.

If you would like to organize anti-racism training at your school, please contact us at hello@creansociety.org

Hanah Labra