An exploration of social justice, racism, privilege and power to support teachers in constructing inclusive curriculum and anti-racism pedagogies.
Explore the concepts, activities and assessment tasks below or use the Get Started button to work through the content in the suggested sequence.
Race is a way of classifying people into groups based on physical characteristics. These groups are socially constructed and there is no evidence to support biological ideas of races.'More than a century's worth of biological study has failed to explain folk-racial categories in terms of genetic categories. This failure is due in large part to the well-documented fact that, as with any differences between human populations, the genetic differences within folk-racial categories range over a distribution that is larger than the average genetic differences between these categories' (Clough & Loges 2008, p. 81).
Race is a socially constructed category that positions people in different ways so that some people have access to more resources and power than others. To avoid the trap of reifying race as biological entity, many authors write 'race' (using single quotation marks) rather than race, to indicate that the concept is problematic (Nado Aveling, Murdoch University).You will examine race as a social construct and how whiteness is positioned as the norm against which everything else is measured. This becomes the backdrop to teachers becoming better equipped to construct an anti-racism pedagogy and an inclusive curriculum that addresses racism, ethnicity and discrimination. If social justice seeks to provide "equitable outcomes to marginalised groups by recognising past disadvantage and existence of structural barriers embedded in the social, economic and political system that perpetuate systemic discrimination" then our focus must be on those groups of students who are served least well by our schools.[1] Use Peggy McIntosh's 'White Privilege Checklist'—found within The Invisible Knapsack video—to consider the privileges that apply to you or that you have encountered.
Social justice is concerned with the ways in which benefits and burdens are distributed among the members of a society. This includes the fairness in which a society provides, protects and recognises the means and qualities individuals require to both determine a conception of, and live, a good life.There are many methods that scholars use to evaluate the extent to which a society is just, most of which seek to assess the quality or wellbeing of individuals in that society. For example, indicators used include: observance of/adherence to declarations of human rights, Gross National Product per capita (GDP), Gross National Happiness (GNH), Social Progress Index, OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) Better Life Index, Human Development Index and so on. Most of these involve measuring levels of one or more of the following indicators in relation to either, or both, the national average or the individual person: material wealth, income, employment, health, safety and security, education, equality and opportunities to exercise valued human capabilities.
On many important indicators, the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, which can be considered as arising through no personal fault of the individuals reported in the statistics, can be considered a social injustice. Closing the gap in the achievement of such indicators is considered a social justice imperative. The Prime Minister's Closing the Gap Report documents the progress made on targets set by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2008
https://www.dpmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/closing_the_gap_report_2016.pdf
In their summary of anti-racism strategies that work, Pedersen, Walker, Rapley, & Wise (2003, p. 5) state: [T]he literature suggests that the best possible strategy for combating racism is multi-faceted, and developed in accordance with the specific and local circumstances of the community for which it is intended.
[A] dynamic, iterative and consultative approach, using both ‘top-down’ strategies (e.g., community or institutionally instigated action, such as advertising campaigns targeting specific actions or behaviours.
An example of this approach is the successful HIV/AIDS prevention Grim Reaper campaign) and ‘bottom-up’ strategies (e.g., addressing specific racist behaviours), is more likely to succeed than are replications of ‘one-size fits all’ programs, without due regard for local community concerns and political sensitivities around the issues of entitlement, dispossession, racism and prejudice.
Multicultural education is not a discrete learning area, or simply the provision of Languages and English as an Additional Language (EAL).Multicultural education makes sure that all students have access to inclusive teaching and learning experiences. These experiences will allow students to successfully take part in a rapidly changing world where cross-cultural understanding and intercultural communication skills are essential. In a school context, and with the support of school policies and programs, multicultural education helps students develop:
Focus Area 1.3 Demonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds. Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate level)Schools should make sure multicultural perspectives are incorporated into all aspects of school life by:
Suggested readings for Topic 3: Countering racismFozdar, F, Wilding, R, & Hawkins, M 2009, 'Race and othering', in Race and ethnic relations, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Victoria, pp. 3–25.
Activity: Explore a range of Australian and international resources and media on race and racism.
Activity: Consider the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Activity: What does prejudice look like, feel like or sound like?
 |
 |
Activity: Choose a media story where race is the central issue in sport.In Australia, racism and the media are regularly entangled.
Activity: Whether a society is just involves thinking about what can be considered a good life and where the responsibility lies for achieving human wellbeing.
Reflect on your own life and what has influenced your wellbeing by responding to the following questions:
Activity: Explore notions of identity, whiteness, race and racism, and their impacts on learning and teaching.Analysing whiteness opens a theoretical space for teachers and students to articulate how their own racial identities have been shaped within a broader racist culture and what responsibilities they might assume for living in a present in which whites are accorded privileges and opportunities (though in complex and different ways) largely at the expense of other racial groups. (Giroux 1997, p. 314)
Activity: In groups choose a strategy that has been evaluated for its effectiveness in reducing prejudice and racism.'Anti-Racism – What works? An evaluation of the effectiveness of anti-racism strategies' https://www.nswtf.org.au/files/antiracism_what_works.pdf
How are your educational processes/practices linked to structural power relations along axes of socioeconomic, gender, racial and ethnic differences?
Focus Area 2.4: Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
Demonstrate broad knowledge of, understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages. Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Graduate teachers)
Congratulations! You have now completed all topics in Module 1.