Cyndi Kernahan

Hard to believe, but I read this a couple of months ago, before “critical race theory” was the latest scareword for conservatives. Makes a fascinating distinction between teaching (which strives to enable students to be able to understand and apply concepts) and behavior change (which teaching often can’t produce and arguably shouldn’t try for). Because of their different goals, employee diversity training and teaching about race may need to do different things, even if they rely on the same knowledge base about racism. Argues against spending time debunking myths like colorblindness in favor of emphasizing a counterstory about structural racism, since debunking can often just reinforce myths. Also suggests affirming students’ own identities (while not accepting views that contradict reality) as a way of making them more willing to think about structural bias, including by having them think about an axis on which they are disadvantaged. A “growth mindset” also helps counter the shame and guilt that white students often feel, which can, if not overcome, induce them to stop learning to protect their self-concepts.… (más)