But What Can I Do?": Three Necessary Tensions in Teaching in Teaching Teachers about Race
- Yemi S.
- May 8, 2021
- 1 min read
The first time I heard the term "Antiracism" was when I read the book "Everyday Antiracism: Getting Real about Race in School (2008)."
In 2010, Pollock et al. published an article, "But What Can I Do?": Three Necessary Tensions in Teaching in Teaching Teachers about Race," which discusses findings from a course offering to pre-service teachers to investigate issues of racial diversity and inequity in schools.
The full text of the article can be downloaded here.
My takeaways from this article are that teachers invested in Equity are wise to focus their inquiry on the issues of practical, structural, AND personal readiness not merely as a pathway to effective, equitable teaching but also for their own wellbeing and sense of efficacy. I see this article as just as relevant today as it was when first published, and I encourage all who are interested in racial Equity to review. We should actively and willfully engage with these tensions not by quelling questions but by encouraging them.
