Teaching uncritically maintains a status quo that harms children of color

Evidence

Engaging students in critical conversations about the books they read, and in this case relative to social studies books that are assigned to them, encourages questioning their own assumptions, insists on pushing back against the status quo, and fosters a desire to action. Critical literacy leads to conscientization or a critical consciousness, which leads to the understanding of one’s world and being able to take action against oppressive forces (Freire, 1970). Not teaching critically is helping to maintain the status quo that is particularly harmful to children of color. Davis and Sumara (1999) put it this way, “For us, complicity compels acknowledgement by those who dwell in the sacrosanct, unquestioned center that they too are thoroughly implicated in the unfolding of our cultural world—with all its inequities, injustices, and scabrous edges” (p. 28). — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 614

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Freire’s own Pedagogy of the Oppressed (conscientization) and to the broader literature on critical pedagogy and critical literacy across this reading list. — connects to: Apparent classroom neutrality can feel unsafe to students of color — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as…, 86; Children absorb their teachers’ racism through internalized pedagogies of observation — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed:…, 244; Standardized early childhood curricula encode a white-supremacist moral color hierarchy — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed:…, 260 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• School curricula encode racial hierarchies that erase children of Color’s culture. #expands (0.87) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 260
• Teacher preparation gaps allow racism to reproduce through early childhood classrooms #expands (0.86) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 243
• Standardized early childhood curricula encode a white-supremacist moral color hierarchy #expands (0.85) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 260
• Apparent classroom neutrality can feel unsafe to students of color #corroborates (0.82) — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, 86
• Children absorb their teachers’ racism through internalized pedagogies of observation #corroborates (0.78) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 244
• Racial bias distorts early childhood schooling outcomes for children of color #corroborates (0.78) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 261
• Children absorbed racist hierarchy by enacting it in play before understanding it #qualifies (0.74) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 455
• Racism is learned at school, not innate #complicates (0.72) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1108
• Schools fail racial minorities through neglect and hostile climates #expands (0.72)