Facilitating Conversations about Race in the Classroom

Danielle Stewart · Martha Caldwell · Dietra Hawkins

Mar 2022 · Routledge

About this ebook

Learn how to facilitate conversations about race in the classroom, and why these discussions are such an important part of our work toward equity and justice. In this helpful book, Danielle Stewart, Martha Caldwell, and Dietra Hawkins cover everything from what you need to know to get started, to facilitation methods and techniques, to how to sustain your work. Drawing on their experience at iChange Collaborative, a group that works with schools across the country, the authors offer a plethora of compelling strategies and examples to help you hone your facilitation skills.

Specific topics include the importance of exploring your own identity, how to prepare yourselves and your classrooms for sensitive conversations, how to create class guidelines that create trust and allow vulnerability, and how to deliver explicit instruction in compassionate listening, sharing stories, and giving supportive feedback. The book also discusses the role of affinity groups in strengthening racial identities, building supportive relationships, and enhancing professional practices for educators of color and for race conscious white educators.

With the authors' practical advice, educators of all levels of experience and comfort levels will be able to address racial equity in schools or classrooms, so you can do your part to repair harm, educate, and ultimately transform society.

About the author

Danielle A. Stewart, EdD, is the president of iChange Collaborative. She is an innovative leader, organizer, educator, facilitator, and curriculum design expert in transformative racial equity education. She also established The Community Empowerment Foundation and In School Spirit to ignite positive school academic outcomes for students of color and pursue continued research in improving their experiences in school.

Martha Caldwell, MA, has 30 years of experience in education. She teaches, consults with schools, conducts seminars for teachers, and writes about education. Her interactive teaching method incorporates inquiry-based learning, social-emotional learning, identity formation (race, class, and gender) and ethics to achieve results that enhance empathy, stimulate critical thinking, and catalyze leadership development. She is a co-founder and director of iChange Collaborative.

Dietra Hawkins, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist. Since 2006, Dietra had worked internationally with K-12 schools, government organizations, and behavioral health agencies. She is an author and frequent speaker for workshops addressing appreciative approaches toward system change, recovery-oriented systems of care, asset-based community development and inclusion, and the healing of racism.