The ways in which my understanding of Race, Culture and Diversity has shaped my practice
After 12 years of working in the racially and ethnically diverse districts of Oak Park and River Forest and Leyden District 212, I have used Critical Race Theory (CRT) to better understand my social context and shape an effective educational practice. Critical Race Theory attempts to expose long-term, systemic patterns of inequity that have become nearly invisible to dominant populations. CRT is especially relevant in social contexts that self-identify as "progressive."
Many Americans define racism through the lens of the Civil Rights era, focusing their definition on racist actions instead of racist systems. Because of this, some tend to minimize the impact of race in the modern world, especially the ways in which the paradigm of race works to their own personal benefit, an idea known as “white privilege.” In the field of education, CRT not only explores these patterns of hidden inequity, it also critiques the effects of educational approaches such as colorblindness and multiculturalism.
In her book "Other people’s children: cultural conflict in the classroom," Lisa Delpit (1995) explains the intricacies of adopting a classroom culture that contributes to the success of non-white students. She explains the propensity for teachers to unknowingly contribute to "alienation and miscommunication" through their lack of understanding regarding the effects of institutionalized racism (p.24). Delpit believes that teachers and students need to explicitly engage in discussions about the "culture of power" that silently exists within society and even the classroom. According to Delpit (1995), to empower all children requires explicit conversations about "the rules of the culture that make acquiring power easier" (p. 24).
White teachers cannot rely on their own definitions of what is "normal" and hope to help students. Delpit explains that those with power are the least likely to acknowledge the existence of the culture of power and its rules in the first place. To effectively work with struggling, nonwhite student populations, teachers must learn about theory and about themselves.
