| Race has been and continues
to be central to educational thought and practice
The dialogue about multiculturalism, race, and race relations
has focused predominantly on members of visible racial/ethnic
groups and immigrants
Much of the debate and dialogue has ignored racially based
social scientific paradigms that undergird education - inferiority,
cultural deprivation, and cultural difference
Race has been subsumed under the rubric of ethnicity and
cultural
Race and Demographic Factors:
By the year 2050: two thirds of the U.S. population will
consist of visible racial/ethnic group members or people of
color
Currently: 35% of school children are of color
Students of color constitute more than 70% of total school
enrollments in 20 of the country’s largest school districts
96% of new teachers are white
97% of new teachers speak one language - English
Until recently (1970’s) there has been no useful and
complex way to understand race and its impact on human interaction
We have been stuck with social and demographic definitions
that infer emotional, behavioral and attitudinal characteristics,
with little room for within group variability
Racial identity, one’s psychological orientation to
his/her group membership, allows for a more complex way to
grapple with racial issues
Racial identity includes all groups on equal terms and accounts
for both group and individual complexity
Visible racial/ethnic group members have different educational
experience related to their minority status. Voluntary immigrants
generally have a more positive experience than non-voluntary
members
African Americans may have to deny their race in order to
achieve academically. They may have to unlearn or modify their
own cultural styles in order to remain competitive
Understanding Racial Identity provides a valuable approach
to exploring the impact of race in education.
Understanding Psychological Race: Racial Identity
Racial identity is the quality or manner of an individual’s
psychological identification with a racial group.
How one views, or understands members of their own racial
group and understands members of other racial groups.
Includes consideration of other domains of difference such
as gender, social class, ethnicity, etc.
Racial identity development is a life-long process that begins
during childhood and requires resolutions throughout one’s
life.
Racial identity is an aspect of one’s personality.
Racial Identity: Applications to Education:
Racial identity development affects the way in which cultural
knowledge and style are defined and valued.
Educators with poorly developed levels of racial identity
can marginalize children's cultural differences in subtle,
unconscious ways despite well-intentioned behavior.
Visible racial/ethnic group students with low levels of racial
identity could sabotage their academic success by: (A) denying
their own racial heritage, by (B) adopting behaviors that
put them in conflict with schools and school success.
High levels of racial identity can improve the education
of children of color and can be used to transform school curricula
and teaching
Educators with low levels of racial identity development:
– Might view multicultural education as "minority
education".
– Might be unable to recognize within-group differences
among non-Whites and Whites.
Might perceive children of color to be "at-risk".
Racial Identity Theory: Implications for Practice,
Policy, and Research:
Educators need to understand their own levels of racial identity
development in order to change their perceptions and expectations
of children of color.
Racial identity models should be incorporated into teacher
education programs.
The task of developing effective skill, competence, and awareness
about race and culture is something all educators must undertake.
Racial group membership alone is not equivalent to racial
identification or cultural knowledge or understanding.
Educators can strengthen interracial interactions with students
and begin to work equitably with diverse school populations
by understanding how racial identity resolutions apply to
them.
Racial identity development needs to become a conceptual
framework under-girding the creation and implementation of
curricula.
The aims of multicultural education will be able
to shift from knowledge of others to knowledge of self.
This reassessment is important to ensure that current policies
do not evolve from low levels of racial identity and unintentionally
maintain and promote inferiority and deprivation doctrines.
Low levels of racial identity development on the part of
policy makers may be one explanation for why inadequate resources
continue to be allocated.
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