Conceptualizing Anti-Racist Social Work Pedagogy: Practical Ideas for Increasing Faculty Reflexivity, Capacity, and Ability

Overview: What does anti-racist pedagogy actually look like in social work education? This presentation explores a practical conceptual framework with tools for social work faculty, who like me, desire to evolve their anti-racist pedagogy with increased awareness, knowledge, and skills.Proposal text: A significant body of research suggests that faculty in higher education lack the training, tools, and collaboration to be effective anti-racist educators (Abrams & Moio, 2009; Deepak, 2015; Diggles, 2014; Haynes, 2017; Hollinrake et al., 2019; Kandaswamy, 2007; Kishimoto, 2018; Olcón et al., 2020; Wagner, 2005; Werman et al., 2019). If social work faculty are to raise student anti-racist awareness, knowledge, and skills, then they must first raise their own anti-racist awareness, knowledge, and skills. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to present a new framework for faculty to consider as they evolve their anti-racist pedagogy. Rooted in Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Whiteness Studies, (CWS), the framework offers practical ideas for building faculty reflexivity, capacity, and ability in anti-racist social work pedagogy.

This paper presentation will begin with an author note about social positionality and will then shift into exploring the argument: If social work faculty are to raise student anti-racist awareness, knowledge, and skills, then they must first raise their own anti-racist awareness, knowledge, and skills. It will explore research outlining faculty and student perceptions of faculty’s awareness, knowledge, and skills in anti-racist pedagogy. Then, the presentation will explore Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) as theoretical foundations for the framework. The majority of the presentation will center on the Anti-Racist Pedagogical Framework.

The Anti-Racist Pedagogical Framework is an organized compilation of social work scholarship, scholarship from other disciplines, and the voices of experts who have been historically excluded from academic publishing. The Framework centers around building faculty reflexivity (awareness), increasing faculty capacity (knowledge), and scaffolding faculty ability (skills). The presentation will explore practical tools for building faculty reflexivity such as acknowledging racial identity, applying racial consciousness, activating self-awareness, assessing values, and adopting humility. It will also explore practical tools for increasing faculty capacity such as faculty preparation, professional development, processing space, and policies and supports. Lastly, the presentation will conclude with practical tools for scaffolding faculty ability to facilitate anti-racist pedagogy such as building intentional class culture and structure, braving collaborative learning, and banking on resistance.

The drafts of the 2022 CSWE EPAS contain significant shifts toward explicit and implicit curriculum and competencies focused on anti-racist, diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the literature suggests that many social work faculty have not received adequate information about oppression, race, racism, and anti-racism, nor have many received training on how to teach constructively about oppression, race, racism, and anti-racism (Diggles, 2014; Haynes, 2017; Hollinrake, 2019; Kishimoto, 2018; Knowles & Hawkman, 2019; Nicotera & Kang, 2009; Olcón et al., 2020; Van Soest, 1996; Werman et al., 2019). A 2019 study of social work faculty revealed that 27% of social work faculty self-report being prepared to teach a course on CRT, 66% are not prepared, and 3% do know what CRT is (Werman et al., 2019). Those who attend this presentation may gain practical tools for how to evolve their own anti-racist pedagogy so that they can equip future social workers with anti-racist awareness, knowledge, and skills.