When having difficult conversations with students we must approach this work with intellectual rigor, ethical reflection, and emotional engagement.

WEC has developed this page to highlight some effective strategies and multi-media materials, to support teachers, youth workers, and everyone who wants to engage in classroom conversations about race in the United States.

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Strategies

1. Interactive series of research-based guides to help educators support student well-being

   The Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy recently published a “Back-to-School Blueprint” guide that features research, videos, and other key resources that aim to heal trauma, build community resilience, and support student success.

2. Creating a “Brave” Space for Civil Discourse

   Fostering civil discourse is a necessity in today’s classroom and the implications and consequences of how well that is done determine how well students when they become adults, can build well-adjusted, productive, and inclusive families and communities.

   Facing History and Ourselves help us to understand how we can use the lessons of history and current events to stand up to bigotry and hate. Read the full educator reference sheet, “How do we talk about issues that matter?"

3. How to Encourage Students to Speak Up in School

   When you hear biased remarks from parents, peers or even administrators, don't just stand by—stand up! This guide can help you remember how in the heat of the moment. Get your anti-bullying practices guide at Teaching Tolerance.

4. Teaching About the Violence at the Capitol

   The Shine Initiative published a resource document to help facilitate discussions that may arise as students attempt to process the most recent events that have transpired in our nation’s capital. The document includes Tips for Setting the Stage for these Conversations, Elementary Teaching Ideas, Secondary Teaching Ideas, SEL Considerations  and Adult Collective Care.

5. How to talk about social inequality and discrimination

   This guide, Teaching Tolerance guide: Let’s Talk!, offers classroom-ready strategies you can use to plan discussions and to facilitate these conversations with your students.

   Educators play a crucial role in helping students talk openly about the historical roots and contemporary manifestations of social inequality and discrimination. Learning how to communicate about such topics as white privilege, police violence, economic inequality, and mass incarceration requires practice, and facilitating critical conversations with students demands courage and skill.

6. Talking to Children About Violence

   It starts with listening to the concerns of our students, especially those who worry about violence against their community and family. The 2-page document by the National Association of School Psychologists provides suggestions for parents and educators.

   Let’s reassure students that schools and teachers can hold space for their fear and curiosity.

Developing Anti-Racist Practices in the classroom

race, systems of inequality, and history in America

Ed Trust’s writer-in-residence Karin Chenoweth and director of practice Tanji Reed Marshall try to get a handle on what teachers are actually teaching in the classroom.

Conversations with students about race

• For educators:

  Implement a lesson plan to discuss hate crimes & micro-aggressions with high school students. In this lesson plan, students will discuss the different types of micro-aggressions and have students analyze their effects on minority groups in society. View free lesson plan materials, instructions, and discussion questions here.

Childhood Development & Media Consumption

Additional Resources

• Speaking Up Against Racism Around the Coronavirus

The spread of the new coronavirus has become racialized, so it’s critical that educators understand the historical context and confront racist tropes and xenophobia from students and colleagues.

• Bystander Intervention Training to Stop Anti-Asian/American and Xenophobic Harassment

In response to the rise in Anti-Asian/American and xenophobic harassment, we at Hollaback! partnered with Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC to adapt our free bystander intervention training as well as offering a de-escalation training to meet this moment.

• Resources For Teachers On the Days After the Attack On the U.S. Capitol

  We certainly don’t have all the answers but it is crucial to hold space for conversations about what happened on the U.S. capitol. Silence is not an option. Let’s listen and guide our students.

• 8 Ways Teachers Can Address White Supremacy in the Classroom

In this article, Tanner Higgin explores strategies that can be implemented in the classroom to support students as they unpack racial issues. Higgin says that "In the absence of honest conversations about race, it festers like a wound. It's more important than ever to have these tough conversations with our students."

• Discussing White Privilege in an All-White Class Is Uncomfortable. Do It Anyway

"Many students associate whiteness with guilt for their own privilege, shame for historical atrocities or fear of discrediting personal achievements—not with the opportunity for allyship. Not surprisingly, students need practice and support in shifting this mindset. My job, as an educator, is to give them the opportunity to consider anti-racist perspectives."

• Uncomfortable Conversations by Marquis Taylor, Coaching for Change

  Please take a moment to read Marquis' recent blog post, Uncomfortable Conversations, that reflects on how to talk to kids about important, yet often painful, topics. Click here to read and explore other blog posts by Marquis.

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