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White Privilege Awareness Resources

August 2, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

As an educator and author committed to social justice, I offer a curated list of resources to help raise and extend awareness of white privilege. Feel free to share, cite, and use these resources. If you have a resource to suggest, please contact me.

General Resources

15-minute introductory video of Camara Jones’ TED talk on race and racism.
Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy Macintosh is an introductory checklist to raise awareness for beginners
White Awake by pastor Daniel Hill (2017). He gently helps white people realize they have a culture and what it means. He comes from a Christian point of view. He also explains his approach in a series of short videos.

Courses

Waking Up to Whiteness. Dharma and Racism Study Curriculum. Course materials for collective self-study coming from a non-denominational Buddhist perspective: http://bit.ly/29WiTSx
Healing White Toxicity by Sandra Kim and other trainers: https://compassionateactivism.leadpages.co/htw-program-jan-2017
Article introducing the Healing White Toxicity online course: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/toxic-whiteness-healing-white-people-internalised-racism-woman-sandra-kim-new-york-a7595216.html
WhiteAwake.org is an online platform and network of trainers focused on educating people socialized as “white”. They offer workshops, consultations, and resources for self-study.

U.S.-Specific Resources

What Does It Mean to Be White?: Developing White Racial Literacy by Robin di Angelo (2012). She publishes a website with more resources at: https://robindiangelo.com
Waking Up White: Finding Myself in The Story of Race by Debbie Irving (2014). In her TED talk, she explains the intersection of individual and institutional racism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5nqN8tmfok . She publishes a website with many resources at: www.debbieirving.com including a 21-day racial equity habit building challenge
Lori Lakin Hutcherson publisher of Good Black News offers insight to first-time questions about what it means to have white privilege on her blog: http://www.onbeing.org/blog/what-i-said-when-my-white-friend-asked-for-my-black-opinion-on-white-privilege/
White Like Me by Tim Wise (2011). He also publishes resources at: http://www.timwise.org/books-and-dvds/white-like-me/

Teaching-Specific Resources

Everyday Antiracism by Mica Pollock (2008). This book includes essays from 70 scholars aimed at raising awareness of white privilege.
Schooltalk by Mica Pollock (2017) shows us how our words matter in how we replicate and reproduce white privilege, knowingly or not. Likewise, language is a powerful tool for raising awareness of inequality and changing how we respond.
“I don’t want to hear that: Legitimizing whiteness through silence in schools” by Angelina Castagno (2008). This article stems from original research and explains the dynamics of White privilege and silencing race talk.

Creative Solution that Motivates Students to Turn in Lab Reports

April 2, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

Teaching a group of diverse and high-needs learners chemistry in San Diego near the U.S. border with Mexico, I encountered a vexing problem: students loved to do lab and hated to write lab reports. In fact, most never turned them in. I couldn’t ignore it because lab reports give students an important opportunity to develop critical thinking and communication skills. So I generated an innovative solution that increases the turn-in rate while also supporting students with learning challenges, including students with disabilities and those who speak English as a second language. Find out more in the April 1, 2018, issue of The Science Teacher.

Ask the Right Questions About Online Doctoral Programs

April 1, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

Thinking about going back to school and earning your doctoral degree? If so, it is important to ask the right questions. There are a growing number of online doctoral programs available.

I recently shopped for an online doctorate in the field of education. Very quickly I realized that the usual ranking systems (i.e., US News) do not apply. Many brand-name schools are rolling programs with high price tags, and the quality of these programs varies widely.

Two essential aspects of doctoral work are funding and advising. It’s essential to be clear on both. Before committing, here is a starter list of questions to ask a about an online doctoral degree program:

Is there departmental or university-based funding for online doctoral students that does NOT have to be repaid?
How many students will be admitted to the program this year?
How many students were admitted to the program last year?
How many faculty members advise the online doctoral students? (You do the math here to derive the student-to-faculty ratio. Ideally, you want a number less than 10.)
Am I guaranteed a faculty member as my primary advisor? (Some programs outsource primary advising and then provide what they term “co-advising” with a faculty member. You do not want this, unless you really know who you will be working with.)
How does program handle issues and difficulties that arise with remote advising?
How many students dropped out of this specific program last year? (Alternately, ask how many students dropped out in each of the past few cohorts, depending on how long the program has been up and running.)
How many students graduated from this specific program last year?
What happens if I need to take a break?
What are the face-to-face meeting requirements?

Think of something else important to ask? Please share your comments.