Courageous Conversations about Race : A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools

by Glenn E. Singleton

• ISBN13: 9780761988779
• ISBN10: 0761988777
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-18
• Publisher: Corwin Pr

Summary

Examining the achievement gap through the prism of race, this comprehensive text explains the need for candid, courageous conversations about race so that educators may understand why performance inequity persists, and learn how they can develop a curriculum that promotes true academic parity. To help guide policy analysis and instructional reform, the authors present a systemwide plan for transforming schools and districts.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Gloria Ladson-Billings
Preface	xiii
Acknowledgments	xix
About the Authors	xxi
Breaking the Silence: Ushering in Courageous Conversation About Race	1	(10)
The Racial Achievement Gap	2	(4)
Three Critical Factors	6	(1)
The Strategy of Courageous Conversation	7	(4)
PART I. PASSION: AN ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTIC OF ANTI-RACIST LEADERSHIP	11	(58)
What's So Courageous About This Conversation?	13	(12)
Courageous Conversation	15	(6)
A Difficult Conversation	21	(4)
Why Race?	25	(28)
The Problem of the Color Line	26	(3)
The Racial Gap	29	(4)
Race as a Factor in Education	33	(5)
Dealing With Race	38	(1)
Establishing Common Language Around Race	39	(8)
Do We Have the Will?	47	(6)
Agreeing to Talk About Race	53	(16)
Racial Consciousness	54	(4)
Four Agreements of Courageous Conversation	58	(11)
PART II. PRACTICE: THE FOUNDATION OF ANTI-RACIST LEADERSHIP	69	(142)
The First Condition: Getting Personal Right Here and Right Now	73	(14)
Personal, Local, and Immediate	74	(1)
The Impact of Race on My Life	75	(3)
Degree of Racial Consciousness	78	(1)
Racial Consciousness Versus Racial Unconsciousness	78	(9)
Racial Autobiography: Curtis Linton	82	(5)
The Second Condition: Keeping the Spotlight on Race	87	(18)
Isolating Race	88	(6)
Unpacking Race	94	(11)
Racial Autobiography: Glenn Singleton	101	(4)
The Third Condition: Engaging Multiple Racial Perspectives	105	(12)
Social Construction of Knowledge	106	(2)
Surfacing Critical Perspectives	108	(9)
Racial Autobiography: Ann	113	(4)
The Fourth Condition: Keeping Us All at the Table	117	(40)
Interracial Dialogue	119	(8)
Creating Safety	127	(8)
The Courageous Conversation Compass	135	(22)
Racial Autobiography: Supriya	154	(3)
The Fifth Condition: What Do You Mean by ``Race''?	157	(24)
A Brief History of Race	158	(9)
A Working Definition of Race	167	(14)
Racial Autobiography: Katheryn	178	(3)
The Sixth Condition: Let's Talk About Whiteness	181	(30)
White Is a Color	182	(1)
White Privilege	183	(6)
White Is a Culture	189	(2)
White Consciousness	191	(5)
Whiteness as Examined in the Five Conditions	196	(7)
White Racial Identity Development	203	(8)
Racial Autobiography: Chris	208	(3)
PART III. PERSISTENCE: THE KEY TO ANTI-RACIST LEADERSHIP	211	(54)
How Anti-Racist Leaders Close the Achievement Gap	213	(12)
Invisibility Versus Hypervisibility	214	(3)
Understanding Students of Color Within a White School	217	(3)
Understanding Institutionalized White Racism	220	(3)
The Injustice of Gradualism and Incremental Change	223	(2)
Exploring a Systemic Framework for Closing the Racial Achievement Gap	225	(14)
A Vision of Equity	226	(2)
Systemic Equity Anti-Racism Transformation	228	(11)
Using Courageous Conversation to Achieve Equity in Schools	239	(26)
Personal Anti-Racist/Equity Leadership	240	(2)
Individual Teacher Anti-Racist/Equity Leadership	242	(1)
Whole School Anti-Racist/Equity Leadership	243	(2)
Systemic Anti-Racist/Equity Leadership	245	(1)
Lemon Grove Unified School District: A Case Study	245	(16)
Anti-Racist Leadership	261	(4)
Resource: Racism and the Achievement Gap	265	(6)
Julian Weissglass
References	271	(4)
Index	275