Many thanks to speakers Dr. Phyllis Ryder, Iman Lee, and Najya A. Williams, who shared insights from their podcast, "Leading with Intention."
The podcast examines how racial identity impacts classroom dynamics in community-engaged courses. Lee, Williams, and others involved in this podcast were students in Dr. Ryder's University Writing course. Wanting to better understand the experience of students of color in her community-engaged scholarship courses, Ryder invited them to share their experiences and explore ways to create more inclusive learning environments that better serve students of color.
Zoom Recording Available Here.
Main points discussed:
- Changing content alone is not sufficient to create an anti-racist classroom. Having discussions about racism can sometimes make things harder for students of color who must listen to white students process their understanding of racism.
- Students differ in the roles they want to play in the classroom, even week to week. Some students want to speak up and challenge problematic perspectives, while others prefer not to take on that responsibility.
- The common metaphors of "border crossing" or "going home" don't fully capture the experiences of all students in community work. Many students exist in an "in-between" space that requires a more nuanced understanding.
- Writing assignments and course design should avoid always positioning white audiences as the default readers/listeners. Students of color should have opportunities to write for and engage with multiple audiences.
- Teachers need to be mindful of unconsciously creating a single "successful" model for how students of color should engage with community work and classroom discussions about race.
Resources Shared By Presenters and Participants
- Beverly Daniel Tatum's article on Racial Identity Development
- "Service Learning as a Pedagogy of Whiteness" by Tinia Mitchell, David Donahue, and Courtney Young-Law
- Leading with Intention podcast (available on Spotify)
- "My Grandmother's Hands" book reference for trauma-informed teaching
- Teaching resources: Code Switch (NPR) and The 19th
- The Race Card Project by Michele Norris as a teaching tool
This event was part of the Nashman Center's series, Conversations on Community Engaged Scholarship. Join us soon for our next event.
