Got Skillz? Recasting and Negotiating Racial Tension in Teacher–Student Relationships Amidst Shifting Demographics

Chonika Coleman-King, Valerie Adams-Bass, Keisha Bentley-Edwards, Duane Thomas, Celine Thompson, Ali Michael, Gwendolyn Miller, Bianka Charity-Parker and Howard Stevenson
Additional contact information
Chonika Coleman-King: College of Education, University of Florida, 2602B Norman Hall, P.O. Box 117048, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Valerie Adams-Bass: Department of Human Services, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, 405 Emmet Street, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
Keisha Bentley-Edwards: School of Medicine, SD Cook Center on Social Equity, Duke University, 2024 West Main Street, Box 104407, Durham, NC 27708, USA
Duane Thomas: Sheppard Pratt Health System, 6501 N Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21204, USA
Celine Thompson: Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, 405 Emmet Street, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
Ali Michael: Race Institute for K-12 Educators, P.O. Box 8836, Elkins Park, PA 19027, USA
Gwendolyn Miller: Addressing Racial Microaggressions, LLC, 27180 Barefoot Blvd., Millsboro, DE 19966, USA
Bianka Charity-Parker: School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, 405 Emmet Street, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
Howard Stevenson: Human Development and Quantitative Methods Division, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, 3700 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

Social Sciences, 2021, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-21

Abstract: This paper reports on a curriculum designed for Black students whose school teachers and administrators sought to address concerns about students’ academic underachievement and behavioral challenges. In order to design the curriculum, we examined Black students’ reactions to race- and academic-related stress as a result of their interactions with mostly White teachers and peers in an increasingly diversifying predominantly White, middle-class community. Grounded in principles of Racial Encounter Coping Appraisal and Socialization Theory (RECAST), a paradigm for understanding the racial coping strategies utilized by individuals to contend with racial stress and well-being, the study sought to elucidate racial tensions found in schooling relationships that foster racial disparities in classrooms. Specifically, our team conducted focus group sessions with Black parents and students which were guided by our use of the Cultural and Racial Experiences of Socialization Survey (CARES), a racial and ethnic socialization measure that elicits responses from students about the kinds of messages students receive about race and ethnicity from people parents and teachers. Data from the sessions subsequently informed the design of Let’s Talk? (LT), a racial conflict resolution curriculum for Black adolescents. In this paper, we share what we learned about students’ school experiences and coping mechanism through their participation in LT.

Keywords: education; racial justice; racial socialization; teacher education; Black children; middle school (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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