Teaching/Learning Anti-Racism: A Developmental Approach

Louise Derman-Sparks and Carol Brunson Phillips have been teaching anti-racism to adults for over 20 years. Based on their real classroom experience, Teaching/Learning Anti-Racism offers us a guide to the development of anti-racist identity, awareness, and behavior. By integrating methodology and course content descriptions with student writings and analyses of students’ growth, the book highlights the interaction between teaching and learning. Organized chronologically from the first to the last class, the text describes how each session contributed to the students’ fascinating journey from pro-racist consciousness to active anti-racism.

This volume is much more than a curriculum guide for implementing anti-racism education with adults. Here, the authors, one White and one African American, also share their experiences—the successes, the failures, the difficulties, and, most important, what they learned from their students.

Teaching/Learning Anti-Racism provides both a “how-to” and a conceptual framework to help teachers and trainers adapt anti-racism education for their programs.

“A must-read for any teacher interested in helping children ‘talk the talk’ of multiculturalism and equity.”
—Teaching Tolerance

“These authors offer us enlightenment, potential directions for action, and a level of hope.”
—Multicultural Review

“Any educators wishing to encourage anti-racist attitudes on the part of their colleagues will find this book valuable.”
—Rethinking Schools