Scholarship in teacher education reflects study abroad as established pedagogy and part of 'best practices' in preparing K-12 teachers for diverse classrooms. Three discourses dominate the literature to affirm the positive role of study abroad: (a) changing White preservice teachers' perceptions of self and others; (b) increasing their…

This paper reports on efforts by three Australian academics to develop students' sociocultural awareness (in particular, their racial literacy) during a time of mounting pressure on teacher educators to narrow and standardise their approaches. The field of health education provides a vehicle for research; however, it is not the paper's central…

In this article, the author reflects on the 1988 article "The Silenced Dialogue," by Lisa Delpit, which described the lack of communication dividing Black and White educators when it comes to the issue of race, specifically due to the disparity between reliance on theory (White) and reliance on cultural understanding (Black). Nearly a…

Educational inequities persist in England today. Initial teacher educators are therefore charged with facilitating student teachers' understanding of the issues pertaining to such inequities so they may work to disrupt them. Two lecturers at opposite ends of England, both with overwhelmingly White student cohorts, have approached this undertaking…

The way in which anti-racist education is currently conceptualized and practiced holds very few benefits for students of color. By using whiteness theory and the politics of identity and difference, many educators have developed pedagogical interventions that are concerned with bringing white students into a consciousness about racism and white…

Syllabus and policy documents in many states and countries around the world, and more specifically in Queensland are underpinned by an emancipatory agenda, in particular the principles of social justice. Educators are called upon to achieve this through a pedagogy which is immersed in the language of critical theory. Two elements that underpin…

A theoretical model is developed for the process relatively privileged white students go through as they become more aware of their own socioeconomic and other advantages and come to terms with these within their community service learning placements. The model is supported with journal reflections from service-learners placed in inner-city…

This experiment examined the impact of messages about uniqueness and similarity between groups of people on Black and Latino children's social attitudes. Children (ages 11-14) read two brief science books embedded with a similarities message ("all people are basically the same"), unique message ("each person is unique"), combined similar-unique…

Students from a predominantly White state at a predominantly White institution, working and living within predominantly White communities, have limited experience engaging with people of color. This lack of experience has at least two consequences. First, students tend to define "diversity" simply as non-White racial and ethnic identity, failing…

Two Aboriginal and White educators co-developed and taught an integrated anti-racist course for predominantly White preservice teachers in Saskatchewan. Analysis of student comments yielded three common ideological assumptions contributing to student resistance: race doesn't matter; everyone has equal opportunity; and one's individual acts and…

In this article, the author shares how he has attempted to carry on the critique and analysis of colorblindness in education in his work as a teacher educator. In working with in- and pre-service teachers, the author has found that some teachers who claim to be colorblind tend to enact practices that betray their beliefs about race. As a white…

On July 28, 2006, a panel of experts briefed members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on the putative benefits of racial and ethnic diversity in elementary and secondary education. Four experts presented written statements to the Commissioners that assessed the social science literature on this issue. They also addressed whether or not…