1

Essay Assignment

Teaching for Social Justice: The Pedagogy of Critical Race Theory and Critical

Whiteness Studies

Rachel Cunningham

Flinders University

As a future teacher of Australia, I will teach for social justice to work towards a

reconciled and equal society. This essay will discuss, demonstrate and evaluate the

theoretical framework of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Whiteness Studies

(CWS) in terms of its effectiveness for working towards reconciliation in Australia.

This will start with the definition of the framework, followed by how it will be put into

practice, furthermore, how the practice will meet the Australian Institute for Teaching

and School Leaderships (AITSL) standards underpinning teaching Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander students (ATSI). Then concluding with the discussion of how

this has the possibility for social justice, thus all together this essay will argue how

CRT and CWS are concrete pedagogies for teaching for social justice.

CRT follows the notion that race is socially constructed (Gillborn, 2007;

Landson-Billings, 1998; Leidig, 2017; McCann-Mortimer et al., 2004; Schulz, 2017;

Solórzano & Yosso, 2002), meaning that the idea of race comes from our beliefs

about people and how we act towards them. CRT also understands racism as

‘normal’ because of today’s generally covert forms that go unseen by society

(Landson-Billings, 1998; Schulz, 2017); thus, CRT works towards uncovering these
 2
Essay Assignment

covert forms of racism as a source of prevention in the future (Solórzano & Yosso,

2002).

On the other hand, CWS is focused on investigating ‘whiteness’ as source of

the issues of race and racism through its cultural and symbolic value (Nicoll, 2004).

The standards set by ‘whiteness’ are the ‘norm’ of today and are expected to be

followed by society (Beresford 2012), an analysation using CWS could include

examining the material effects of ‘whiteness’ on other cultures (Nicoll, 2007; Schulz,

2017). By focusing on uncovering ‘normal’ racism and viewing the effects of

‘whiteness’, CRT and CWS have reputable intentions to be used for teaching social

justice; from here it will be discussed how this will be achieved in the classroom.

CRT can apply to the students, but also the teachers, so the first factor of CRT

which will apply in the classroom will involve critical self-reflection; which involves

those who have positions of power to re-examine the control they have (Schulz,

2017). As a future teacher, I have the power to control the curriculum I teach to my

students, connect with students and parents/caregivers, contribute to school policies,

use different methods of teaching to include all students and so much more (Blanch

& Schulz, 2017), as such will use this power to teach history from different

perspectives, not just the ‘white washed’ version. Alternatively, CWS focuses more

on uncovering the hidden agendas that come with ‘whiteness’, instead of promoting

other cultures.

A very effective method of applying CWS in the classroom is analysing and

challenging media (McCann-Mortimer et al., 2004; Schulz, 2017; Tannoch-Bland,

1998). Media is a very ambiguous term, so this can include news reports, articles,

movies, TV Shows, social media and more. A task I would set would include
 3
Essay Assignment

students analysing an artefact they’re interested in, i.e. a movie, so the negotiated

curriculum could boost engagement on the subject. CWS also allows for challenging

the curriculum, in Australia the standard language spoken is English. If we apply

CWS to this, we allow for a multi-literacy approach, which will allow students to adopt

languages of their own culture and feel free to speak as desired (Rigney, 2017;

Schulz, 2017); the last tool both CRT and CWS use.

Counter-stories, and counter-narratives, are effective tools of the framework,

they provide a great standpoint from marginalised perspectives (Beresford, 2012;

Solórzano & Yosso, 2002; Vass, 2014). For CRT, I would bring counter-stories into

classroom through written texts such as poetry, biographies, or even invite members

of the community to come in and speak to students. For CWS, Indigenous voices

can be viewed through films like The Rabbit Proof Fence (2002), where I would then

get students to make critical comparisons between said film and other Australian

films which may not include Indigenous perspectives. To make sure these

pedagogies have the best intentions for students, I will refer to AITSL’s standards to

guide my practices.

There are two important AITSL standards which apply to teaching for social

justice in this context, the first is standard 1.4, ‘Implementing strategies for teaching

Aboriginal Torres Strait Island students’ (AITSL, 2017). In detail the standard

discusses that teachers need to have knowledge and understanding of the impact

culture, cultural identity and linguistic background has on ATSI students. The first

factor, culture, is met by teacher’s critical self-reflection as part of the CRT;

education is a culture that affects ATSI students, especially as an institution which is

generally white dominated (Nicoll, 2004; Vass, 2014) so by teachers re-examining

their practices and effects to improve ATSI student education they are fulfilling this
 4
Essay Assignment

standard. The second and third factors are cultural identity and linguistic

background. Counter-stories, part of CRT and CWS, fulfil cultural identity as it brings

perspectives outside of ‘white washed’ views into the classroom (Gillborn, 2007;

Schulz, 2017; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002; Tannoch-Bland, 1998; Vass, 2014).

Linguistic background is fulfilled by challenging the Australian curriculum and

allowing for a multi-literacy approach. From these factors ATSI students will be

encouraged to acknowledge and apply their cultural customs in a positive

environment where it will be celebrated, thus CRT and CWS can align with standard

1.4 and be used for teaching social justice, which can also be said about the second

standard.

The second standard is 2.4, ‘Understand and respect ATSI peoples to promote

reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians’ (AITSL, 2017).

Specifically, this requires teachers to demonstrate their knowledge and

understanding of ATSI history, culture and language as a means for promoting

reconciliation. Thus, there three factors: history, culture and language; like cultural

identity as part of standard 1.4, history can be taught using counter-stories and

narratives by its ability to demonstrate perspectives not shown in the media. Culture

is achieved through students challenging the media as part of CWS, this promotes

reconciliation by students being able to uncover ‘whiteness’ and its effects on other

cultures as a basis for prevention in the future. Then the final factor is language, like

linguistic background in 1.4, by embracing the multi-literacy approach teachers are

showing their respect for other cultures, and ‘white’ English not being the dominant,

or the ‘norm’ dialect. Thus, AITSL standards provide guidelines for me to redress

whiteness in education by: incorporating marginalized perspectives, multi-literacy

 5
Essay Assignment

approaches, challenging media, and not just supporting ATSI students, but providing

students of other backgrounds with the tools to work towards social justice.

The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) describe ATSI social justice

as ‘making sure that every Australian, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, has the

choices about how they live and the means to make those choices’ (AHRC, 2017);

this also includes recognising that Indigenous Australians have the rights to hold

their position as the original peoples of the land (AHRC, 2017). Since CRT’s method

of critical self-reflection revolves around re-examining power, I will be able to teach

for social justice by using my power as a teacher to include marginalized

perspectives and use my own approaches to education. This will include educating

on the settlement of Australia other than the ‘Captain Cook version’, students will

understand homes were invaded, people were introduced to diseases and cultures

were forced upon by newcomers killing over 200,000 Indigenous people (Curthoys &

Docker, 2001; Hage & Fisher, 1999; Hollinsworth, 2006; Schulz, 2017). This teaches

for social justice as it breaks the cycle of ignorance in ‘white’ history which has been

‘cleaned up, distorted, and taught in our schools’ (Tannoch-Bland, 1998, p.37).

Furthermore, this shows students there is not one dominant culture and education

should not be a ‘white’ institution. Secondly, multi-literacy approaches are important

regarding teaching for social justice as it does not only support those of other cultural

backgrounds, but encourages those who may be ‘white Australian’ to embrace

diversity and partake in themselves, showing they have the power to contribute to

social justice. Thus, working towards reconciliation by breaking the cycle of problems

that are created from whiteness (Nicoll, 2004).

Finally, by challenging the media social justice will be taught by teaching

students to study underpinning ‘white’ standards and how they affect other cultures.
 6
Essay Assignment

CWS also examines ‘white race privilege’ (Tannoch-Bland, 1998), the privileges

received by ‘whites’ based on their skin colour. As such, using counter stories and

narratives with CWS and CRT allows students to use empathetic approach to view

other perspectives and expose, analyse and challenge racial privilege (Solórzano &

Yosso, 2002). Specific stories such as Uncle Lewis’s My Difficult Childhood (2007)

allow for students to gain personal connections with what they are learning, making

the issues feel more real. Furthermore, explaining the material issues for Indigenous

people which are created and continued by the power ‘whiteness’ holds in society

and encourages students to be agents for change.

Teachers have agency, they have the power to make changes in students’

lives, my choice as a teacher is to teach for social justice in hopes of working

towards a reconciled Australia. I will work with the theoretical framework of CRT and

CWS and its methods of critical self-reflection, counter stories, challenging media

and the curriculum to work towards this goal. CRT and CWS are effective by meeting

AITSL standard 1.4 as it correlates with teaching ATSI students in terms of culture,

cultural identity and linguistic background. Additionally, 2.4 is met by having a broad

knowledge of ATSI history, culture and language and bringing it into the classroom to

meet reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. I conclude

this essay by saying teaching for social justice is not just about supporting

Indigenous students, it involves equipping all students with the skills for seeking and

challenging social inequities; as such, from these tools of CRT and CWS I have the

knowledge, understanding, and respect to teach for social justice.

Word Count: 1640

 7
Essay Assignment

References

AITSL. (2017). Standards. Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards

Beresford, Q. (2012). Separate and Unequal: An Outline of Aboriginal Education

1900-1996. In Beresford, Quentin, Partington, Gary & Gower, Graeme (Eds.),

Reform and Resistance in Aboriginal Education (pp.85-119). UWA Publishing:

Crawley, W.A.

Blanch, F. & Schulz, S. (2017). Teaching Indigenous Australian Students Reflection

and Summary. Retrieved from

https://flo.flinders.edu.au/pluginfile.php/2605594/mod_resource/content/1/EDU

C2420%20EDUC9400%20Final%20Lecture%20FAYE%20and%20SAM_2017.

pdf

Curthoys, A. & Docker, J. (2001). Introduction Genocide: definitions, questions,

settler-colonies. Aboriginal History, 25, 1-15. Retrieved from

Gillborn, D. (2007). Critical Race Theory and Education: Racism and anti-racism in

educational theory and praxis. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of

Education, 27(1), 11-32: Doi: 10.1080/01596300500510229

Hage, G. & Fisher, G. (1999). White nation: fantasises of white supremacy in a

multicultural society. New Internationalist 311(32). Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/200082801?accountid=10910

Hollinsworth, D. (2006). Racism and Indigenous People in Australia. Global Dialogue

12(2), 1-11. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-

com.ezproxy.flinders.edu.au/docview/866742177/abstract/78E1D47051C740F5

PQ/1?accountid=10910
 8
Essay Assignment

Human Rights. (2017). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice. Retrieved

from https://www.humanrights.gov.au/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-

social-justice

Landson-Billings, G. (1998). Just what is critical race theory and what’s it doing in a

nice field like education?. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in

Education, 11(1), 7-24. doi: 10.1080/095183998236863

Leidig, N. (2017). Race and the Nation ‘Does Race Matt [Lecture PowerPoint Slides].

Retrieved from

https://flo.flinders.edu.au/pluginfile.php/2563468/mod_resource/content/0/Race

%20%20the%20Nation%20lecture.pdf

McCann-Mortimer, P., Augoustinos, M. & LeCouteur, A. (2004). ‘Race’ and the

Human Genome Project: constructions of scientific legitimacy. Discourse and

Society 15(4), 409-432. Doi: 10.1177/0957926504043707

Nicoll, F. (2004). “Are you calling me a racist?”: Teaching critical whiteness theory in

Indigenous sovereignty. Borderlands e-journal, 3(2). Retrieved from

http://www.borderlands.net.au/vol3no2_2004/nicoll_teaching.htm

Noyce, P. (2002). The Rabbit Proof Fence [Motion Picture]. Australia: Becker

Entertainment

O’Brien, L.Y. & Gale, M. (2007). My Difficult Childhood. In (Ed.) And the clock struck

thirteen: the life and thoughts of Kaurna Elder Uncle Lewis Yerloburka O’Brien

(pp.102-22). Wakefield Press: Kent Town, South Australia.

 9
Essay Assignment

Schulz, S. (2017). Critical race theory (CRT) and critical whiteness studies (CWS)

[Lecture PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from

https://flo.flinders.edu.au/course/view.php?id=44010

Solorzano, D. & Yosso, T. (2002). Critical Race Methodology: Counter-Storytelling

as an Analytical Framework for Education Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1),

23-44. doi: 10.1177/107780040200800103

Vass, G. (2014). The racialised educational landscape in Australia: listening to the

whispering elephant, Race Ethnicity and Education, 17:2, 176-201, DOI:

10.1080/13613324.2012.674505