ERIC Number: EJ1266582
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0093-3104
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Available Date: N/A
Interpretive Frames for Responding to Racially Stressful Moments in History Discussions
Reisman, Abby; Enumah, Lisette; Jay, Lightning
Theory and Research in Social Education, v48 n3 p321-345 2020
A recent report by the Southern Poverty Law Center revealed that many history teachers avoid or minimize conversations about race for fear they will trigger "racialized conflict." This silence should raise alarms, as we know that race and racism permeate the lived experiences of teachers and students and inevitably surface in historical discussions. In this article we use a racially charged moment from a middle school discussion of the New Deal to propose three interpretive frames that might support teachers in navigating moments of racial stress in history discussions. We understand interpretive frames to be schematic lenses that guide teacher perception, interpretation, and action in classrooms, and we propose three frames--disciplinary literacy, critical literacy, and racial literacy--that respectively address the historical, structural, and psychosocial dimensions of race and racism. We apply each frame to the classroom incident to illustrate how each might help teachers respond to moments of racial stress. Ultimately, we argue that these interpretive frames represent a suite of mutually reinforcing tools that might be leveraged by teacher educators to help teachers anticipate racial stress and turn paralysis to pedagogy.
Descriptors: Controversial Issues (Course Content), History Instruction, Race, United States History, Teacher Attitudes, Critical Literacy, Racial Discrimination, Classroom Communication, Classroom Techniques, Teaching Models, Middle School Teachers, Middle School Students, Teaching Methods
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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