Wrestling with racism and anti-blackness: confronting legacies of coloniality in teacher education programs

Purpose This paper argues that to preserve black lives, teacher educators and teacher candidates need to develop a decolonial lens. A decolonial lens can provide clarity in understanding how the centering of Western epistemic perspectives perpetuate hierarchies and processes of racialization and invisibilized structures of domination that (re)produce differential learning experiences and outcomes for black students. This study aims to build on prior research to help teacher candidates more effectively recognize and challenge racism and anti-blackness in their schools and teaching practices. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the author discusses how racism and anti-blackness are perpetuated in schooling and why teacher educators must address them in our work with teacher candidates. Drawing upon existing literature on teacher education, my experiences as a teacher educator and social justice scholar, and insights from the decolonial scholarship, the discusses the importance of a decolonial lens for disrupting racism and anti-blackness, and I offer examples of how teacher educators and teacher candidates can engage in this work. Findings Multicultural education has done little to change the conditions of black students in schools. While most teacher education programs have made efforts to become more oriented toward social justice, there is a wide gap between program goals and teachers who can work effectively with the diversity of students that they serve. Practical implications This paper outlines an approach that teacher educators can use to further develop an antiracist decolonial teaching and research agenda and support teacher candidates regardless of their racial/ethnic group. Social implications A decolonial analysis can help teachers develop a better understanding of the structural and school inequalities that create disparate outcomes for black students and how to intervene. This is urgently necessary, as schooling remains a site of non-belonging and marginalization for black children and youth. Originality/value This paper offers a new race-conscious approach to disrupt systemic racism and anti-blackness in education.