Critical Race Theory and Classroom Practice

This edited book shows how critical race theory (CRT) can shape teacher practices in ways that improve educational outcomes for all children, especially those most marginalized in PreK-20 classrooms.

The volume bridges the gap between the theoretical foundations of critical race theory and its application in formal and informal learning environments. To promote an active and interdisciplinary engagement of critical race praxis, it illuminates the pedagogical possibilities of using CRT while explicitly addressing grade span-specific content area standards and skills. Each chapter explores how educators use a critical race theory lens to deepen student learning, teach honestly about racism and white supremacy, and actively prepare learners to equitably participate in a multiracial democracy.

Written for pre- and in-service teachers, teacher educators, and anti-racist community stakeholders, the text addresses the applicability of CRT as a pedagogical practice for PreK-20 educators seeking to meaningfully combat intersectional racial injustice and to create a more just democracy. This book is necessary reading for educators, and courses in Educational Foundations, Anti-Racist Education, Social Justice Education, Curriculum Studies, Educational Leadership, and Multicultural Education.

Introduction:Critical Race Theory, Classroom Practice, and Building a Just Future

Part I CRT Practices in Early Childhood and Elementary Classrooms

1. “We Make Some Woke Kids”: Using Critical Race Theory to Revolutionize the Elementary Curriculum

2. America’s Long History of Racializing Epidemics: CRT Critique and Lesson for Elementary Classrooms

Part II CRT Practices in Middle & Secondary Classrooms

3. Coloring in the Lines: Critical Race Possibilities for Civics in the Middle Level World History Classroom

4. Critical Race Theory in the Spanish Classroom

5. Developing Racial Literacy with Youth through Critical Race English Education in Secondary English Language Arts Classrooms

6. Doing Better: Teaching Science for Critical Race Consciousness and Counterstorytelling

7. Centering the Histories, Experiences, and Narratives of Communities of Color Through a Social Studies Counternarrative: Within Secondary and Teacher Education

8. Looking to the Past for a More Just Future: Black Mathematics Teacher Practices, Critical Race Theory, and the Secondary Mathematics Classroom

9. Testimonio Art as Critical Praxis: Embodied Counter-Storytelling in an Art Classroom

Part III Implications of Informal Learning Spaces for Formal Classroom Spaces

10. Beyond Out of School to In School Learning Contexts: The Transformative Possibilities of Using CRT with Young Learners

11. The Black Girl Gaze in Middle School Mathematics Spaces

12. Social Studies Teacher Coaches Matter: Reading, Discussing, and Writing about Narratives of Race and Racism in the Social Studies and Sport

Conclusion: From Bad Faith to Good Faith: An Altar Call to Teach Truth

Daniella Ann Cook is Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education (TE) at the University of South Carolina, USA.

Nathaniel Bryan is Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas–Austin, USA.