“A Different Pair of Glasses”: Impacts of a School-Based Antiracist Intervention on Student and Teacher Critical Race Consciousness

Antiracist education is a highly politicized and contested issue in the United States, but research regarding the outcomes of school-based antiracist efforts is limited. This qualitative study with high school students (n = 15) and teachers (n = 7) examined impacts of a school-wide antiracist intervention on participants’ critical race consciousness (i.e., beliefs, feelings, and actions that challenge racism). Semi-structured, individual interviews revealed how the antiracist intervention, which involved reading and discussing the book Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Dr. Ibram. X Kendi, engaged students and teachers in racism analysis, racial reflexivity, and antiracist actions. Specifically, participants provided rich descriptions of how the Stamped intervention (a) encouraged them to take on new perspectives, feel responsible and committed to racial justice, and take interpersonal antiracist action and (b) enhanced their understanding and recognition of systemic racism and link historical and modern racism. Some developmental trends emerged in which teachers were more likely to be reflexive and discuss the interplay between analysis, reflexivity, and action. Implications for educational and developmental theory as well as antiracist programming are discussed.