Antiracist Pedagogy in Direct Advocacy Courses
By Kathleen Cole, Metropolitan State University
For most of my career, I lived a double life: I had a tenure track job as a political science professor and I was a community organizer working for racial and economic justice in Minneapolis. In my work as a professor, I did my best to emulate the professors I had learned from—teaching in the way that I had been taught. As an organizer, I would often be asked to lead trainings, and in those spaces I felt free to teach in a way that was more reflective of my values and commitments. By the time I was awarded tenure, I was burned out from performing like a professor. I questioned whether a typical political science education was what students needed. I thought very seriously about leaving the profession entirely.
In 2019, I was blessed to get to attend the Antiracist Pedagogy Across the Curriculum Institute. I spent five days learning and collaborating with other antiracist educators and the conversations there fundamentally changed my thinking about my job as a political science professor. I had been feeling burned out and resentful of the norms and expectations associated with traditional political science education. I found my work as a professor draining, it was my work as an organizer that gave me life. At the conference, I was encouraged to bring my organizer self to my political science classroom. That shift—moving from teaching like a political scientist to teaching like an organizer—has completely changed how I approach teaching political science to better reflect my commitment to antiracism as a life project.
In “Antiracist Pedagogy in Direct Advocacy Courses,” I describe what antiracist teaching looks like in my advocacy course that puts students into direct contact with the Minnesota state legislature. I discuss some of the foundational principles of antiracist pedagogy that can be incorporated into any course, regardless of discipline or subfield. In subsequent sections, I offer an account of the specific challenges that come along with incorporating antiracist pedagogy into a course that asks students to move beyond the classroom. Incorporating antiracist pedagogy into courses that aren’t limited to classroom instruction entails different risks, challenges, and rewards. I discuss how I have tried to mitigate those risks and respond to those challenges in the article.
My hope in writing the article is that more political scientists will take up antiracist pedagogy in their courses. Further, I hope to encourage those who are already incorporating antiracist pedagogy into their courses will share what they have learned in their classrooms. In my conversations with many educators, I have learned that many folks want to rethink their teaching so that it better aligns with their commitment to antiracism, but don’t know where to start or haven’t seen an example of what that means for them as educators. I offer up my article as an example of what it has meant for me to take on this work and how much richness and joy it has brought me.
The Journal of Political Science Education is an intellectually rigorous, path-breaking, agenda-setting journal that publishes the highest quality scholarship on teaching and pedagogical issues in political science. The journal aims to represent the full range of questions, issues and approaches regarding political science education, including teaching-related issues, methods and techniques, learning/teaching activities and devices, educational assessment in political science, graduate education, and curriculum development.