Implications of shadeism on teacher perceptions and practices: Racial microaggressions in schools

Abstract

By engaging in a discussion of how multiple forms of racism are perpetuated in classrooms, explicitly and implicitly, through the hidden curriculum, this chapter is an exploration of racial microaggressions in schools. Through a discussion of shadeism, the author offers analysis into the more nuanced aspects of colour and its impact on teachers and students. The impact of colonization and White hegemony on teacher perception, beliefs, and actions in a heterogeneous, urban environment is also explored, as is the concept of identity in relation to the diasporic, negatively racialized urban teacher and student. Integrative solutions aimed at creating more inclusive schools are offered. The author calls for the decolonizing of schools through teacher training focused on acknowledging privileges and oppressions, centring an understanding of teacher and student identity, experience, and language.