Applying a critical race framework towards anti-racist art teacher education

The purpose of this research is to suggest strategies for creating an anti-racist art teacher education. This topic is timely given the disparity in the racial composition of K-12 students enrolled in American public schools in contrast to that of art teachers and art teacher educators. In response to diverse K-12 student populations, art teacher training programs can and should be responsible for producing teachers with anti-racist pedagogies. Although art education has the potential to counter systemic racism and other forms of oppression, art teacher education has not made an explicit commitment to train art teachers who will know how and intend to do so. Through my own research and cross-disciplinary studies, I have found that using critical race theory and critical Whiteness studies in education is useful in understanding how art teacher training programs might be failing to train art teachers to recognize and to counter racism in the classroom. Through a critical race framework, I seek to suggest strategies that can be used to create an anti-racist art teacher education. My purpose for suggesting such strategies is to support the training of art teachers who will counter racism through art education