An Antiracist Education: A Curricular Unit Design

The research question addressed in this capstone project is: “How does one implement antiracist curriculum in a classroom that emphasizes storytelling?” This project documents one teacher’s odyssey in creating a curriculum that represents the core principles of an antiracist pedagogy focused on storytelling while using technology in a responsible manner. The core influence of this unit is the work of George Dei; Dei emphasizes the importance of shifting toward an antiracist framework compared to a multicultural framework. This project provides educators with a full unit of detailed lesson plans for a tenth grade English Language Arts classroom. Also, the project includes the outline of the unit plan and different texts associated with this teacher’s take on an antiracist framework that uses texts of the Indigenous Peoples of Minnesota. This curricular unit embodies the principles of an antiracist framework by emphasizing the intersectionality of students and bringing these intersectionalities explicitly into the classroom instruction and classroom activities. Students will analyze and reflect about their life experience with the focus of writing a personal narrative. The personal narrative will demonstrate the cultural values of the students and the importance of those values to the student’s life. The driving principle of this project is to assist in the development of critical thinking and self-reflective skills. Ultimately, the students will understand their positionality in their school, communities, and their families