Twentieth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

In this paper, the authors use narrative inquiry to reflect about their experiences teaching and learning Critical Race Studies (CRS), in a department of Social Work whose theoretical foundation is Critical Race Theory (CRT). CRT is a theoretical framework that explains the dynamic nature of racism and addressing intersecting systems of oppression in social work practice and policy (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Razack & Jeffery, 2002). One CRT tenet often referred to as counter-storytelling or voices of color interchangeably, speaks of the power of counter narratives. This tenet suggests that people of color are holders and creators of knowledge (Delgado-Bernal, 2002; Yosso, 2005). The authors explored the extent to which this class, particularly through an assignment in which students reflect about their political, social, and economic positionality, leads students to creating counter-narratives to those imposed by predominant narratives created by those in position of power. Social science scholarship based on personal narrative inquiry include autobiographies, autoethnographies, introspections, self-study, and testimonio (Albert & Couture, 2014). In line with narrative inquiry, the authors engaged in conversation about the ways in which their personal narratives informed their experience teaching and learning about CRT, and in some cases, teaching this class has helped instructors in developing their own counternarratives. The narrative inquiry findings suggest that in sharing our narrative and talking about how they are similar or different, we can identify the patterns of oppression and of the dominant narrative present across communities or social groups.