"When You're Talking about Race, You're Talking about People" : Teachers Learning about Race and Equity through Diverse Forms of Inquiry / Laura Stokes.

This paper explores the reform content and specific teacher learning conditions that enabled teachers at an urban California elementary school to find ways to examine the effects of their practices on students and to reflect on the values and beliefs underlying their practices. Over 5 years, a professional culture of inquiry developed, as required by state legislation that built explicit practitioner inquiry into the restructuring of participating schools. Teachers at the school developed multiple forms of inquiry activity, and each form of inquiry created different conditions for learning. The three forms of inquiry that were identified were: (1) whole-school assessment of learning outcomes; (2) small-group action research projects; and (3) individual reflection with small group support. The variation in learning opportunity was vitally important to the school community's ability to address the issues of race and equity that were central to their capacity to support the learning of all students. Different conditions enabled teachers to focus on different units of analysis and change and to gain knowledge and skills related to different problems and questions. (Contains 2 tables, 1 figure, and 27 references.) (SLD)

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