Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: One Way to Make Change? 1
Katy Swalwell
PART I: WHAT’S THE POINT? JUSTIFYING AND FRAMING ANTI-OPPRESSIVE EDUCATION IN “ELITE” SCHOOLS 13
1. Combating the Pathology of Class Privilege: A Critical Education for the Elites 15
Quentin Wheeler-Bell
2. Intrinsic Aspects of Class Privilege 27
Adam Howard
3. Is Becoming an Oppressor Ever a Privilege? “Elite” Schools and Social Justice as Mutual Aid 39
Nicolas Tanchuk, Tomas Rocha, and Marc Kruse
PART II: CAUTIONARY TALES: PROBLEMATIC MODELS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE EDUCATION IN “ELITE” SCHOOLS 51
4. Beyond Wokeness: How White Educators Can Work Toward Dismantling Whiteness and White Supremacy in Suburban Schools 53
Gabriel Rodriguez
5. Dead Ends and Paths Forward: White Teachers Committed to Anti-Racist Teaching in White Spaces 63
Petra Lange and Callie Kane
6. Unspoken Rules, White Communication Styles, and White Blinders: Why “Elite” Independent Schools Can’t Retain Black and Brown Faculty 73
Ayo Magwood
7. Critical Service Learning: Moving from Transactional Experiences of Service Toward a Social Justice Praxis 85
Tania D. Mitchell
8. The “Duality of Life” in “Elite” Sustainability Education: Tensions, Pitfalls, and Possibilities 97
Kristin Sinclair, Ashley Akerberg, and Brady Wheatley
9. The Possibility of Critical Language Awareness Through Volunteer English Teaching Abroad 109
Cori Jakubiak
PART III: PROMISING PRACTICES? IDEAS FOR ENACTING ANTI-OPPRESSIVE EDUCATION IN “ELITE” SCHOOLS 121
10. Living Up to Our Legacy: One School’s Effort to Build Momentum, Capacity, and Commitment to Social Justice 123
Christiane M. Connors, Steven Lee, Stacy Smith, and Damian R. Jones
11. Facilitating Socially Just Discussions in Elite Schools 135
Lisa Sibbett
12. Mobilizing Privileged Youth and Teachers for Justice-Oriented Work in Science and Education 147
Alexa Schindel, Brandon Grossman, and Sara Tolbert
13. Opening the Proverbial Can O’ Worms: Teaching Social Justice to Educated Elites in Suburban Detroit 159
Robin Moten
14. Intersectional Feminist and Political Education with Privileged Girls 169
Beth Cooper Benjamin, Amira Proweller, Beth Catlett, Andrea Jacobs, and Sonya Crabtree-Nelson
15. “Not Me!” Anticipating, Preventing, and Working with Pushback to Social Justice Education 181
Diane Goodman and Rebecca Drago
PART IV: CONVERSATIONS WITH COLLEAGUES 193
16. Out of This Chaos, Beauty Comes: Democratic Schooling in a Progressive Independent Middle School 195
Allen Cross
17. We Are Afraid They Won’t Feel Bad: Using Simulations to Teach for Social Justice at the Elementary Level 201
Gabby Arca and Nina Sethi
18. Harnessing the Curiosity of Rich People’s Children: International Travel as a Tool of Anti-Oppressive Education 207
Alethea Tyner Paradis
19. Building a Class: The Role of Admissions in Anti-Oppressive Education 213
Sherry Smith
20. “It Shouldn’t Be that Hard”: Student Activists’ Frustrations and Demands 219
Julia Chen, Haley Hamilton, Vidya Iyer, Alfreda Jarue, Catalina Samaniego, Catreena Wang, and Jenna Woodsmall
Afterword 229
Paul Gorski
About the Editors and Contributors 235
Index 243
