Not Light, but Fire: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Classroom

Summary

Do you feel prepared to initiate and facilitate meaningful, productive dialogues about race in your classroom? Are you looking for practical strategies to engage with your students?

Inspired by Frederick Douglass's abolitionist call to action, "it is not light that is needed, but fire" Matthew Kay has spent his career learning how to lead students through the most difficult race conversations. Kay not only makes the case that high school classrooms are one of the best places to have those conversations, but he also offers a method for getting them right, providing candid guidance on:

&#9679 How to recognize the difference between meaningful and inconsequential race conversations.

&#9679 How to build conversational "safe spaces," not merely declare them.

&#9679 How to infuse race conversations with urgency and purpose.

&#9679 How to thrive in the face of unexpected challenges.

&#9679 How administrators might equip teachers to thoughtfully engage in these conversations.