The Anti-Racist Education project created an instrument to assess opportunities for anit-racist training Hartford Public Schools as of Spring 2022. Trinity College’s Liberal Arts Action Lab and the Hartford Federation of teachers seek to understand racism within Hartford’s schools. The goal is to investigate past anti-racist trainings and determine where this issue stands in the schools. By doing so, suggestions to the BOE and local schools can be made. A digital survey has been built to understand the daily occurrences of race within Hartford’s Public Schools to assess this issue. These will be taken by teachers at Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy. This work was done in collaboration with Hartford Federation of Teachers, who conceptualized the project.
Hartford Public Schools are diverse, and teachers must be equipped with the skills to address issues of race and racism in the classroom. Our teacher partners expressed their feelings that anti-racist trainings have been limited a district wide level. This has great potential for students for exposure to new cultures, although teachers who understand the dynamics of racism are needed. Training has been limited in this diverse city, mostly by handing out optional books to read that do not address current issues. Although the BOE recognizes this is an issue, no plans or effective strategies have been implemented.
In this project we hope to test the current standing in 2022 of racial relations from the perspective of the teacher. Through this, proper actions can be taken from the BOE and modern assessments can be made.