Teachers Turn to Study Groups for Anti-Racist Learning as History Is Whitewashed

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Communities Beyond Elections

It is hard to overstate the burdens public school educators have been asked to carry over the last several years.

There are the perennial stressors: inadequate funding, crumbling infrastructure, the inundation of schools with standardized testing, and too little time to plan, grade and collaborate with colleagues. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic: isolation, building closures, remote teaching, reopenings and severe staff shortages. Wielding the cudgel of “learning loss,” elites laid the blame for the traumatic impacts of a pandemic at the feet of teachers and public schools.

And through all that, there has been the steady and sinister growth of book bans, curricular gag orders and the criminalization of trans-affirming policies — all of which seek to muzzle educators from telling the truth and extending care to students. Today, almost half of all public school students have a teacher who has been prohibited from teaching the truth about systemic racism in U.S. history. As one teacher told the Zinn Education Project, “I’m terrified to say anything about enslavement because it might make students ‘uncomfortable.’ I also can’t recommend any books because a parent might not like it and then I could be charged with a felony.”

The impact of the relentless attacks on educators from right-wing forces is difficult to quantify, but a 2022 survey provides some insight into the harm being caused. According to a report by the National Education Association, “A staggering 55 percent of educators are thinking about leaving the profession earlier than they had planned.” The report also reveals that a disproportionate percentage of Black (62 percent) and Latinx (59 percent) educators — already underrepresented in the field — are considering an early departure from teaching. Many factors are pushing educators away, from health risks during the pandemic to low pay and a lack of respect that stems from politicians who aim to scapegoat educators for the social problems they refuse to address. Especially distressing is the toll taken by the ongoing criminalization of truth in education. As one teacher from Tennessee shared regarding the impact of educational gag order legislation on her decision to leave teaching, “I just can’t. I can’t do this. I really value being honest with students. I really don’t think I can navigate teaching in such a watered-down type of way.”

The fear of retribution for teaching the truth has created such a chilling effect that an astounding two-thirds of U.S. teachers now report self-censoring discussions on race, gender identity and sexuality in their classrooms.

But there is another story about teachers — buried beneath the headlines of doom and despair — that must be told to fully understand this era of education; this is a story about solidarity, community, hope and resistance.

As we have seen educators come under attack for teaching the truth about U.S. history, we have also seen them rise up and fight back. For the past three years, hundreds of educators have participated in the annual Teach Truth National Day of Action, organizing banned book swaps, historical walking tours, rallies, and more. In addition, thousands of educators have participated in the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, and many are increasingly joining the call for the Year of Purpose activities.

There is one story of educator resistance that has not been reported on: the Teaching for Black Lives (T4BL) study groups and the more than 3,795 educators from across the country — including in states that have prohibited anti-racist education — who have come together over the last several years to read, learn, reflect, and struggle for justice in classrooms and schools. Hundreds of T4BL study groups have formed since 2020, including groups comprised of teachers across Florida, educators from Wake County School District (K–12) in North Carolina and educators from Hayward Unified School District (pre-K–12) in California.

Two-thirds of U.S. teachers now report self-censoring discussions on race, gender identity and sexuality in their classrooms.

At most schools, isolation is the norm. Teachers scarcely have time to use the bathroom between classes, answer emails and plan lessons during their prep periods, and eat a nourishing meal during their lunch “break.” We have yet to see a place on a school’s daily bell schedule labeled “time to build meaningful relationships with other adults in the school.” Too often, professional development is imposed on educators and feels tangential to the most pressing issues in education. Study groups provide educators with a reliable structure of support and community, while allowing educators to direct their own professional development.

“Participating in this study group has reminded me that I am not alone in my district. This work can often feel really isolating, and it was so encouraging to meet with colleagues who are also passionate about equity,” says Crystel Weber from Gresham, Oregon. Similarly, Sarae Pacetta from Portland, Maine, reflects, “Our study group has been an anchor for all of us.…We are each other’s touchstones when we need to process an issue.”

No doubt, this moment calls for copious and varied forms of organizing — in our unions, at our local school and library boards, and in collaboration with community and parent groups. But as we fight the current wave of attacks on education, it is critical that we ground ourselves in what we are fighting for, not just against. Small, educator-led communities of study and reflection can provide that grounding. Study group members have told us that their groups have been a vital source of strength, support and guidance during budget cuts and right-wing attacks on education. “Having a national network of support and like-minded colleagues is a balm during these challenging times,” said one study group member.

A mainstay of school mission statements is that the educational program should create “life-long learners.” Yet, this value is rarely prioritized by school leaders when it comes to educators. Study groups encourage educators to claim time to learn — through book study and discussion, online classes and participatory workshops. We cannot apply principles of equity and justice that we ourselves have not learned.

“I’ve learned so much about the accurate and hidden history of Black Americans and how our systems continue to affect them,” says Teri McAllister, a teacher in Everett, Washington, on the impact of collective study. “This learning experience has deepened my commitment to creating change.”

Heidi Given from Somerville, Massachusetts, shares, “Our study group provided a platform to explore histories we were never taught, and to develop pedagogical practices for sharing those histories with our students.”

Yet these groups aren’t just about educators deepening their understanding of Black history and intersectional social issues; the T4BL study groups have also inspired educators to move from discussion to action, and to tackle issues of racial justice directly within their communities and schools.

The role of study groups is frequently underestimated in historical accounts of social change, yet these gatherings are often the bedrock of movements for social justice.

A T4BL study group in Florida — a state where draconian laws have been deployed to fire educators who teach the truth about racism — inspired educators to get active in their union to organize against the onslaught of anti-education bills imposed on them in recent years. In Madera, California, a T4BL study group took a deep dive into the discipline data at their school, and a member reported that their group “completely restructured” their school discipline approach. This included hiring an intervention specialist and transforming the position of the teacher who had supervised in-school suspensions to abandon a punishment model and become a trained restorative justice practitioner who “works closely with our intervention specialist, counseling team, and student psych services.” In Kansas City, Missouri, study group leader Michael Rebne and other educators participated in Teach Truth Days of Action by organizing events at historic sites to highlight the importance of truthful education, especially as right-wing anti-history bills threaten to mandate lies and omissions in classrooms across the country.

The role of study groups is frequently underestimated in historical accounts of social change, yet these gatherings are often the bedrock of movements for social justice. Study groups create spaces for individuals to explore ideas, develop critical consciousness and build the ideological foundations necessary for collective action. From the Black freedom struggle to the labor movement, study groups have brought together individuals eager to learn, strategize and ultimately transform society.

In the early 20th century, Black intellectuals and activists such as W. E. B. Du Bois and the members of the Niagara Movement met regularly in study groups to discuss racial justice and civil rights, laying the groundwork for the NAACP. During the civil rights movement, study groups were instrumental in the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), where young activists learned about direct action and Black liberation. In 1962, the Afro-American Association (AAA) emerged as a study group at Merritt College in Oakland, California, bringing together Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale alongside other students and educators to explore Black history and revolutionary ideas. Some of the texts they studied included Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth and the speeches and writings of Malcolm X. The discussions and debates they engaged in through the AAA laid the ideological groundwork that eventually inspired Newton and Seale to establish the Black Panther Party. In the late 1960s and 1970s, the Black Panther Party used study groups to educate members about systemic racism, political economy and the global struggle for liberation.

This important tradition continued into the 21st century. In 2008, for example, educators in Chicago started a study group around Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine, which explains how the richest 1 percent have enriched themselves in the neoliberal era by taking advantage of political and economic crises to amass even more wealth and promote free market policies. Through their discussions, they examined the forces driving the privatization of public education and the urgent need for a new approach to unionism. This group of educators formed into the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators, which soon ran Karen Lewis for president of the Chicago Teachers Union. Her victory marked a turning point as the union, under Lewis’s leadership, led some of the most significant teacher strikes in modern history, using a social justice unionism lens to advocate for teachers, students, and their communities.

In a time when forgetting history has been mandated by law, we must remember the power of study groups as an antidote to isolation and fear. As T4BL study group coordinator Jill Groff put it: “I would share that when the apathy seemed pervasive and morale was low, being in this group lit a fire of hope to keep me going and remember my why. I so appreciate the fellowship and support of people who genuinely love kids, all kids, and go above and beyond every day to fight for them, to make lessons to inform and empower, and just to be in a space with so many wonderful educators with shared values and goals.”

And that is exactly what communities of learning can provide: a fire of hope. Not a saccharine hope that delivers neither substance nor sustenance, but a hope rooted in a set of shared commitments — to learn together, analyze together, organize together and act together — for more justice in our classrooms and schools.