Minnesota State University Mankato (CorruptED)

Minnesota State University Mankato’s College of Education features content such as critical race theory and antiracist pedagogy.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The College of Education’s Conceptual Framework states that it is “Grounded in collaboration and connectedness to students, schools, communities, and society, the College of Education vision is to inspire lifelong learning and professional engagement through racial consciousness, social justice, and inclusion within a global context.”

It also states that it’s “Graduates are anti-racist practitioners who value diverse perspectives and aim to teach against injustices as critically thinking citizens in a complex society.”

The framework also clarifies that “racial consciousness and anti-racist pedagogies are exemplified by the ability to identify how race and intersecting systems of oppression are differentiating factors in educational outcomes for students (Sleeter, 2017)” and that “Critical Race Theory (CRT) is used as a framework to prepare professionals to become more racially conscious.” It continues: “It can be used to analyze systems, structures, and outcomes at multiple levels through a racial lens (Delgado & Stefancic, 2013; Graham et al., 2019) that can foster educators’ capacity to practice social justice.”

The document also states that the “college vision and grounding in Critical Race Theory comprise an evidence-based response to racial injustices that undergird our nation’s educational legacy.”

The college’s teacher preparation includes having candidates “recognize Whiteness as a decisive factor in educational structures including policies, discipline-specific academic practices, and curricula (Jupp et al., 2016; Leonardo, 2009; Picower, 2021)” and “explore tenets of Critical Race Theory in education (Graham et al., 2019), including awareness of racism’s social normativity, the need to consider K-12 students’ intersectional identities, and the urgent importance of valuing the voices of people of color in classrooms.”

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ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

An Elementary Education sample four-year plan includes students taking “ED 101 Introduction to Critical Race Theory in Education,” “Creating Anti-Racist Environments with Field Experience,” and “Integrating Critical Literacies to Promote Equity Across the Elem Curriculum.”

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COURSES

ED 101: Introduction to Critical Race Theory in Education

The course description for ED 101: Introduction to Critical Race Theory in Education states that it will introduce students to the “¿Courageous Conversations¿ protocol designed to facilitate healthy conversations about race, racial equity and social justice,” the “five tenants of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and learn how to isolate race, as they reflect on their own personal life experiences,” “read relevant articles, discuss current events and examine common historical practices within the United States,” and “actively engage in dialogue focused on the role race and racism have in perpetuating social disparities between dominant and marginalized racial groups, and actively engage in small and large group discussions.”

ELE 410: Creating Anti-Racist Environments with Field Experience

The course description for ELE 410: Creating Anti-Racist Environments with Field Experience states that “Teacher candidates will think critically about the context in which all students learn and will learn about historical and current patterns of inequitable education that marginalize students who have been minoritized according to race, culture, language, or ability.”

ELE 422: Mathematics Teaching and Learning for the Diverse Elementary Classroom

The course description for ELE 422: Mathematics Teaching and Learning for the Diverse Elementary Classroom states that it is “entered around three goals to help prepare teacher candidates to enact practices that develop learners¿ mathematical proficiency” which includes explicitly teaching “skills for disrupting patterns of injustices and inequities that often get reproduced within the context of elementary mathematics classrooms.”