Barriers to antiracist practices in PK-12 districts for white leaders

This dissertation of practice sought to answer two questions: What are the barriers to implementing antiracist policies and practices in the PK-12 setting for White leaders? And how can White leaders use their privilege to dismantle dominant White supremacy culture in schools and districts? We completed a knowledge review, conducted interviews with eleven school and district leaders in predominantly White schools and districts in Massachusetts and sought feedback on a toolkit we developed for White leaders to use in this setting. Five major barriers implementing antiracist practices were identified in our research with White leaders: Leaders' outright resistance or lack of understanding about antiracist practice and policy; The implicit biases educators or leaders hold; Leaders' anxiety of being unprepared or fear of stakeholder backlash; Using a color-blind approach to antiracism; Leaders' lack of self-work in this area. Through our analysis, we were able to identify several equity detours (Gorski, 2019) that impacted White leaders' implementation of antiracist policies and practices. Our findings suggest that participants who responded to the initial toolkit found it to be a useful roadmap on how to complete this work in schools and districts. However, when asked to implement any part of the toolkit, participants indicated that obstacles prevented them from doing so, similar to the obstacles they faced when completing the antiracist work they wanted to do in their district. Those obstacles were often suggested to be a result of COVID-19 or participants feeling the need for permission from those who hold higher positions of authority within their organizations to do this work. The researchers believe that these "obstacles" are in actuality equity detours that White leaders use as excuses when faced with the decision to implement antiracist practices, which leads to major pushback, both internal and external to the organization.