Reflections on Teaching and Negotiating Race in Social Work and Sociology

This chapter draws on the authors’ personal reflections on teaching race and ethnicity to white and BAME students in sociology and social work. Very little has been written about the emotional labour and consciousness of teaching race within and beyond what W.E.B Du Bois has labelled ‘the veil’ (2007). Focus is paid to the pedagogical considerations used to avoid pathologising BAME home students, international and Black working-class students who are commonly situated as a problem and the victim (Gilroy, 1992). The authors observe that BAME students seek assurance and advice more often from BAME academics, however, the educational issues encountered between student and teacher are not homogenous. The authors tell of their lived experiences through a critical race theory lens using the method of storytelling. This chapter explores the authors’ negotiation of race and culturally sensitive thought processes which continue to encompass their everyday role as teachers in higher education.