Taking It Personally: Racism In Classroom From Kindergarten To College [Paperback]

Ann Berlak (Author), Sekani Moyenda (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 2001

When Sekani Moyenda, an African American elementary school teacher, accepted an invitation to speak at a graduate education class, neither the students nor Ann Berlak, their professor, could guess that her presentation would spark an outpouring of emotion and a reexamination of race from everyone involved. The "encounter" as it was called was an expression of Moyenda's anger at the institutionalized racism of our educational system, a system whose foundations are reinforced and whose assumptions about race are reproduced in the graduate school classroom. Forcing everyone involved to rethink their own race consciousness, "Taking it Personally" is a chronicle of two teachers and their own educational progress.In processing their own responses to the encounter, along with their students', Berlak and Moyenda meditate not only on their own ideas on teaching and learning, but also redefine the obligation a teacher has to his or her students. Personal in its approach, yet grounded in significant currents of educational thought, "Taking it Personally" will be a must-read for any educator or educator-to-be who is committed to teaching in our diverse classrooms. Ann Berlak is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Elementary Education at San Francisco State University. Sekani Moyenda teaches reading and is the administrator for computer and network technology at Rosa Parks Elementary School in San Francisco.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Many readers will have difficulty appreciating a book that comes to the conclusion that "all white people are infected with racism." Relying heavily on opinion and often falling into overgeneralization, the authors (a university professor and an elementary school teacher) present a cautionary tale for teacher educators hoping to introduce their students to the tenets of "critical multiculturalism," i.e., an approach that "is structured to convey that the entire social order is shaped by institutions that tend to preserve and reproduce prevailing racial, gender, and class inequities." Hoping to find a place in the curriculum alongside the works of Jonathan Kozol (e.g., Savage Inequalities, LJ 9/15/91) and Lisa Delpit (Other People's Children, New Pr., 1995), the authors demonstrate that children of color are the victims of an institutionalized racism that affects the teaching they receive at every academic level. Unfortunately, this important message is obscured by the angry, self-righteous, and occasionally self-indulgent tone of this work. Recommended only for the most comprehensive academic collections related to multicultural education or teacher education. [With this title Temple University inaugurates their "Teaching and Learning Social Justice" series, which highlights educational practices that promote equality in multicultural societies. Ed.] Scott Walter, Washington State Univ., Pullman Fisher, Anne.
- Scott Walter, Washington State Univ., Pullman Fisher, Anne.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Taking It Personally needs a warning label: DANGER, it should announce, IDEAS UNDER INTENSE PRESSURE. OPEN AT YOUR OWN RISK. Berlak and Moyenda guide us into the depths of racism, peeling away layer after layer, revealing the pervasive American devil in all its complexity. If you start the journey, you may want to turn back, you may want to look away, you will certainly want them to lighten up. But stay to the end and you will never be the same. This is a brave, embracing book--honest and unrestrained, filled with pain and grief, but never despair. In the end it is about transformation and redemption and the possibility of a more just and joyful world. Take the risk." --William Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago, and author of A Kind and Just Parent "For those who contend that racism is all but dead in the United States, this book gives us a laser-focused look at real multiethnic relationships in new millennium classrooms. Through the eyes of two thoughtful, hones, and compellingly articulate educators--one black, one white--we learn that there is yet much work to be done." --Lisa Delpit, Benjamin E. Mays Professor of Urban Educational Leadership, Georgia State University, and author of Other People's Children "This is one of the best, if not the best, book about the microdynamics of racism in the classroom that I have ever read. I think it will become a classic. It is well conceptualized--a cross-racial teachers' dialogue framed by the two authors' race-awareness autobiographies, beautifully written, and absolutely riveting. I truly couldn't put it down." --Dr. Maurianne Adams, Chair, Social Justice Education Program, School of Education, University of Massachusetts at Amherst "A moving chronicle of two teachers' journey confronting racism in education. ...the two authors skillfully dissect racism and its manifestations in today's classroom. ... A great book for teachers and teacher educators alike. --Rethinking Schools "[T]his book reveals the possibilities for fighting racism in our schools. Berlak and Moyenda meditate not only on their own ideas of teaching and learning, but also redefine the obligation a teacher has to his or her students." --New York Review of Books

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Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press; 1 edition (April 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566398762
• ISBN-13: 978-1566398763
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, useful for teaching, January 17, 2002

By 

Megan Boler (Blacksburg, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taking It Personally: Racism In Classroom From Kindergarten To College (Paperback)

Taking it Personally represents an excellent contribution to readings and scholarship in the area of ethnic studies, education, and multiculturalism. The narrative style of the book makes it accessible and enjoyable reading. There is dramatic tension as the teachers juxtapose their experiences of teaching about racism in a university classroom, and discuss the heated emotions that arise for students in response to the course.

This book would make an excellent core text for courses in educational foundations or ethnic studies. It is very appropriate for use in teacher education programs.

Further, it is well-written and engaging for others interested more generally in education, racism, and social justice.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How racism affects educators, January 28, 2002

By 

wonderman - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taking It Personally: Racism In Classroom From Kindergarten To College (Paperback)

I found the book to be interesting and valuable - an authentic account of the authors attempts to deal constructively with how race and racism affect teaching and learning. It is valuable for educators to read personal accounts of this nature. The reality of how racism affects educators (of color and whites) is often obscured in academic books and articles by intellectual analyses by neglecting the fact that people's emotions, beliefs, and attitudes deeply affect what goes on in classrooms and schools.