Reflections of Two Black Early Career Social Work Educators Teaching Mostly White Students at Predominantly White Institutions

Authors

  • Tuwana T. Wingfield Mount Mary University
  • Raymond D. Adams Southern Arkansas University

Keywords:

Black social work educators, cultural competence, cultural humility, culturally relevant practice, critical race theory, critical pedagogy

Abstract

The social work profession must become more proactive in laying the foundation for developing more culturally competent professionals in the field who can, in turn, practice cultural humility with the clients they encounter. The aim of this article is to share reflections of two early-career Black educators teaching at predominately White institutions. As two Black faculty members, we center race in this reflection of how our teaching practices promote cultural competence and subsequent cultural humility in our class discussions. Through narrative inquiry, the authors provide reflections of their students’ perceptions of them as teachers—teaching while Black. Critical race theory is used to explore the social locations of race, class, and gender; of ourselves; and of our students within the classroom and in the field of social work. This reflection has implications on social work education programs preparing undergraduate and graduate students entering the field.

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Published

2019-09-17

How to Cite

Wingfield, T. T., & Adams, R. D. (2019). Reflections of Two Black Early Career Social Work Educators Teaching Mostly White Students at Predominantly White Institutions. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 25(1), 16–31. Retrieved from https://reflectionsnarrativesofprofessionalhelping.org/index.php/Reflections/article/view/1753

Issue

Section

Cultural Humility in Education and Practice