Cracking the shell of White fragility: Priming employees for anti-oppressive/anti-racist learning

Despite the adoption of AO/AR practice frameworks by most human service organizations, consistently integrating the practical elements of AR work into professional interactions continues to challenge many organizations (deFinney, 2011; Saraceno, 2012). This OiP considers the barriers to AO/AR praxis for staff in a crisis shelter, drawing from relevant leadership theory, CRT, change management research, and education research to develop a comprehensive plan aimed at building capacity among employees. With a focus on diminishing the impulse to deny or refute the impacts of systems of oppression on racialized and equity seeking groups, this project uses Kolb and Frohman’s model for planned change, and integrates Deszca et al.’s (2020) change path model with Gentile’s (2010) giving voice to values curriculum, to offer an adaptable, agile solution to the PoP. The desire to identify and address this problem is rooted in a transformational leadership approach that emphasizes the critical role of trusting and vulnerable leader-employee relationships. The social justice orientation and focus on research that is apparent in this project leverages elements of the transformative leadership approach in formulating a solution. Finally, the situational leadership approach supports the requisite adaptability and agility in engaging with this solution. In this OiP, these three leadership approaches are woven together to develop a comprehensive, AR, guided learning program. Through ongoing PDSA cycles, pre- and post-training evaluation, and observational feedback, the iterative program will be tailored to support the specific needs of the partner organization.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Jansenberger, Martha

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Swain, Gary
• Edwards, Peter

• Anti-racism
• Anti-oppression
• Intersectionality
• White Fragility
• Employee Training
• Resistance

Language dc:language.iso

en_ca

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/26307

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/26307