The concept of anti-racist education

a critical analysis of its function and an outline of a subject science alternative

Klaus Holzkamp

pp. 153-171

in: Klaus Holzkamp, Psychology from the standpoint of the subject, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013

Abstract

In this article I want to discuss and, if possible, remove the ambiguities I came across in my reading on the problem area of "anti-racist education". For this purpose, it seems useful to begin by asking how the pedagogically mediated object of educational activities is separated out or constructed, i.e. at what levels it can be accessed by learning. This largely determines whether it is, from the pupils' standpoint, in their life interest to actively accept the pedagogical learning demand as their own learning problem or whether they will meet these demands merely because they are forced to and will consequently try, wherever possible, to evade them or react with resistance, thus inducing a "learning disorder" which, since it is grounded in the learning object itself, cannot be resolved by any didactic or teaching methods (cf. Holzkamp, 1993, chapters 3 and 4). So, what is understood under "racism" or "anti-racism" as a possible object of pedagogically instructed learning within the problem area of "anti-racist education"?