Links to research articles I’ve written recently to spark dialogue about schools are below. I’ve also created additional talk tools to spark conversation and action in school communities; some are short, brief reads also linked below. I call all of these “conversation starters” below and hope you’ll use my work in discussions about improving schools for all. I am always open to critique — questioning the pros and cons of what we do IS the work.
I also collect great tools and conversation starters created by others and share them via my #Schooltalking Facebook group.
Want to talk with Mica Pollock about using any conversation starter here to improve student support where you work? Email micapollock@ucsd.edu.
Yearning to learn: youth voices from restriction states, 2023
Abstract Purpose – Recently, the nation has seen intensive adult efforts to regulate and limit race- and LGBTQ-related student learning, discussion, and support in US …
The Limitation Effect: Experiences of State Policy-Driven Education Restriction in Florida’s Public Schools
How can a teacher discuss Jim Crow laws without breaking state law? Should a librarian stop ordering books with LGBTQ+ characters? A new white paper …
Leveraging a University to Create Local Equity-Oriented K–12 Learning Opportunities: A Conversation Starter
Click here to read our latest publication …
One Actual Dialogue about Book Banning
With permission of “Educator X,” I’m sharing what we both think is a pretty decent engagement between two people with very different perspectives on book …
#LetUsLearn: Talking points naming the kind of education that’s good for students, in everyday language.
Educators are employed to support all of the nation’s children and youth to be well-prepared and successful contributors to our country. Our job is to …
SUPPORTED, SILENCED, SUBDUED, OR SPEAKING UP? K12 EDUCATORS’ EXPERIENCES WITH THE CONFLICT CAMPAIGN, 2021- 2022
Mica Pollock, with Reed Kendall, Erika Reece, Abdul-Rehman Issa, and Emilie Homan Brady University of California, San Diego, Department of Education Studies. Published July 2023 in …
The Conflict Campaign: Exploring Local Experiences of the Campaign to Ban “Critical Race Theory” in Public K–12 Education in the U.S., 2020–2021
Authors: Mica Pollock and John Rogerswith Alexander Kwako, Andrew Matschiner, Reed Kendall, Cicely Bingener, Erika Reece, Benjamin Kennedy, and Jaleel Howard January 2022 The Conflict …
Well, what’s wrong with the Whites?’: A conversation starter on raising expectations for inservice professional development on race with White teachers.
Check out this article below! Pollock, M., & Matschiner, A. (2022, August). “Well, what’s wrong with the Whites?’: A conversation starter on raising expectations for …
Next steps toward an inclusive country? Inviting and amplifying youth voice in public anti-hate messaging
Check out this article below! Pollock, M., Lopez, D., Kendall, R., Yoshisato, M., Reece, E., & Kennedy, B. C. “Next steps toward an inclusive country? …
#LetUSlearn: We Insist on Antiracist Education
By Mica Pollock, Emilie Homan Brady, Benjamin C. Kennedy, Samantha Prado, Ramon Stephens, Abdul Issa, Chenoa Musillo, and the #USvsHate team We at #USvsHate condemn …
Keeping the Freedom to Include: Teachers Navigating “Pushback” and Marshalling “Backup” to Keep Inclusion on the Agenda
By Mica Pollock, Reed Kendall, Erika Reece, Dolores Lopez, & Mariko Yoshisato Background/Context: This paper shares K12 educators’ efforts to marshal local support for the …
#USvsHate: the power and core tensions of using an ‘anti-hate’ onramp for K12 antiracism today
By Mica Pollock & Mariko Yoshisato Background/Context: This paper launches public analysis of #USvsHate (‘us versus hate’), a collective initiative to invite ‘anti-hate’ lessons and …
What’s Going On: “Partisan” Worries, and Desires to Discuss Trump-Era Events in School
By Mica Pollock & Mariko Yoshisato Background/Context: This article explores how the classic U.S. educator effort to stay politically “nonpartisan” when teaching became particularly complicated …
No, It Isn’t Racist to Teach Antiracism
I wrote this OpEd featured on edweek.org. My goal was to support collaborative antiracist effort by clarifying how “antiracism is not some zero-sum game of …
Sustaining Antiracist Educator Practice
I was lucky enough to join a great group of educators featured in a Center for Anti Racist Education’s (CARE) web series episode on sustaining …
The Language of Equity: One Introduction to Some Core Ideas from Schooltalk
I appreciated the chance to offer this 1-hr webinar for the Swift Education Center, introducing Schooltalk for educators. The series overall was designed to “help …
UC Berkeley GSE Talk: Onramps
In October 2020, I spoke with colleagues at the Berkeley Graduate School of Education about three “onramps” to K12 antiracism I have designed and helped …
Exploring the Principles of Schooltalk
In March 2021, I spoke with principal Candace Hunstad, school instructional coach Brigid Dux, ESOL teacher/school equity lead Samantha Gauta (all of Fairhill Elementary), and …
Responding to Hateful Speech in Schools
An article I wrote to support educators to navigate hateful speech in schools; it was featured in ASCD’s November 2020 newsletter, Education Update (Volume 62, …
Complete List of Everyday Antiracist Strategies
An excerpt from Everday Antiracism: Getting Real About Race in School. Link here …
Anti-racism: Lessons for the classroom and faculty lounge
A podcast with Ethical Schools, where I speak about #USvsHate and Schooltalk. Episode description: “We speak with Mica Pollock about #USvsHate and Schooltalk. Student anti-racism messaging in any medium …
#USvsHate LESSON LISTS
These lessons for K12+ students draw from nearly 20 national teacher-support organizations. I curated these lists for #USvsHate. I’m working right now to add youth-facing lessons …
#USvsHate Tools for Productive Dialogues
These tools help structure dialogue for anti-bias efforts in classrooms and schools. List includes norms, talk tips, protocols, and group work strategies. Tools for Productive …
#USvsHate Definitions and Concepts to Prepare for Anti-Bias Teaching
I wrote up this page of “concepts” for #USvsHate; it helps teachers prep overall for antibias teaching that treats all people as equally valuable. Definitions …
#Schooltalking Tools by Others
A full compilation of talk tools and conversation starters curated on the #Schooltalking Facebook group. Coming soon. Check out/join the group in the meantime! …
Students, Families and Educators Should Lead the Way on the Gun Crisis.
Teaching Tolerance, February 26, 2018. A conversation starter I wrote with my daughter, on gun control and our schools. Link here …
Leveraging a University to Create Local Opportunities to Learn
These conversation starters on the CREATE STEM Success Initiative at UC San Diego share our Center’s efforts to leverage an entire university to create local …
Three challenges for teachers in the era of Trump.
The Washington Post, December 9, 2016. A conversation starter about educators’ key role in standing up for facts and inclusion, in an era threatening both …
The Election, One Year Later: Stories from Anthropologists of Education.
Teaching Tolerance, January 18, 2018 A conversation-starter series I designed and edited, by anthropologists who were embedded in U.S. schools before the 2016 election and …
The frightening effect of ‘Trump Talk’ on America’s schools.
The Washington Post, November 6, 2016. This conversation starter comments on how to handle the post-2016 explosion in hate incidents plaguing our schools. Link here …
“Commentary: For Young San Diegans, Choosing Freedom Over Fear is Not About Republican or Democrat Politics.”
San Diego Union Tribune, May 9, 2019. This conversation starter shares the #USvsHate project in San Diego in its 2019 context. Link here …
“We’re All More Connected to Immigrants – and Immigration Policy – Than We Think.”
Des Moines Register, July 20, 2019 This piece explores and rejects anti-immigrant sentiment that pervades our local communities. Link here …
“The Perils of Warning Teachers about ‘Political’ and ‘Partisan’ Speech.”
In Meira Levinson and Jacob Fay, ed., Ethical Dilemmas of Democratic Education: Cases and Commentaries. Harvard Education Press, 2019. This piece is a conversation starter …
Overcoming Hate in Our Backyards. Rethinking Schools
Rethinking Schools, November 29, 2017. This conversation starter, focused on my own community of San Diego, talks about uniting every community to overcome “hate” in …
Standing Up Against Hate.
Teaching Tolerance, 2017. This piece makes the case that standing up against hate and for facts is not “partisan” at all, but a longstanding educator …
“Responding to Hateful Speech in Schools.”
Educational Leadership ASCD blog, February 25, 2019. After the 2016 election, schools across the country experienced a wave of explicit, emboldened bigotry and harassment. This …
It Takes a Network to Raise a Child: Improving the Communication Infrastructure of Public Education to Enable Community Cooperation in Young People’s Success.
Teachers College Record, July 2013. This article explores findings from The OneVille Project, a collective community exploration into technology’s role in student supports. See also …
Texting as a Channel for Personalized Youth Support: Participatory Design Research by City Youth and Teachers.
Learning Media and Technology, June 2013. This article shares findings on a study with Uche Amaechi, two teachers, and their students, on the potential benefits …
Pursuing Deep Equity in “Blended” Classrooms
Teachers College Record, 2019. This article written with colleagues at CREATE explored the role of in-person teachers in supporting low-income students as they used online …
Smart Tech Use for Equity.
Teaching Tolerance, Spring 2016. The Smart Tech Use for Equity framework, which I designed with colleague Kim Douillard from the San Diego Area Writing Project, …
Caricature and Hyperbole in Preservice Teacher Professional Development for Diversity.
Urban Education, May 2015. This article explores PD uses of Everyday Antiracism. We share more core tensions that PD providers can name and clarify in …
“But What Can I Do?”: Three Necessary Tensions in Teaching Teachers About Race.
Journal of Teacher Education, May 2010. This article explores PD uses of Everyday Antiracism. In it, we engage some “necessary tensions” that PD providers can …
Fear and Rewriting Trayvon: Educator Thoughts.
Teaching Tolerance, August 1, 2013. This conversation starter I wrote after Trayvon Martin’s murder also helps to spark conversation and action to counter racially disparate …
Race and Overreaction: On the Streets and in Schools.
The Atlantic, February 2, 2015. This short, pointed conversation starter I wrote with Tanya Coke is a good pairing with the Carter et al. and …
How Educators Can Eradicate Disparities in School Discipline. Discipline Disparities Series: Interventions
The Equity Project at Indiana University, March 2014. This short piece walks through potential remedies for racial disparities in school discipline. Link here …
You Can’t Fix What You Don’t Look At: Acknowledging Race in Addressing Racial Discipline Disparities.
Urban Education, August 4, 2016. This piece is a conversation starter about race and discipline disparities– a key focus area for antiracism in school settings …
From Shallow to Deep: Toward a Thorough Cultural Analysis of School Achievement Patterns.
Anthropology & Education Quarterly, This is a short conversation starter for talking about culture, I also adapted it for Schooltalk’s Chapter 4 (Culture Talk). It’s …
Some Myths about Race that Every Educator Needs to Unlearn
Wiley-Blackwell, 2020. I wrote “Some Myths about Race that Every Educator Needs to Unlearn” as an updated chapter in RACE: Are We So Different?, which …
Flipping Our Scripts about Undocumented Immigration
This is a #Schooltalking Conversation Starter I wrote, building on information about my own family as well as U.S. history. Folks have found it particularly …
Introduction to Schooltalk
With The New Press’ permission, much of the intro to Schooltalk was released as a “conversation starter” by Teaching Tolerance Magazine, in 2017. Here’s that …
The Brief History of Race-Class Inequality from Chapter 2 of Schooltalk
From Schooltalk, 2017. This is a short history of race-class inequality that includes personal details from my own family. I’ve seen it used successfully in …
The Gallop Through History from Chapter 1 of Schooltalk
From Schooltalk, 2017. This is a brief, accessible history of race categories and a “digest” of race/racism history. People have found it a really useful …
While You Read, Consider Everyday Antiracism in Schools
I wrote this “conversation starter” in June 2020 to help invite more people into antiracist learning/planning in schools and districts. It specifically (but not exclusively) …