ABSTRACT
This paper represents a critical reflection on youth and community work students’ response to a module on race equality and diversity. An awareness of issues in relation to power and oppression are amongst the core elements of youth and community work training. Throughout their study, youth and community work students are engaged in conversations aimed at enabling them to critically examine their own attitudes and beliefs in areas of anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practices. These classroom conversations and expressions of resistance and resilience are informed by Paulo Freire’s work on critical dialogue. As a specialist unit the module on equality and diversity was aimed at developing students’ critical understanding of race, racism and ethnic difference. Based on written feedback, student-led presentations and conversations of ‘protest’, this paper critically explores the power of whiteness in silencing particular groups of students.
