[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-594315-105":59,"doc-detail-594315-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","teaching-in-racially-diverse-schools-towards-a-racial-competency-framework","Teaching in Racially Diverse Schools - Towards a Racial Competency Framework","","Safe learning environments strengthen students’ wellbeing, engagement, and educational outcomes. To develop resources that help schools create such environments, the study conducted focus group discussions with teachers and students of African heritage in selected public schools in an Australian state. Insights from school staff show teachers often experience relational uncertainty when addressing racial issues that affect engagement. The paper proposes a racial competency framework with dimensions, drivers, and domains supporting racial value awareness, literacy, and anti-racist orientations. It also examines school policy and governance, teacher practices, and community engagement to support racially safe and inclusive learning environments.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/teaching-in-racially-diverse-schools-towards-a-racial-competency-framework/594315/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/teaching-in-racially-diverse-schools-towards-a-racial-competency-framework/594315.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Kurz","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-23","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the main aim of the study on racial competency in schools?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"To develop resources that enable schools to create safe learning environments by examining teachers’ and students’ experiences and proposing a racial competency framework.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What challenge do teachers face when dealing with racial issues in racially diverse schools?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Teachers face “relational uncertainty” when addressing racial issues that impact students’ engagement.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What does the proposed racial competency framework focus on?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It emphasises racial value awareness, racial literacy, and anti-racist orientations, supported by drivers such as deliberation, learning, and commitment, and it evaluates school policy, teacher practices, and community engagement.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},594315,1792209088,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},2336478945635,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Australian Journal of Teacher Education  \n\n| Volume 50  Issue 2 | Article 7 |\n| --- | --- |\n| 2025\u003Cbr>Teaching in Racially Diverse Schools: Towards a Racial Competency Framework\u003Cbr>Tebeje Molla\u003Cbr>Deakin University, Australia\u003Cbr>Kerri Garrard\u003Cbr>Deakin University\u003Cbr>Tim Corcoran Deakin University\u003Cbr>Follow this and additional works at: [https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte)\u003Cbr> Part of the Educational Sociology Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, and the Secondary Education and Teaching Commons |  |\n\nRecommended Citation  \nMolla, T., Garrard, K., & Corcoran, T. (2025) . Teaching in Racially Diverse Schools: Towards a Racial Competency Framework. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 50(2) . [https://doi.org/10.14221/](https://doi.org/10.14221/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.14221/)1835-517X.6676  \nThis Journal Article is posted at Research Online.  \n[https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol50/iss2/7](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol50/iss2/7)  \nTeaching in Racially Diverse Schools: Towards a Racial Competency  \nFramework  \nTebeje Molla 1  \nKerri Garrard 1  \nTim Corcoran 1  \n1 School of Education, Deakin University, Australia  \nAbstract: Safe learning environments foster the wellbeing,  \nengagement, and educational outcomes ofstudents. To develop resources that enable schools to create safe learning environments, we conducted focus group discussions with teachers and African  \nheritage students in selected public schools in an Australian state.  \nThis paper reports insights from our discussions with the school staff.  \nThe findings indicate that teachers face ‘relational uncertainty’ in  \ndealing with racial issues impacting their engagement with these  \nstudents. To address these challenges, we propose a racial competency framework, featuring distinctive dimensions, drivers, and domains. The framework emphasises the need for schools to support racial value awareness, racial literacy, and anti-racist orientations through drivers such as deliberation, learning, and commitment.  \nFurthermore, in assessing whether schools nurture racial competency, we focus on school policy and governance, teacher practices, and  \ncommunity engagement. The proposed framework offers a  \ncomprehensive approach to creating racially safe and inclusive  \nlearning environments that foster a sense of belonging and  \nengagement.  \nKeywords: Australian schools, relational uncertainty, racial competency framework, safe learning environments  \nIntroduction  \nEthnoculturally diverse societies in the global North are often celebrated for their rich tapestry of cultures, languages, and traditions. However, they are not immune to the challenges posed by racism. Australia is one of the most successful multicultural societies in the world (Turnbull 2020). Yet, the nation grapples with the problem of racism. Visibly distinct ethnocultural groups, including Black Africans, experience racial vilification within and beyond educational institutions (Molla 2024a, 2024c; Elias 2021; Elias et al. 2020; Vergani and Navarro 2020). For instance, in recent years, African heritage youth in Australia have routinely been racialised in public—epitomised by the ‘African gangs’ narrative in the media, which has the potential to spill over into the school system where they are labelled as disruptive and unruly (Molla 2021; Moylan et al. 2020) . In schools, African heritage students are often subjected to negative representation through the prism of racial stereotypes and stigma (Ubuntu Project 2022) . Racialised students may experience microaggressions from their peers and face bias from teachers who hold implicit stereotypes about their abilities or  \nbehaviour. In hostile learning environments, racialised students frequently face disproportionate disciplinary actions, including suspension and expulsion (Te Riele et al. 2023) .  \nThe Australian Human Rights Commission defines racism as ‘all the barriers that prevent people from enjoying dign","cbCaiaw29KixULKW","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiaw29KixULKW","pdf",470992,28,"English","# Introduction\n## Racism in educational settings\n## Conceptualising racism in practice\n## Forms of racism at school\n# Abstract\n## Study purpose and method\n## Key findings and proposed framework\n# Keywords","[{\"question\":\"What is the main aim of the study on racial competency in schools?\",\"answer\":\"To develop resources that enable schools to create safe learning environments by examining teachers’ and students’ experiences and proposing a racial competency framework.\"},{\"question\":\"What challenge do teachers face when dealing with racial issues in racially diverse schools?\",\"answer\":\"Teachers face “relational uncertainty” when addressing racial issues that impact students’ engagement.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the proposed racial competency framework focus on?\",\"answer\":\"It emphasises racial value awareness, racial literacy, and anti-racist orientations, supported by drivers such as deliberation, learning, and commitment, and it evaluates school policy, teacher practices, and community engagement.\"}]","Teaching in Racially Diverse Schools - Towards a Racial Competency Framework | PDF",1792078925,71]