Developing an Antiracist and Anti-Oppressive Research Methods Curriculum

Background: Competency 4 of the 9 competencies in the Council on Social Work Education Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards requires us to engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice; that includes using culturally informed and antiracist approaches in conducting research and building knowledge. This means confronting how we teach research methods and how we educate students to identify rigorous research methodologies and studies. However, there have been limitations in the scientific method to advance social justice through research.

Methods: The limited definition of the scientific method does not easily allow researchers to explore and understand the context of people’s experiences, that include oppression and racism. When research does include marginalized groups, being a part of a marginalized group is othered. Some researchers exploit these groups and use research to support oppressive agendas. Communities are used for their scientific value and tokenized rather than helped. Researchers in marginalized groups have also been excluded. Some of the methods they use to capture the lived experiences of the marginalized may not be universally considered rigorous research. In addition, their work has not been valued for its contribution to their disciplines. It is challenging to explore issues of power and oppression using traditional scientific methods considering their purpose is to account and control for external factors; factors that could include racism and oppression. The following recommendations stem from experiential knowledge of the author based on changes and adaptations made to their own research methods class of 32 MSW students during the Spring semester of an academic year.

Results: This pedagogical change can be an enormous undertaking; particularly because there are no prescribed standard methods of creating an antiracist/anti-oppressive research methods syllabus. However, incremental small changes may eventually lead to a class that provides students a space to be critical of the scientific method. The first thing that can be done is to have more inclusive readings. Primarily articles written by researchers in marginalized groups, and articles about marginalized and oppressed groups were chosen for class readings. Another important strategy is centering the voices of researchers who have typically been silenced or marginalized in academic research through guest speakers. The assignments in the class must give students the opportunity to be proactive in learning how to do inclusive and intersectional research; and use that research in their practice to eliminate racism and oppression. Article critiques can be used to help students learn to critically think about research through a social justice lens. Finally, students were assigned to complete a study that aligns with the class’s agenda to center marginalized and oppressed groups, and promote equity.

Discussion: Much progress needs to be made in transforming social work research to use methods that reflect the complexity of the human experience; which means adopting what works from the hard sciences, but also being willing to adapt or develop methods that serve those with marginalize identities. More work needs to be done to make research methods classes a transformative space that is equity-minded, inclusive, culturally informing, and anti-racist.