Navigating Anti-DEI Legislation: Reflexivity and Resistance in Social Work Education

Abstract

Social work educators must integrate anti-racism and anti-oppressive theories and practice frameworks into the curricula to ensure future practitioners develop social justice awareness, knowledge, and actional skills to combat racial and social injustice. However, there has been an increase in federal and state legislative efforts to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion content in higher education. This increasingly hostile environment has a significant impact on schools of social work, particularly as it relates to critical pedagogy. The purpose of this article is to explore the ways three professional social work educators navigated the current socio-political landscape, characterized by anti-DEI legislation, in their classrooms by using individual and collective reflexivity as a means of creating a counterspace for resistance. A qualitative approach using autoethnography was used to capture these professors’ perspectives teaching critical social work theories and anti-oppressive practice frameworks amidst increased political pressure to teach from a place of neutrality. Thematic analysis uncovered core themes related to the impact on instructors’ perceptions and approaches, the influence on classroom dynamics and student interactions, and the integration of current events into the curriculum.

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