The Anti-Racism Leadership Institute
22 episodes listed below
Anti-racist education research, brought to practice.
Research to Practice is a long-form education interview show centered on anti-racism, school leadership, and equity in practice. Its conversations move from personal history and scholarship into the harder operational questions of funding, discipline, disability support, school support, and belonging.
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Research to Practice is a measured, interview-led show about anti-racism in education. It is less interested in quick tips than in the conditions that make equity work possible or impossible inside schools. The conversations often begin with a person: a researcher, a school leader, a parent advocate, or someone whose family history has shaped the questions they bring to education. Then the lens widens. A story about autism support becomes a discussion of public school capacity, parent advocacy, diagnosis, ABA, and the fear of a child losing hard-won progress. A conversation with Dr. Sarah Fireman turns school leadership into a question of stance, especially for white leaders trying to recognize blind spots without making anti-racist work about self-proving. Education finance gets treated with the same patience. Dr. Catherine Posniak's episode tracks federal funding, state responsibility, agency capacity, and what cuts or policy shifts may mean for districts already carrying uneven burdens. Other episodes move through restorative practice, school policing, exclusionary discipline, Black girlhood identities, liberatory practice, English learners, universal design, and the ways Black communities remember the Civil War. The show is direct about racism. It is also attentive to the practical machinery of schooling: principals, state budgets, teacher preparation, assessment, leadership programs, and classroom design. That combination gives the series its useful tension. It does not speak about equity as a value statement alone. It asks what would have to change in preparation programs, district decisions, public systems, and daily interactions for schools to stop reproducing the harms they claim to oppose. Guests are given room to think through contradiction, and the host's questions often translate scholarship back toward practitioner responsibility. Some episodes are repetitive or transcript-like in rhythm, but that slowness is part of the texture. The show is at its strongest when it lets lived experience complicate institutional language. It is for people who can sit with discomfort and still want something actionable to carry back into education work.
Made for: For educators, principals, district leaders, teacher educators, policy observers, and community advocates working through questions of race, access, discipline, funding, and belonging in schools.
What sets it apart: The show pairs scholarly guests with a practitioner-facing frame, keeping anti-racist education grounded in leadership decisions, family experience, and the structural realities of public schooling.
Welcome to The Anti-Racism Leadership Institute, where we engage in thoughtful conversations with professors and visionary leaders who are dedicated to dismantling racism in schools and transforming education. Join us as we explore their inspiring journeys, innovative strategies, and impactful initiatives aimed at creating more inclusive, equitable, and anti-racist learning environments. Our podcast is a platform for sharing insights, stories, and actionable ideas that can help shape a brighter, more just future for education. Tune in and be inspired to be a part of the change!
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Research becomes an operating question here, linking education leadership, public funding, and institutional responsibility to consequences inside schools.
Dr. Tracy A. Benson builds each conversation around a practical question: how can education leaders carry research, policy analysis, and lived experience into their decisions?
Racial-equity research leaves the journal and lands in your next hard conversation about schools.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A parent-led case for real support, not symbolic support.
Will Adams Sr. describes the day-to-day strain of parenting an autistic son and the harder work of turning that experience into advocacy. He speaks plainly about diagnosis delays, the pressure of choosing educational settings, and the worry that support can slip away just when…
A serious look at anti-racist leadership as ongoing work.
Dr. Sarah Fireman treats anti-racism as ongoing work for school leaders, not a one-time lesson. She moves from early assumptions about good teaching to a clearer look at blind spots, mentorship, and learning in public, which gives the conversation its shape.
Federal education power looks smaller once state budgets enter the room.
This episode treats federal education policy as a question of money and governance, with Dr. Katherine Posniak laying out what the U.S. Department of Education can do and where state and local revenue still carries most of the burden.
A reflective look at liberatory practice, Black joy, and the hard question of what school is for.
Dr. Asia Reynolds frames the discussion with research on Black girlhood identities and geographies in the neoliberal carceral state, giving the exchange a clear focus on liberatory practice in schooling. Dr. Tracy A.
A sober look at what schools ask of teachers of color, and what they should build around them.
Dr. Spencer Salas and Tracy shape the conversation around how Teachers, Leadership, and Black Boys, Racialized Funds of Knowledge moves scholarship into the daily realities of schools.
Blunt faith talk under pressure.
Black history with present-tense stakes.
Grassroots Black activism, live and unfiltered.
Black politics without soft edges.
Travel stories with borders, memory, and consequence.
The episode starts with the family stakes right on the table.
Tracy welcomes Dr.
The host opens with a direct question about federal education policy and funding.
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Benson opens the conversation with Dr.
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