Use of a School-based Audit Tool for Guiding Anti-racism Education in Schools: A Pilot Assessment

The negative health impacts of racism and race-based discrimination have been well established within the public health literature. Though public health acknowledges racism and education as determinants of health, the field has failed to adequately address the health-harming impacts of racism within the education system, and thus has underutilized anti-racism work as a preventative and health equity strategy. This project piloted a school-based audit tool to assess school policies and practices for supporting cultural diversity and addressing race-based discrimination in two Alberta junior high schools to explore how an audit could be useful in guiding the development of anti-racism education. The study found that the utilization of an audit tool can help to begin a process of formalized discussion and raising awareness about interpersonal and institutional racism within educational contexts; however, the tool needs to be paired with action-oriented steps to successfully address racism as a determinant of health and education.