In Europe, anti-racism represents a newly adopted discourse in social justice laws and programs seeking to interrupt hate speech and center racial equity (Bianchi; Müller, 2021). Bonnet (2000) articulates anti-racism as forms of thought and/or practice that work to confront and actively resist structural racism (p. 3). Recently, several legal protections have been institutionalized to counter the rise of hate crimes, such as the EU Anti-racism Action Plan 2025; nonetheless, these political advances have been limited to addressing violences pertaining to gender and sexuality, and not intersections of race and ethnicity (Debusscher & Maes, 2025).

The academic literature grappling with anti-racism in European educational contexts has been undertheorized (Lentin, 2025). This raises questions about the efficacy of its adoption (Bianchi, 2020). Issues of teacher and administrative buy-in remain vital in the progress of anti-racist agendas (Chávez-Moreno, 2023; Perry, 2002). Through ethnographic methods, this qualitative study examines institutional conceptualizations of anti-racism from teacher and administrative perspectives in the context of Catalan public schools. In Spain, albeit democratic gains after the 40-year Francoist dictatorship, pervasive racist discourses that uphold whiteness are reminiscent of the country’s fascist and colonial past (Bela-Lobedde, 2023; Lentin, 2025). McIntosh (2019) describes whiteness as “an invisible package of unearned assets that [one] can count on cashing in each day…an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, and tools” (p. 28). White privilege, a product of white supremacy, allows for the inequitable distribution of resources and access to power (Chávez-Moreno, 2023; Harris, 1993; Perry, 2002). Critical Race Scholars have first sought to illuminate the ways unfair advantage is abetted and maintained through the construction of whiteness in the United States schools (Ladson-Billings, 2000; Parker & Gillborn, 2020). European schools are not neutral spaces either, “being designed to institutionalise Eurocentric norms and in the process ostracize minoritized ethnic perspectives” (Riley et al., 2025, p. 1). Anti-racism, as an educational praxis, counters such assimilationist logics and challenges the unjust distribution of resources sanctioned through institutionalized forms of racism (Bianchi, 2020; Bonilla-Silva, 2013; Lentin, 2025). The inclusion of counternarratives has been documented as an effective anti-racist pedagogy aimed at interrupting racist ideologies and addressing uneven power dynamics among educational stakeholders (Chávez-Moreno, 2023; Delgado & Stefancic, 2017).

A central goal of anti-racist education is to reimagine school as a site to challenge dominant ideology and academic reasoning (Bela-Lobedded, 2023; Lentin, 2025). Ladson-Billings (2000) argues that “there are well-developed systems of knowledge, or epistemologies, that stand in contrast to the dominant Euro-American epistemology” (p. 258). Identifying and challenging oppressive Eurocentric perspectives remains at the core of an anti-racism praxis, which is able to illuminate and bring to question current and historical power relations. It is important to note that the inclusion of non-western epistemologies is not simply a measure to diversify scholarship and praxis, but “to challenge the hegemonic structures (and symbols) that keep injustice and inequity in place” (Ladson-Billings, 2000, p. 271). Anti-racism therefore consists of a radical re-imagining of our world, grounded in the counternarratives and epistemologies of those in positions of alterity (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). In this anti-racist stand, it is important that educators are consistent and coherent in instructional programs and curricula (Lentin, 2025). Newmann et. al (2001) maintain that instructional program coherence is more likely to advance student achievement more than multiple unrelated programs (p. 297). The practice of coherence in anti-racist practices stimulates student engagement and knowledge when school staff work collaboratively with local communities (Chávez-Moreno, 2023; Jones, 2025).

The methodology of this qualitative study is that of ethnography based on interview and observation data. Individual interviews and observations of secondary school teachers and administrators in Barcelona, Catalunya, were conducted for a period of an academic year, from September 2023 to June 2024. Barcelona is a highly multicultural city with foreign national residents comprising 27% of the population. The racialized communities originally come from Latin American countries (Perú, Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, among others), Morocco, Pakistan and China (Statistical Institute of Catalonia, 2025). Catalan and Spanish are official languages in the region, and students are required to study both languages at school (Castell Orell, 2024). However, issues of representation are widespread, since the majority of school staff in Catalan schools remains predominantly white, female and of Spanish/Catalan origin (Hugues Canalís, 2020). The main participants of this study included 20 teachers, 6 principals, and 12 psychopedagogues working in Catalan public schools. Most of the participants are white women, with the exception of 5 male teachers, and 6 female teachers with double nationality (1 Moroccan, 1 Brasilian, 1 Chinese, 3 Latinx) and 2 queer Latinx psychopedagogues (1 Ecuadoran, 1 Argentinean). The teachers worked in biology, (foreign) languages, history, and music disciplines. A total of 18 different observations lasting approximately for 1 hour took place during the academic year. Observations focused on professional development sessions for school staff (8) and classroom settings with the high school students (10). Informal interviews with high school students took place during the observations, as the main researcher was an active participant in the classroom. Individual 45-minute semi-structured interviews with teachers occurred during and after professional development meetings. The interviews with the principals took place at the end of the academic year in June 2024. The interviews and observations focused on analyzing the schools’ implementation of an anti-racist instructional focus and the professional development surrounding it. Pseudonyms were used in the study to protect schools and participants’ confidentiality. Data were analyzed following central tenets of critical race theory in the context of anti-racist education (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). These elements included: racial literacy, counternarratives, intersectionality, and political alliances. This research was led by a racialized Spanish scholar who lived for 20 years in the U.S. as an immigrant woman. Being also European, it is vital to acknowledge and interrupt biased understandings of race and racism, and join local efforts for the advancement of racial justice in Catalunya.

In conceptualizing anti-racism, the principals tended to overlook the historical processes of race and white property. When discussing her conception of anti-racism, a principal referred to the schools’ Quality School Plan, describing: “the transition from symbolic diversity to an anti-racist, multicultural institution by providing students with the opportunity to engage in analytical reasoning through culturally proficient curriculum and instruction that fosters rigor and depth”. In addition, 4 principals expressed a concern about pervasive racial biases among school staff that worked as a hidden curriculum (Chávez-Moreno, 2023). Susana, a Moroccan psychopedagogue, explained the urgency to bring “unconscious biases to a conscious level.” Catalan students showed an open attitude to engage in challenging conversations around race and racism. In an observation (May, 2024), a female Catalan history teacher asked the students to watch documentaries on hate crimes. The students presented these video materials, challenging racial ideologies. Reflecting on their (un)learnings, one high school student expressed: “it was like I became a better person.” Another student acknowledged: “I was so ashamed of myself for thinking Moroccans are all the same, it is just like thinking Catalans we are all the same.” Marcos, a biology teacher, relied on counternarratives to unpack the topic of Covid-19, noting how “it is about having them (students) think more complexly, and helping them (students) recognize and appreciate each other’s humanity.” Sonia described the use of counternarratives as “planting a seed [...] helping them (students) to question injustices in our daily lives,” but also underlined the need for accountability, regretting how “it is always hard for people in power to take responsibility.” Lyn, a queer Latinx pedagogue, described their work for the inclusion of recently migrated youth, and underlined the importance of fostering reciprocity among all learners, “rethinking how they see themselves as citizens.”

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