The Feminist Pedagogy Project

Author: DiSalvo, C.

Exploring Approaches to Data Literacy Through a Critical Race Theory Perspective

Author(s):	Johnson, B. Shapiro, B. R. DiSalvo, B. Rothschild, A. & DiSalvo, C.
Date:	2021
Publication:	Learning Sciences Faculty Publications
Citation:	Johnson, B., Shapiro, B.R., DiSalvo, B., Rothschild, A., & DiSalvo, C. 2021. Exploring Approaches to Data Literacy Through a Critical Race Theory Perspective. Learning Sciences Faculty Publications, 40. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445141

Section on webpage:	Critical Data Justice Literature
Tenets:	Using technology intentionally to build communities and enhance learning.
Annotation:	(Abstract) In this paper, we describe and analyze a workshop developed for a work training program called DataWorks. In this workshop, data workers chose a topic of their interest, sourced and processed data on that topic, and used that data to create presentations. Drawing from discourses of data literacy; epistemic agency and lived experience; and critical race theory, we analyze the workshops’ activities and outcomes. Through this analysis, three themes emerge: the tensions between epistemic agency and the context of work, encountering the ordinariness of racism through data work, and understanding the personal as communal and intersectional. Finally, critical race theory also prompts us to consider the very notions of data literacy that undergird our workshop activities. From this analysis, we offer a series of suggestions for approaching designing data literacy activities, taking into account critical race theory.

February 11, 2026

Exploring Approaches to Data Literacy Through a Critical Race Theory Perspective

Author(s):	Johnson, B. Shapiro, B. R. DiSalvo, B. Rothschild, A. & DiSalvo, C.
Date:	2021
Publication:	Learning Sciences Faculty Publications
Citation:	Johnson, B., Shapiro, B.R., DiSalvo, B., Rothschild, A., & DiSalvo, C. 2021. Exploring Approaches to Data Literacy Through a Critical Race Theory Perspective. Learning Sciences Faculty Publications, 40. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445141

Section on webpage:	Critical Data Justice Literature
Tenets:	Using technology intentionally to build communities and enhance learning.
Annotation:	(Abstract) In this paper, we describe and analyze a workshop developed for a work training program called DataWorks. In this workshop, data workers chose a topic of their interest, sourced and processed data on that topic, and used that data to create presentations. Drawing from discourses of data literacy; epistemic agency and lived experience; and critical race theory, we analyze the workshops’ activities and outcomes. Through this analysis, three themes emerge: the tensions between epistemic agency and the context of work, encountering the ordinariness of racism through data work, and understanding the personal as communal and intersectional. Finally, critical race theory also prompts us to consider the very notions of data literacy that undergird our workshop activities. From this analysis, we offer a series of suggestions for approaching designing data literacy activities, taking into account critical race theory.