Leaked UIUC education materials show emphasis on race, class and belonging in future-teacher training

Leaked lectures from a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign course for future teachers reveal a curricular emphasis on race, class and belonging, according to materials obtained by Fox News Digital. The slides come from weeks six and nine of EDUC 201, Identity and Difference in Education, a first-year course in UIUC's education department that's designed for pre-service teachers. The university did not respond to requests for comment on the materials.

Week nine, titled Cultivating Belonging, frames belonging through the lens of intersectionality and culturally relevant pedagogy. A slide cites recent data suggesting that about 40% of US high school students do not feel connected to school, with gaps larger for students facing racism, LGBTQ+ students and students with disabilities; the material argues that curricular and school structures contribute to alienation rather than student disengagement from schooling. Another slide labeled Erasure of Racially Minorized Students includes a quote attributed to Xóchitl, described as a ninth-grader at Shields High School, describing how peers respond to her in different contexts. The module also features a three-minute Beverly Daniel Tatum video, drawn from a Roots video titled Why the Black Kids Still Sit Together, and urges future teachers to consider how race shapes students’ experiences in school. Toward the end, slides advocate cultivating belonging by affirming students’ identities and implementing culturally relevant teaching practices.

The week-six lecture, Understanding the role of class in educational inequality, opens with a survey of Illinois high schools and then surveys stereotypes about rural, suburban and urban schools. Rural schools are described as poor and white, suburban schools as resource-rich and white, and urban schools as dysfunctional and predominantly students of color. The slides contend that class inequality is increasing and is embedded in everyday life within these contexts. A central concept, opportunity hoarding, is defined as the process by which dominant groups who control a key good—like education—regulate its circulation to prevent out-groups from access. The definition is attributed to a 2015 book by Amanda Lewis and John Diamond, Despite the Best Intentions: How Racial Inequality Thrives in Good Schools. The slides argue that funding gaps persist, and that middle- and upper-middle-class parental fundraising for programming can widen those gaps. Later slides describe how opportunity hoarding can reinforce inequities through de-tracking or restricting access to honors and AP courses for lower-income students.

UIUC did not respond to requests for comment about the materials. The university’s uptake of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) concepts in teacher-preparation coursework has been a flashpoint in broader debates about how race, class and identity are taught in higher education. The Fox News Digital recap quotes a slide that frames belonging as something that should reflect students’ bodies of knowledge and social realities rather than asking students to assimilate to a single norm. It also notes that a slide on belonging calls for “affirming and accepting students for all their complexities—particularly for students with minoritized identities” and for implementing culturally relevant teaching practices.

The materials’ release comes as debates over how pre-service teachers should be trained to address race and inequality in classrooms intensify in the United States. Critics argue that curricula emphasizing race and structural inequities amount to ideological indoctrination, while supporters say such training is essential to preparing teachers to serve diverse student populations. Fox News Digital’s review underscores that the leaked content focuses on race, racism, white supremacy and practices intended to foster belonging for minoritized students, with references to authors and figures associated with CRT-adjacent discourse.

The episode also includes imagery tied to UIUC’s campus environment to contextualize the setting for readers. A campus sign image is included toward the end of the piece to illustrate the university’s physical context, and another image highlights the ongoing discussion surrounding campus education courses and their content.

As the national conversation about the role of DEI initiatives in higher education evolves, the UIUC materials provide one data point in a broader, often heated, public debate over how future teachers are taught to think about identity, power and classroom experience. With questions still circulating about how these ideas should be taught in classrooms and training programs—and whether they should be part of standard curricula—the university and its education department may face continued scrutiny as more material details emerge from similar courses across the country. The stories surrounding these leaked lectures reflect ongoing tensions between calls for inclusive pedagogy and concerns about ideological balance in teacher-preparation programs.

If additional documentation surfaces, educators and policymakers will likely examine the implications for pre-service teacher training, classroom practice, and the way schools address equity and belonging in diverse student populations.