[3] Kumashiro was deeply influenced by his mother, who was also a teacher who from a young age instilled her love of teaching into her children.
As Kevin Kumashiro states, “I’m trying to get people to question those things that we take for granted, because … maybe they are part of the problem,” [4][citation needed] Kumashiro's idea of education and role of the teacher is to empower the student[5] and be an anti-oppressive educator.
What results is a deep commitment to changing how we think about and engage in many aspects of education, from curriculum and pedagogy, to school culture and activities, to institutional structure and policies.
[3]Through the spread of Anti-Oppressive Education, Kumashiro wants to challenge all forms of oppression in classrooms, both intentional and unintentional.
On top of that Kumashiro criticizes that public schools are perpetuating oppressive teaching practices by failing to acknowledge them.