Teachers can be easily overwhelmed with the number of resources available to help us do our jobs…but I’m going to add another one anyway.

Facing History and Ourselves is a site that challenges teachers and students to “Be the change that you wish to see in the world” (Mahatma Gandhi). This website contains lessons and activities that teach students how to critically assess historical events that epitomized prejudice, hatred, intolerance, and racism (to name a few). Children–our students–are constantly exposed to dysfunctional relationships and interactions in video games, movies, and TV. What they see informs their mindset and potential actions.

To address social justice issues, it is important that teachers use events from history to teach students to ask the difficult questions, develop empathy, and critically analyze the details. Social justice focuses on equity and equality as a basic human right, empowerment, and promotion of social responsibility. But social justice issues are not solely regulated to the past. Unfortunately, our current social and political climate continues to offer a plethora of social justice issues. Some of our students (or at least their parents) fled their home countries because of civil unrest, injustice, and even genocide. What better way to make learning meaningful and relevant but to have them explore the historical events that prompted their parents to seek a better life here in the United States? And why not also explore why others have not been able to leave? What barriers exist that prevent people from escaping the various types of injustices inflicted upon them?

So all this begs the question, how can we help our students to become informed citizens? To give them the confidence that they voices matter? To show them that they can BE THE CHANGE?

Well, I think one good place to begin is by exploring the Facing History and Ourselves site. But this stuff isn’t just for the history classrooms; social justice issues do not exist within a particular realm or discipline. All educators have a responsibility to teach students about their civic duty, to empower them with knowledge, and to give them a voice.

Let’s be the change.

I will be the first to admit that I don’t utilize TED Talks as much as I should. But when I do, I am always impressed with the topics and speakers. One video, in particular, resonated with me “How to fix a broken school? Lead fearlessly, love hard” by Linda Cliatt-Wayman. Growing up in an impoverished neighborhood in Philadelphia, she returned as a teacher and then an administrator. Her TED Talk is posted below.

I think this video is a must-watch for teachers at least once a year. It’s a good reminder of why we do what we do. Now, I don’t work at an inner city school with the same obstacles as Cliatt-Wayman, but I do work at a Title I school with its own share of issues. But no matter where you work or the issues your school has, I think her slogans are spot-on:

• If you’re going to lead…LEAD
• So what? Now what?
• If nobody told you they loved you today, remember I do, and I always will

Cliatt-Wayman never referred to culturally responsive teaching practices in her talk, but the way she went about changing the school culture at Strawberry Mansion utilized several components that empowered students, gave each of them a voice, and displayed empathy for what they (her students) were going through. One component of culturally responsive teaching practices that Cliatt-Wayman exemplified without a doubt is demonstrate cultural caring and build a learning community (Gay, 2002). She changed the school culture and climate not only for her students but for the faculty and staff by her actions, words, and follow-through.

Some aspects of her talk that resonated with me include the following (most of these are direct quotes):

• Non-negotiables for positive behavior.
• I love my students. I only see what they can become.
• Spend time with them. Talk with them.
• Weekly Town Home meeting (for students).
• Every moment is a teachable moment.
• My reward? Their earned respect. Because of this, we can accomplish things together.
• Focus. Tradition. Excellence. Integrity. Perseverance.
• Education can truly change their lives.
• Every one of our students is a child.
• We should always provide them with hope.

How can one not be inspired to do what’s best and what’s right by our students after watching her TED Talk? I believe the students were attracted to what Cliatt-Wayman had to say because she was once one of them. She wore those shoes. But that doesn’t mean that those of us who did not grow up with the same challenges as our students cannot be effective educators. It just means that we need to listen with our heart. We need to break the pedagogy of poverty cycle (Haberman, 2010). Our students–still children–want to learn. We can begin by providing a supportive, caring, and safe learning environment for them.

So what? Now what?

Reference

Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53, 106–116. doi:10.1177/0022487102053002003

Haberman, M. (2010). The pedagogy of poverty versus good teaching. Phi Delta Kappan, 92, 81-87. doi:10.1177/003172171009200223

I cannot believe that summer is almost halfway over. Where did the time go? Luckily, I still have time to figure out how best to inform my colleagues about what I’ve learned regarding cultural competence and social justice. Because I’m a visual learner, I put together a mindmap (a revised version of Buzan’s format) to see areas where my school could address gaps in our efforts to offer a supportive and nurturing environment for our diverse learners.

Because I serve on the instructional leadership team, I am in a position to offer suggestions for our faculty PD day which typically occurs in February. I think perhaps sharing some resources (see below) along with a presentation with key points about multicultural education would be a good place to start. While our staff is ethnically and racially diverse, most of us were educated in America which means that many of us may not be aware of the unconscious bias that may be reflected in our non-verbal and verbal communication with students and parents.

Reflection is an important aspect of personal growth. Most teachers spend quite a bit of time in reflection, of that I have no doubt. But perhaps the reflection needs to be more targeted in that we should consider how we interact with students–our actions, our words, and, more importantly, our expectations for their academic achievement. In other words, we need to take some time for some serious introspection. Perhaps our faculty PD day could offer time for that.

Resources

Au, K. (2018). Isn’t culturally responsive instruction just good teaching? Social Education, 73, 179–183.  Retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org

Borba, M. (2009). Caring closes the language-learning gap. Phi Delta Kappan, 90, 681–685. doi:10.1177/003172170909000915

Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53, 106–116. doi:10.1177/0022487102053002003

Haberman, M. (2010). The pedagogy of poverty versus good teaching. Phi Delta Kappan, 92, 81-87.doi:10.1177/003172171009200223

Lam, W. S. E. (2013). What immigrant students can teach us about new media literacy. Phi Delta Kappan, 94, 62–65. doi:10.1177/003172171209400416

Nieto, S. (2008). Affirmation, solidarity and critique: Moving beyond tolerance in education. In E. Lee, D. Menkart, & M. Okazawa-Rey (Eds.), Beyond heroes and holidays (pp. 18–29). Washington DC: Teaching for Change.