Yesterday, I was on Instagram and a college friend shared, “ I abruptly quit my job. I am no longer a classroom teacher. Now, I am on a beach and never felt freer.” She was glowing for sure. But as I stared at my former teacher friend living her #bestlife on social media, I also thought about so many other teachers just like her during this pandemic Teacher Appreciation Week. All working to just get free, but never getting there until they leave and in this season there has been a lot of leaving. Frankly, with all the attacks against teachers and schools who teach Critical Race Theory the 1619 Project, the outright denial of racism in this country by political leaders, the overwhelming workload due to remote learning in a Pandemic, I can’t imagine a Black educator feeling less valued and appreciated than right now. I digress. But for Black teachers especially, there is this constant sense of feeling trapped in a system that was never made for you or for the kids that you serve that look like you, but you try to stick it out to see if you can just free a few from the shackles of oppression---but it’s always just a few. Nevertheless, it remains tiring to be caught in the snares of such a place, especially when you see the rest of the world living their #bestlife and you barely feel seen, heard or appreciated. As a Black educator, this too was my story and I must claim it if I expect to uncover what it means for Black teachers to go and STAY in urban, public schools AND be FREE to live their #bestlife. The facts are in America, only 19% of teachers are non-white of which only 7% are Black, but over 50% of students in America are non-white and growing more diverse, despite more Black teachers leaving the profession. Additionally, by 2028, we are expected to see a shortage of over 100,000 educators in K-12 schools in hard to place fields in STEM with teacher preparation programs seeing record declines in enrollment. Teachers cite the largest issue they face is pay, working conditions, lack of autonomy and treatment as to why they leave the field. Research has proven that more diverse learning environments and teachers yield better learning outcomes for students, but yet they are still missing from our public schools and leaving faster than we can keep them. All of this is to say, with more STEM-based jobs in demand and less teachers to fill these vital roles in diverse communities, it is imperative that we get this thang right. So, today ain’t just give a free lunch day and a gift card to a teacher. Today is the day we truly support the liberation and celebration of the work of our teachers, especially our Black teachers in underserved classrooms. In order for us to do this though, we must first understand the role of how White Supremacy Culture impacts the sub-culture in our schools that create these toxic environments for teachers of color. Yeah, I told you this ain’t a gift card kind of day. Black teachers need for school and district leaders to deeply assess their culture to ensure it is an inclusive, caring and liberating space, not only for students to learn, but for teachers to work. From my experience, less energy is paid to the latter and that is how we keep losing good people, including myself. SO what’s Wrong? Pay is a huge issue for educators, but I think more important is culture. As with any other culture, White Supremacy Culture is interwoven in our everyday lives, actions, behaviors and beliefs but the difference is this one tends to bestow advantages consciously or unconsciously to the majority culture at the expense of the minority one. That is most White people win while most Black people lose as long as the existing power structures and systems stay in place and don’t change. This happens in more small and subtle ways in large organizations, such as schools even with non-white people keeping the status quo afloat. Normally, it does not appear as an egregious act like burning crosses on a front lawn, rather it happens in an administrative decision on switching curriculum with no teacher input. This is how White Supremacy Culture shows up. According to work by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun, ChangeWork (2001), there are key characteristics that are indicative of White Supremacy Culture in an organization. Please note I am only referring to the tendencies and normed behaviors that are exhibited in schools and not extremist who are white supremacist. But this is the first step to understanding how systemic racism is baked into the whole pie, hurting our schools and tearing down our most valuable assets-- teachers. From Jones and Okun’s work, in my own experience, the main characteristic that constantly showed up for me as a Black Educator was the constant hoarding of power that made me feel powerless to make change. There were little committees with teachers on them, but decisions were never shared or collectively made by them, only those in leadership. If I brought up an idea to do something different, it was shot down or unheard, only to do the same thing that did not work the year before. Once, I decided that my students needed a different assessment for our class that was different from the grade levels, because the content did not match our lessons, and I was quickly reprimanded and closely monitored to give an exam that I didn't even put in my gradebook. Those in power felt threatened by my actions and mostly saw me as inexperienced and not worth any investment to develop me further. This was heartbreaking as a new teacher, but I pushed myself because of my students to keep trying. But this is how White Supremacy Culture can belittle and demoralize Black teachers from feeling any sense of value in these spaces. So they leave. So what do we need to do? So some might be like you should have spoken up and told someone. But the reality is schools are good ol’girl/boy networks too that have dire consequences if you share your story. This is also a tactic of White Supremacy Culture to maintain the supremacy of the beliefs, histories, power structures and institutions that benefit White people even in Black communities. But this is where school leaders have the most opportunity to make a change to uplift diverse voices of educators and staff and empower teachers to truly live their #bestlife -Consistently assess decision making protocols and policies to understand how power is being shared with educators - Create authentic spaces to share power and decision making with diverse groups of teachers and staff even including it in the school’s mission or guiding documents ( don’t just cherry pick favorites) - Black people are highly relational so create opportunities for mentoring, non-punitive feedback sharing, share experiences beyond work, and build a true sense of community that celebrates diverse cultures ( ask teachers how to do this) with constant evaluation of it. - Conduct routine assessment of system operations and continuously invite change and new ideas from Black teachers to optimize systems and create leadership opportunities for them to lead and create new things - Provide multiple opportunities ( and funding) for Black educators to grow and learn new skills and concepts that reflects their interests and aspirations as an educator ( not just required compliance-driven training) If we really want to solve the shortage issue and recruit and retain amazing Black educators in public schools, then today and everyday after, we must really show them we appreciate them, their input, their identity, their power, their perspective and their voice. We must do the hard work to reform our systems and people that were never intended to be equitable for people of color. We must begin the work to change decades of learned oppression. We must do more than give them candy and a gift card today. We must do the work to truly appreciate them and all their glory before it’s too late! Happy Teacher Appreciation Day!
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AuthorEducator, student advocate and community activists. Archives
October 2021
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