When Politics Influences Education..and not the reverse
Unfortunately, the socio-political climate has made its way into education and influenced how we serve our students. I have an 11-year-old daughter and it was disheartening to me that as a young Black girl, she has sat in a classroom setting and has not been exposed to her history anytime this year. Rather, she has learned stories about traditional heroes that we all know by names because we've all learned about them in our education journey. This scenario shares the urgency to have culturally competent, and responsive, educators to support students who are racially minoritized. In my daughter's classroom, a teacher, or leader, with those qualities would have used their awareness to know the students they're teaching and the importance of them feeling empowered, as well. Thus finding ways to do so. How can we, as educators and leaders, be held accountable for cultural competency and culturally responsive teaching and leading in our schools?
Educate Ourselves: What do research, published books such as STAMPED, and conversations with changemakers in education say about how best to teach and support Black children? Accept and
implement feedback: Ask for feedback from racially minoritized children, and teachers, to determine how they are feeling in our schools and classrooms...then use the feedback to improve programming for them.
Decenter yourself and be aware of other people's worldviews and experiences: The students and educators make up our schools and they are who we are in service of. When making decisions, what is best for children should always be the North Star. Further, to know what is best for children, we must ask children.
Recognize the "power" you have: Elena Aguilar writes about leaders being aware of the power their titles hold when they interact and walk into a room. Going back to decentering yourself, how do you make decisions based on the needs of others, rather than your own?
Consider how you might use that "power" to create just spaces: Having influence is a special gift because we are involved in decisions that create change. Yet, we have to consistently ask ourselves: Will we use our "power" to change or keep things the same? It's time for us to be inwardly reflective of how we are taking up space. Are we in our school spaces allowing injustice to live or are we challenging what is not just or liberatory? Are you up for the challenge of making the world a better place and unlocking the potential of Black communities?
