Addendum, addendum

Now that I have completed my district's two-day introductory racial equity in education training, I have more thoughts. So, here goes part 2 of my reflection on the training. (Here is the link for Part 1.)

I feel that my biggest challenge lies in the chasm between my grasp of the systemic reality as well as interpersonal manifestations of racism and my practice in the classroom. In other words, I have been studying how racism works and impacts people for some time now, but am not necessarily sure how this knowledge translates into practical, effective teaching strategies resulting in equity and success for all my students.

The authors of the book Courageous Conversations identify the elements key to anti-racist leadership in the field of education. They write:

To be equity centered is to internally convert personal racism to anti-racist leadership. In the absence of this conversion, the individual will be left with a persisting dilemma of a transformed conceptual framework with little practical application and tangible results. . . Anti-racist leadership is not just playing a role; it is a deeply transforming personal experience. This work impacts everything an educator is and all she or he does. . .

To not be involved and engaged in equity work is to perpetuate institutionalized racism. There is no non-racist place--you are either anti-racist or perpetuating the racism that already exists. All potential anti-racist leaders must find within themselves how racism is affecting them, personally, on a daily basis. They must then create their own personal and internal strategy that provides instruction on how to address their own individual racism. Having satisfied these prerequisites, they can engage with colleagues in discovering strategies to examine and eradicate inequities and racism in the classroom, school, district, and institutionalized levels.

Finding passion for equity, developing equitable classroom practices, and being persistent in this work are the key components of and guiding strategy for anti-racist leaders.

I would argue that the process described above is not necessarily consecutive or linear. If we wait until we think we have become experts on how racism affects us and others, we may never make it to the phase that requires us to take action, so I believe our own development continues as we step up into leadership in our own lives.

Also, our own personal anti-racist strategy will continue to change and evolve with time and circumstance. And most importantly, we have to practice kindness and trust with each other and ourselves, allowing for missteps and honest dialogue to keep each other accountable. What if we keep reminding ourselves and each other to do this work from a place of love, care and trust? Now, wouldn't that be something?

The experience that haunts me most from the equity training this week, is something a colleague said to me during our discussion when I mentioned that I have noticed that much of the discourse centered around the achievement and experiences of students of color seemed negative and based on a deficiency model.

My coworker said that too often there is a need to alleviate everyone's discomfort. She shared her frustration, expressly naming this as a frustration other people of color feel as well with white denial, which often translates into the wish for white people to feel the pain of racism and for them to linger in that experience for a while, at least during these race-focused trainings.

Because we, the workshop participants, had more opportunities to talk through ideas and share our thinking with each other on the second day, I realized that for many of the white educators in the room this was one of the first times they ever encountered some of the ideas and terminology dealing with racism. I find that hard to believe, but that's the reality of living in a majority white state and in a supposedly progressive city with one of the highest white populations. White privilege in such an environment makes it easy for white people to not have to think about issues of race and to face their own racism.

I don't want to sound uppity, because there is so much I am still grappling with myself, but I do share some of my colleague's frustration about white people's denial and lack of insight into the experience of people of color in this society.

The best part about the training was what happened during breaks, which was networking. I took the time to approach several seasoned professionals. Our conversations were cordial and fruitful. These relationships are what I need to grow and feel supported and sustained as a professional.

Breaking Bread or Teeth on Equity in Education?

OK. Here is my beef. I have just spent one of two full days in a district-wide educator training focused on bringing about racial equity in our schools. I'm hip to issues of racial equity. After all, I devote much of my time on and off the clock to studying and acting on my knowledge of racial and social justice issues in the classroom and out in the community (though, of course, I never feel that I am doing enough).

I was actually looking forward to having an opportunity to delve into these complex issues with experienced guidance and seasoned colleagues from the field of education. But pretty quickly into the training, I realized the workshop would leave a lot to be desired.

What I was hoping for was some time to examine and discuss best practices ensuring students of color thrive in the high school classroom and in educational settings beyond. What I got were two trainers, both veteran teachers, forgetting all about using effective teaching techniques and talking at their audience of educators almost the entire day without giving us much of a chance to process or utilize in the ways useful to us the materials presented. Much time was spent in large group discussion on elementary topics, which with more than two-hundred participants can get frustrating, to say the least.

The instructors talked down to us, lingering on simple concepts and weaving elaborate examples of situations which could have easily and quickly been grasped by six-year-olds. Worse yet, the trainers never took the time to pre-assess their audience and their prior knowledge or needs. We could have easily been grouped by prior knowledge and focus or at least been given more time in pairs and groups to maximize our time as participants, grappling with issues pertinent to us and our practice.

Mind you, I am not one to shirk from my responsibility as a white educator very conscious of my role in the educational system. I am someone who doesn't withdraw from this work easily, but rather seeks out and engages in difficult conversations about racism despite my own discomfort. I have done so for my own growth, for those whom I love, and out of my desire for the betterment of my community. However, this workshop has so far been less than productive.

Something else I noticed there and in several other workshops I have attended lately on education and racial equity was a divisive tone which seemed to emerge, if not dominate the conversation.

To illustrate, one of the trainers, uttered these pronouncements as she addressed the entire congregation of attendees:

"We all know who the teachers in our building are who are hurting our babies (of color)."

And: "The people who think they know (or think they have racial consciousness) when they don't, are the most toxic kind."

Now, tell me if that sounds like a good way to open up discussion and help people engage, or a good way to shut down the predominantly white participants, many of whom were already evidently feeling uncomfortable and less than qualified to contribute to a dialogue on issues of race and racism.

In my mind, finger pointing is not an effective way to get people on board or to build trust for the work that needs to be done in our district and all across the country. The authors of the book, Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools, on which the training is based, make the following statement: "We suspect most educators already believe that racism is morally wrong. The challenge for us is to advance our shared moral position into a realizable and comprehensive foundation for challenging institutional racism."

They also write, "The key to. . . successful friendship and collaboration is our willingness to communicate openly, honestly, and respectfully about race. And in believing and trusting each other across racial categories, we can begin addressing the issue of race within our schools."

Evaluating my experience as a participant in a myriad of anti-racist and diversity trainings, I made a note in my notebook about the approach to racial justice work that I believe we ought to take:

We, as educators and community members at large, must acknowledge the painful reality and historical legacy of racism and our place within this history, but we need to start operating from a place of hope and possibility, seeing each other across perceivable differences as allies in this work. The glass must be half-full. We must get away from the deficiency models and switch to identifying and drawing on best practices and drawing out the strengths of those who have been traditionally perceived as "underachievers." Let's utilize the richness of all of our experiences (including the students' and the families'). The resources are already there.

This quote by Asa G. Hilliard, an educator cited in today's training materials, is what should set the tone of any and all future racial equity in education workshops:

The knowledge and skills to educate all children already exist. Because we have lived in a historically oppressive society, educational issues tend to be framed as technical issues, which denies their political origin and meaning. . . There are no pedagogical barriers to teaching and learning when willing people are prepared and made available to children.

So, let's study those best practices instead of using guilt trips and some pseudo-psychological techniques to take us all on self-examination journeys. Yes, we need to examine our own biases, but we as teachers also need some modeling, mentoring and guidance with effective, hands-on, culturally-specific, anti-racist practice. Where is effective teaching already happening? Who's doing it? What does it look like in practice?

Finally, something I want to set straight for the record is that I am of the opinion that the entire premise of the book and the training having to do with closing the achievement gap, as measured by standardized tests, is bogus. Standardized test scores have not been shown to effectively indicate anything but students' race and socioeconomic status. They have been correlated with shallow, not deep or critical thinking, and their history is less than rosy. Read Standardized Minds by Peter Sacks, for instance, to learn that the modern-day standardized testing is firmly rooted in the eugenics-driven concept of weeding out "undesirable" populations from the military and institutions of higher education.

I, in fact, feel that standardized tests are one of the most destructive tools of oppression, which demoralizes non-mainstream students (including students like me, a European immigrant) and their teachers while perpetuating institutional racism.

When dealing with equity issues on a systemic level, which is what this training purports to emphasize, we must be willing to challenge the basic tenets of what is accepted as the norm. It may sound naive, but why not push for authentic, multifaceted assessment rather than accepting, resigned, standardized test scores as the only measure of student success? I understand that issues of school funding are tied to test scores, but that should not prevent us from thinking outside the box and for striving for a vision of a learning environment that is workable, sustainable and equitable for all.

Part 2 of my reflection on the equity training: here.