“Know your limits, but never stop trying to exceed them.” This was the quote that my Chrome browser greeted me with today when I logged on to check my email for the day. This quote speaks to the work I am trying to do now, to better myself as a person and an educator. This work pertains to being better equipped to help my students when the school year begins in August.
Over the last few weeks, the racial tensions in this country have reached a breaking point due to horrible and preventable events- and I am glad to see how many are speaking out and protesting against these latest injustices. Work needs to be done to change the state of things. So many people are saying this, but more work needs to be done. It is just crazy to have to say that these are the latest occurances of racial violence, but things have NEVER significantly improved in this country with regards to racial issues. More has to happen than simply stating you stand with people of color – those of us with the privledge of being white need to actually stand with people of color.
Last Friday, June 12, 2020, I went to a peaceful demonstration “Social Justice March for K-12 Educators”. Dr. Janet Carter and Kim Urenda, a teacher and counselor at one of the high schools in my school district, set up this event where several speakers shared their thoughts and pain over the current state of race affairs in our country. After several thought provoking and moving speeches, we stood along 95th street near Westridge Middle School proudly showing our signs stating things such as ‘Teachers Know Black Lives Matter’ and ‘End Racism Now’. We received mostly happy reactions, but a few decided to flip us off and one person decided to shout a horrible thing out the window. These negative reactions to signs being held quietly and peacefully held up by a shopping mall demonstrate how unfair thing are for so many people. The work must continue.
A key phrase a district administrator for the school district where I work stated to us in the crowd that people of color do not need allies – they need accomplices in their fight for equity and equality. Dr. Tyrone Bates Jr is the Coordinator of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Shawnee Mission School District; I wish that I would have remembered more that just the statement he made above. This one phrase has helped me to reshape my thoughts on being an educator of young people of color. I need to do more than stopping issues that arise in my classroom, though that is important, and work with my students to see how damaging words can be.
Too often in the past I have kept all topics not related to my mathematics curriculum away from my room. I was worried about the strong opinions that differ within each class and worried about fights between students. Rather than shy away and hide when topics come up that need a discussion to clear up misinformation and allow for a teachable moment, I need to take these opportunities to help right the wrongs that exist. I need to be a teacher that protects all of her students with more than just stopping words and actions. Stoppings the wrongs is a start, but correcting them to prevent future occurances is even better.
I have thought in the past that as a white woman I had no business speaking out on issues of race. It was the safe limit I set for myself, not even realizing as I did so that I was remaining a part of the problem. I don’t want to be a part of the problem – I know and love too many people of color to not do more. I teach students and I can have a positive impact on them through my words, actions and teachings. The hate, inequity and oppression have to stop and as Dr. Bates said, accomplices are needed to complete this important work.
You may be asking what I plan to do to better inform myself on racial issues and how to work to change them. I have been reaching out on social media to find different resources to read, listen to and study. It’s a tiny first step, but I know that with dedicated learning I will be better equipped to have honest conversations when we return to school in the fall. Students will ask my thoughts, and I want to be prepared with more than a couple lines about how horrible these deaths are. My students will know I think they are horrible events, but as high schoolers, they want to know more. They deserve to know more.
A podcast episode I listened to the other day by Angela Watson from 5 years ago still held a relevant message. We are preparing our students to live in this current world and we cannot do that by staying silent. As educators, we have an obligation to stand up for our students because frankly, so few people do. We need to teach our students that all people have the right to fair and equitable treatment. We need to show them how wrong so many aspects of our society are in this current state. I know people worry about teachers pressing their own opinions on students, but these issues are not opinions. These issues are about the factual systemic racism in our country and we must to be brave enough to face them head on. No mother and father should have to coach their children on how to behave around the police. White parents don’t even think about doing this and neither should anyone else feel compelled to protect their children in this way.
Dr. Janet Carter started the speeches at the march with the words “We can do better.” We as educators can and must do better. Our students lives depend upon it, whether they are students of color or not. I hope many of my fellow educators will join my personal work this summer and educate themselves about racial issues. We need to be ready for school in the fall and this work of self-educating would be an important first step in that direction.
Note: Check out Angela Watson’s Truth for Teachers Podcast. All topics are relevant, no matter how long ago she recorded them. Her podcast episodes get right to the heart of all of the relevant issues for teaachers.
Musing of a Motivated Math Teacher 