Reflection by: Jackson Bryant
“Just because a story has Black characters does not mean it’s a great story for Black students,” a quote from Jerry Craft, author, editor, Newberry Award Winner, and morning speaker for the twenty-twenty three Color of Education Conference. This was one of many noteworthy remarks from the captivating speaker. Still, it struck a chord with me as I found it a common theme throughout the conference – a child’s race should be considered when fostering a conducive instructional environment; however, it is not the conclusive element that determines their interests, personality, or trajectory. Mr.Craft challenged the status quo of Black narratives in literature and television. He acknowledged the commonality of most African-American works of art share – struggle. He expounded on his belief that the narratives depicted do not adequately represent the lives of all African Americans. While they acknowledge our deleterious past and keep students abreast of current racial threats, they fail to provide young Black kids with something to aspire to or be inspired by. Every Black kid does identify with the struggle, so portraying a narrative that assimilates that notion fails to encompass the sentiment of a progressive race and youth that have the power to create effective change.
Shortly after the morning commencement, attendees entered breakout rooms where hosts covered various topics addressing education inequities. Room 8B’s breakout session was titled “It’s the Thought that Counts: How New Teacher Support Coaching Plays a Key Role in Equitable Spaces in Schools.” This session, led by Dr. Crystal Johnson, provided a framework for coaches to provide support for new teachers that is both equitable and efficient.
Dr. Johnson opened the session with a brief discussion about the difference between coaching and mentoring. She established that mentors are informal partners who provide intuitive knowledge based on their experiences in teaching and with a particular school. Interactions between mentors and teachers are unstructured, and their exchanges can vary from discussing how to operate the outdated printer in the teacher’s lounge to the mentor’s approach to dealing with unruly students. The mentor’s advice is non-binding, and the counsel’s adoption is at the teacher’s behest. A coach has an official role; thus, their interactions with teachers are more formal. A coach focuses on professional development and provides binding instruction. Dr. Johnson noted a quote from Dan Hamacheck: “Consciously we teach what we know; unconsciously we teach who we are.” This quote epitomizes the difference between coaching and mentoring; mentors speak freely without the restraints of a title, permitting them to relay advice subjective to their encounters, while coaches instruct within the realm of their positional standards.
Dr. Johnson introduced the new teacher support framework, which requires coaches to be relational, equitable, logistical, instructional, and emotional. She also discussed the principles of adult learning: adults must feel safe to learn, they have learning histories, adults need to know why they are learning, adults have a problem-centered orientation to learning, and they need to practice internalizing their learning. These principles and frameworks note that for coaches to be effective, they must consider the teacher, their experiences, and comprehension methods. These elements personalize the encounter and demonstrate coaching is not a uniform process, and for it to be effective, coaches must develop a deeper understanding of their teachers. The aim is to ensure that coaching in North Carolina is an equitable process, but that is only possible by realizing the implications one’s race may have on one’s current and past learning experiences coupled with familiarization and identifying the distinctions outside of one’s race – just because they are a Black teacher does not mean they all have the same story.
After the breakout session, Dr. Delpit graced the stage as the keynote speaker for this year’s conference. She gave attendees an enlightening and informative speech that increased awareness of disparities and debunked false narratives about minorities and their comprehensive abilities. One of the first significant facts she provided is that 80% – 90% of human brain activity is subconscious, meaning inadvertent perceptions we developed through encounters influence most of our actions. This statistic led to one of her first points; “we don’t intend to breathe racism, but if you live in America, you do.”Because of this, Dr. Delpit accentuated the use of fugitive pedagogy in classrooms, a theory and practice of Black education in America constructed by Jarvis R. Greene, an associate professor at Harvard University. In his book Fugitive Pedagogy: Carter G. Woodson and the Art of Black Teaching, Greene analyzes Carter G. Woodson’s processes of educating other African Americans during the Jim Crow era and how he used education as a means of empowerment. Dr. Delpit used this book to establish methods to enact fugitive pedagogy in the classroom: counter negative stereotypes by embracing uniqueness, incorporate culturally influenced modalities to engage students, connect to who students are and what they care about, and create a sense of belonging. As with coaching new teachers, it is critical to understand who students are and embrace their passions to create an environment where they can succeed. Culturally relevant pedagogy did not exist for generations, and many minority students felt disconnected from education. That same reality subsists for minority students today; teachers do not intend to cover material that caters to one demographic, but their subconscious makes that decision for them.
Dr. Delpit also introduced racial literacy, a theory where individuals who possess it can articulate their experiences and representation in society, identify concepts related to race and racism, and constructively discuss constructions and implications of race. Her final concept was Culturally Responsive Teaching, where teachers view intersectionality as necessary, promote inclusive contexts, make students feel valued and engaged with learning, and possess practices that acknowledge students’ cultural characteristics. Fugitive pedagogy, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Racial Literacy work in conjunction to foster an environment where students feel safe and encouraged to learn.
To conclude, Dr. Delpit left attendees with a quote, “Find out who the child is trying to be and encourage them to be the best version of that.” This quote emphasizes the importance of infusing different cultures in the classroom as it makes students feel connected and secure enough to express themselves.
I ended my Color of Education Journey with a Breakout Session on Black Male Teachers in Secondary Education, led by Dr. Yolanda Blakely, an NC Public School System principal. She began the breakout session by providing attendees with an alarming disparity: Black males make up only 6% of the United States population, yet they make up 35% of the prison population and less than 2% of the teacher population. She introduced the education pipeline: post-secondary enrollment, enrollment in education programs, post-secondary completion, workforce entry, and teacher retention, a system that causes diversity to diminish at each level. She discussed leading issues with this disparity, and one of the largest was teacher retention: the few Black males who become teachers leave the profession. She noted that many felt unsupported, unable to connect with their environment, and, most uniquely, were the school disciplinarians. Society has historically viewed African Americans as callous and savage, making the community more susceptible to disciplinarian roles. This harmful stereotype has put many African-American teachers in uncomfortable positions and caused many to leave the profession.
Aside from being tasked with discipline, many Black male teachers noted their school pairing them with Black students to mentor, though they had nothing in common. I immediately considered Mr. Crafts’s quote and related it to this situation. At the same time, statistics show that every race, except Asians, performs better when instructed by teachers of the same race, but that does not mean it is the case for every student. Just because there is a Black teacher, it does not mean they are a match for each Black student. A component of equity is not limiting one’s capabilities, interests, and personalities to one’s race. A Black student may have an obsession with Harry Potter and may connect better with the White male teacher across the hall than the Black teacher next door who prefers History. It is impossible to create equitable spaces without completing a holistic analysis of a student, teacher, or coach beyond their race.
The Color of Education conference was enlightening. It provided many facts and awoke me to the growing issues within the education system and the mountainous work we must do to level the playing field. Through personal anecdotes, statistics, and in-depth theories, the conference also shaped my view of equity. Race is one of the most important elements in education, as America is a society where racism is in the oxygen, subconsciously infiltrating the minds of educators. Still, it is just as much of a disservice to teachers and students to let their race determine who they are and what experience is best for them. Equity is not just about weighing injustices and disparities but also providing opportunities for individuals to show who they are outside their skin color’s borders.