What Do We Need to Learn About Ourselves to Do This Work?

As you begin to try to create a socially-just environment in your classroom, you will quickly realize that the journey is not just about your students, but also about your personal journey.  So far, we've defined social justice and examined its essential purpose within the classroom; before we begin implementing lessons, we must embark upon a personal journey of self-evaluation and learning.  Basically, we must come to a realization that we cannot teach what we do not know.

When I began my social justice journey years ago, my feelings came from my own personal experience as an African-American woman.  The self-awareness necessary to do this work was rooted solely in my own desire to be seen as equal to both men and the white majority.  I was often frustrated and confused by those who could not or would not accept my experience as definitive proof that racism and sexism existed.  After all, they had met me, right?  They acknowledged my integrity and honesty, correct?  If they could trust me, why couldn't they also trust my experience?

Last year, however, the light bulb came on for me when a colleague introduced me to Daring Greatly by Brene` Brown.  When my social justice cohort began reading it, I questioned what this book had to do with social justice.  I mean, we had just finished reading Whistling Vivaldi by Claude M. Steele and Why Race and Culture Matter in Schools by Tyrone C. Howard; both books spoke directly to social justice in the classroom and gave us specific strategies for doing so.  Now we were reading this book about shame, guilt and vulnerability? What in the world did that have to do with my determination to make the world better, one student at a time?

It took a re-reading of this book to realize that this is directly related to the work we do in social justice.  Discussions about race inevitably bring out a person's feelings of shame and vulnerability.  Concerns about being perceived as racist or somehow sharing culpability or being duplicitous in the social injustices we see lead to what Robin DiAngelo termed "white fragility."  She defines white fragility as "a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation (DiAngelo 57)."  As I attempted to understand some of my more resistant colleagues from an empathetic perspective, I realized that this fragility is at the root of it.  At the root of the fragility are feelings of shame and guilt.  Before we can begin the work of addressing social injustices, we must first address those feelings of shame and guilt and the visceral response that we may have to terms such as white privilege and systemic racism.

So, the first step in being a social justice educator is acceptance of the concept of no shame or guilt.  Social justice is not about playing a blame game.  Representatives of marginalized groups hope to focus the national conversation on the questions of "What is happening?" and "Why is it happening?"  However, we become frustrated when that conversation begins to focus upon, in Brown's words, "'What should we fear?" and "Who should we blame?'" (Brown 30).  Again, THIS ISN'T A BLAME GAME.

So, we need to go to a place of vulnerability to do this work.  That isn't easy.  "Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable..." (Brown 37).  I'm asking each of you to be vulnerable while accepting that it's okay to feel uncomfortable.  Just think of it like this: anything worth having is worth sacrificing a bit for it.  In this case, I'm asking you to sacrifice your personal comfort for the sake of the children you serve.  To use a trite saying, "no pain, no gain."

Social Justice: What It Is and What It Isn't

Hello, all.  So sorry that it's taken so long to complete post, but I have had an admittedly hard time defining this particular topic.  Social justice is such an immense concept that it has been very difficult for me to narrow it down to the most important points to make.  As I sought to determine what information was the essential, I struggled to succinctly articulate everything I would like to say.  So, I will tell you ahead of time that I have given myself permission to omit some information, hoping that you will continue to read my blog and fill in later what I miss here.

When people hear the term "social justice," they react in one of three ways: 1. They are interested in finding out more ways they can help create a socially-just environment through self examination, 2. They reject it as an indictment of their personal beliefs and values, or 3. They do not care one way or another.  With this blog, I hope to speak to all of these groups.  My hope is to inform, dispel misconceptions, and persuade educators and parents of all groups to care.  For this reason, I think it's important to begin by explaining the concept of social justice in terms that make it understandable to all groups.  Please note that this explanation is based both on years of study and years of personal experience.

Quite simply, social justice is the creation of an environment that acknowledges the right of every individual to fully participate in all aspects of society regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.  However, there is nothing simple about trying to make this a reality.  This work is hard!

Below, I have listed the aspects of social justice that I consider foundational to my implementation of this concept in my classroom:

1. Social justice is an acknowledgement of the importance of each individual in a diverse society.
2. Social justice is an agreement to honor those characteristics that make us diverse.
3. Social justice is activity that promotes learning about those who are different from you in some way.
4. Social justice is autonomy from the stereotypes and negative imagery imparted to us through social conditioning and institutional practice.

Truly, I can go on and on, but I believe that these are some of the most significant aspects.  The struggle comes in the differences.  How do we honor conflicting world views and values?  How do we determine, as a community, what the characteristics and basic rights/principles of our social contract should be?  How do our institutions and governing bodies create laws and policies that communicate these values?  At times, this topic generates as many questions as it answers.

For those who believe that social justice is an indictment of their personal beliefs, it's extremely important to understand what social justice is not:

1. Social justice is not indoctrination.  As I teach, my goal is to create equal opportunity within my classroom, as well as an environment where individuals may examine the beliefs and experiences of those that differ from them.  Students can then make informed decisions as they encounter people they deem "other." At no point do I want to convince my students to believe exactly as I believe. 
2. Social justice is not a utopian theory.  There will always be a distinct understanding that we may not achieve full equity, but we must make the attempt anyway.  For this reason, philosopher John Rawls posited a theory of social justice that was "realistically utopian" (Rawls 4).  He created three principles of social justice: the Equal Liberties, Equal Opportunity, and Difference principles.

• The principle that takes first priority is the Equal Liberties principle.  It basically stated that each person has the unmitigated right to equal basic liberties. This principle should be achieved before anything else.
• The other two principles directly correlate with one another.  When social and economic injustices occur, they must satisfy two conditions; first, that they are connected to offices and positions that were open to all equally (Equal Opportunity principle) and that they are of benefit to the least-advantaged members of our society (the Difference principle).  The Equal Opportunity principle takes priority over the Difference principle because "equality is the most important element of social justice" (Robinson, "What is Social Justice?")

Understanding all of this requires not only an outward look at the way our institutions, policies and practices maintain systemic inequalities, but also an inward reflection of the ways in which we are socialized into these systems and the beliefs that uphold them.  This self-reflection must not focus upon the shame and guilt we might feel because of those times we may have been duplicitous in maintaining inequality, but instead become a true assessment of the patterns we inadvertently or unknowingly uphold, as well as ways to break those patterns.

In my next post, I will begin to provide sample lessons and ideas for creating a socially-just classroom environment.  However, I again stress that I am writing from several perspectives.  First, I am a student of social justice; I will share what I've already learned, as well as what I'm currently learning.  Second, I am a self-reflective practitioner; I will reflect upon my successes and failures in the hopes that you will learn from both.  Finally, I am a proud educator, so I will be doing a bit of bragging.  This year, my students are absolutely wonderful, and I feel very fortunate to be placed before them as their teacher.  My little (big) diverse lights!

Educating in an Ever-Changing World

Standards-based grading. Character education. Cooperative Learning. Common Core State Standards. Lessons by design.  In the age of high-stakes testing and ever-changing educational trends, the overarching question for any teacher on a personal and professional social justice journey becomes "How do I make each of these relevant and fruitful for ALL of my students?"  You see, I teach a diverse group of students from a wide range of racial, ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds.  I constantly struggle with this question as I make curricular and practical decisions for each of these in a concentrated effort to ensure that the educational experience I provide meets each student's academic and socio-emotional needs.

So, here's my first confession: I have often failed.  I shudder each time I reflect on the number of times and ways.  I have gone home many nights and cried because I've felt the weight of my failure and prayed endlessly that my poor decision-making did not negatively impact my students' academic futures. However, from each failure, I've had the opportunity to learn what I'll do better next time.  The reality of being a teacher is that even the best college education program cannot possibly prepare you for all that great teaching entails.  The best one can hope is to come loaded with the potential to be a great teacher, a potential that slowly reveals itself as that individual encounters an endless number of experiences and learns from them.

Through my 10 1/2 years of teaching, I have spent a great amount of time attempting to learn.  I have started this blog to share what I have learned so far, as well as what I continue to learn.  This is about my journey to be the best teacher I can be for ALL of my students, my diverse, individual and beautiful lights.  As an educator, I believe in the idea that all students can learn, and I hope that this shows in my educational practice.  I will share what I can with all of you in hopes that students across the diversity spectrum can benefit from what I've learned.  Early in my career, I discovered that one should not continuously re-invent the wheel when it comes to lessons that work, so I hope that you will use whatever knowledge and activities I share as you see best.  Whether you are a parent or a teacher, I believe that this blog will help you to realize a few important pieces of information:

1. This is a journey.  We are ever progressing towards the goal of achieving educational parity for all.  It will include setbacks and all of the other metaphors for a journey: road blocks, traffic jams, rest stops, deer in the headlight, etc.
2. Teachers are imperfect people striving to be as perfect as possible.  Many of us feel a higher calling for this profession.  We certainly did not get into it for the money, so we often have other motivations.  My motivation is the belief that I can make a difference or that I can at least encourage and educate the people who one day might change the world.
3. There is an infinite amount of knowledge for us to learn.  Just when we feel that we have achieved one learning plateau, another appears in the horizon.

 At the foundation of all that I've learned is the direct correlation between teacher expectation and how much students achieve.  Studies completed as early as 1932 (The Hawthorne study at Western Electric Plant in Cicero, IL) showed the impact that teachers can have on student performance. Those teachers with higher expectations inevitably produce high student achievement; those who don't set high expectations receive what they expect.

At times, we find that even well-meaning teachers lower expectations for students of certain backgrounds.  According to Tyrone C. Howard in his book Why Race and Culture Matters in Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap in America's Classrooms, teachers can, at times, confuse the concepts of empathy with those of sympathy.  Empathetic teachers set high expectations and make decisions about students' abilities from a position of empowerment, while those who are sympathetic act upon their misperceptions and (sometimes) prejudices to limit student's ability to achieve.  In chart 2.2, he compares the mentality and behaviors of these two types of educators.

It is through this lens that I evaluate all I do in the classroom.  Though Mr. Howard applies the concept of sympathy v. empathy specifically to racial diversity in the classroom, I think it's important to realize that this remains true of any difference one may find within a group of students.  The key to my being a great teacher is to set high expectations for ALL of my students and then provide all of the requisite tools and supports for individual students to meet those expectations.  Differentiation then is defined as how I help my students achieve learning goals, as opposed to how I set different learning goals for each. 

For example, I encountered a situation this school year that tested my ability to maintain my high expectations.  One of my seniors, a young African-American woman that I had worked with through extra-curricular activities, was arriving late to school every day.  This meant that she would miss anywhere from 15-45 minutes of my class every other day (we're on block scheduling).  When I inquired why, the young lady requested that I speak with the administrator about why.  According to my classroom practice, this young lady couldn't make up assignments she missed until her absences were excused, so I was really concerned about making sure that we worked this out.  Other teachers had simply allowed her to arrive late and make up the work at her convenience, but I wanted her to meet the expectation for regular attendance and participation.  I mean, really...who would want to miss my class anyway?

Long story short, I worked with the administrator and discovered that this young lady had some catastrophic circumstances that led to her inability to arrive on time.  However, we were able to discover resources that would provide cab service for this young lady, enabling her to arrive to school on time everyday.  As a result, the last few weeks of class were filled with her incredible intelligence and unique perspective.  Above all, I was able to maintain a high expectation for her while acting empathetically as a teacher and trying to help her meet that expectation.

I want to stress again that I will still fail.

I will come home disappointed in my own performance as an educator.

I will cry.

I will reflect.

I will learn and document that learning for you.

Then I will come back the next day prepared to be better...

...because that's what my Diverse Lights deserve.