I wanted to learn more about history as it occurred and from multiple perspectives. Lewis’ class, I majored in history as an undergraduate student. Additionally, they experienced more suspensions than any other ethnic or racial group of students.īecause of Mr. They were negatively labeled, frequently sent to the hallway or office, viewed as guilty, and rarely proven innocent. As a teacher, administrator, and parent, I observed adults fearing five and six-year-old African American male students. I sat on the edge of my seat in this American history class, waiting to learn something new about people who looked like me. Every day, I couldn't wait to get to his class. I began to hear a very different history than the one from my K-10 experience. Lewis, an African American male, consistently taught about the contributions of Black people. My second influential experience occurred in 11th grade. ![]() She engaged in my life actively and showed genuine care and concern. She gave me hope that I could be successful. She made me feel better about being a brown girl. I intentionally took drama for four years because she captured my imagination about what a professional woman of color could be. Cunningham, an African American female who became my 9th grade English teacher. Then, in high school, something extraordinary happened. Did only a few people who look like me make important contributions to society?.Why don't prominent historical figures look like me?.These experiences led to negative racial and gender identities, and the following set of questions that I wrestled with during my K-12 experience: I experienced the pressure to conform to dominant cultural expectations, what scholars call assimilation that occurs in schools. While these three incredible people contributed to making our world more just, I spent most of my K-12 years learning about a history that did not reflect my culture or contributions from people who looked like me. During Black History month, we always saw images of and learned about the same two or three individuals: Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Frederick Douglass. ![]() History books portrayed people representative of my race in ways that reinforced negative or deficit stereotypes. My textbooks focused on the contributions of the dominant culture. These are three of my experiences that influenced my approach and focus as an equity-oriented educator.Īs an African American student, most of my teachers did not reflect my racial identity. Everyone has a story about what led them to go into education. I used the research findings to provide learning spaces for students in ways that centered their voices, lived experiences, learning interests, and identities. I participated in ongoing action research around what it meant to teach for social justice. I have always engaged in equity work as an educator. Ruthie Payno-Simmons, from Michigan’s Integrated Behavior and Learning Supports Initiative (MiBLSi). The first article exploring school-wide decisions is available here. Editors Note: This is the second article in our four-part guest author series focused on using questions to guide challenging team conversations.
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