Illustration: Paul Vismara
The mid-20th-century desegregation of U.S. public education put students of color in better-resourced schools and helped narrow racial achievement gaps. Yet some 44,000 black teachers were fired, leaving most black students to be taught by whites who knew little about black his-tory and communities, and who were often told to avoid discussing race.
“In losing black teachers, black children lost advocates and champions who set high academic standards and cared deeply about students’ success,” Amy Stuart Wells, Professor of Sociology & Education, told educators at “Reimagining Education: Teaching and Learning in Racially Diverse Schools,” a unique four-day professional training held at TC in mid-July.
“Reimagining Education” explored the history of racial and ethnic diversity in public schools and diversity’s educational benefits for today’s increasingly diverse student population.
In an opening presentation, Wells and doctoral students Lauren Fox, Diana Cordova-Cobo and Juontel White said public schools have largely re-segregated due to legal challenges, even as immigration has created a majority nonwhite student population. Whites still constitute 80 percent of the teaching force.
“By the 1970s, we started to see challenges to the common wisdom about children of color as ‘culturally deprived,’” said keynote speaker Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita of Language, Literacy & Culture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The task now: to develop culturally responsive pedagogy that addresses “attitudes, behaviors and dispositions” and the institutional racism that sustains them.
“Reimagining Education” featured student rap artists who teach science and social studies through their music and a ballet performance by students from immigrant families. Workshops included:
“Reading, Writing, and Talk: Inclusive Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners.” Mariana Souto-Manning, TC Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education, immersed participants in difficulties experienced by children whose “home language is not aligned” with their school’s.
“Developing Racial Literacy with Children’s Literature.” Led by Detra Price-Dennis, TC Assistant Professor of Elementary & Inclusive Education, teachers learned about Jim Crow-era “green books” that guided black travelers.
“Using Hip Hop as Therapy in Multi-Racial Schools.” Counseling Psychology Ph.D. student Ian Levy demonstrated the hip-hop and rap workshops he uses with Bronx high school students.
TC Associate Professor of Science Education Christopher Emdin argued that standardized tests can prevent meaningful connection with minority students. “Rigor,” he declared, “is not equal to rigor mortis.”