Reflect and Act

I really enjoyed watching The Myth of Race.  It goes well with much of the other reading I have done on the subject.  The fact that race is defined and redefined over and over seems to support the idea that race is not something biological but rather sociological.  If people can change their race by changing states or the government changing the definition, then race is not a fixed thing but depends on the "definition" of race.  The idea that the concept of race could define who someone is/was and how they should be defined and treated seems abhorrent and should never have been used.  I continue to wonder about why humans must find themselves "superior" to others.  This will help me in my continued learning in this area. 

I like this checklist! It is visually appealing and easy to follow. 
In reviewing it and considering my teaching practice, I am more based in the "Additive Approach" than the others. As a social studies teacher, I can easily include a variety of resources from diverse perspectives. However, I can't say I am fully working in the "Transformative Approach" yet. I still use many documents that would be considered "canon" of my discipline and do not yet augment them. If I could give half credit, I would say I am at a 2.5 in the 4-point scale. 

I chose to view the demographic breakdown for my school in 2001 and in 2020. The district remains predominantly white, however, it is interesting to note that the population of Hispanic/Latinx students has increased by 100. Also, there did not seem to be a category for students who identify as multiracial in 2001, and currently, we have 83 students listed in this category. The total number of students who identify as white has gone down by over 400 students. 

This is valuable information as we evaluate our curriculum, our classroom libraries, etc. The statistics definitely surprised me. I anticipated an increased number of students who identify as Black, and that number has actually remained pretty stable. 

I watched the video and had a conversaton with a colleague of mine while planning professional development for staff.  We were looking for ways to explain the difference between Race and Ethnicity, and the video summed it up perfectly.  I shared with my colleague how race isn't real, that it is a social construct that was created to help resolve the condridictions about Rights of Freedom and Slavery.  I went on to share how 'race/races' have changed throughout history based on the needs/wants of society.  We then went into a deeper conversation about how the idea of race, (while 'made-up'), plays such a large role in the construction of one's identity.

I analyzed the state data from 2001 -2021 and then compared my district. My district (Greece Central School District) mirrors the state and national average. Greece has 56% white students, 15.7% black, 17% Latino, 6.4% multiracial and 4.5 % Asian or Pacific Islander. This data did not surprise me, but I found it interesting to compare with the current state data and reflect on how the demographics have change over the past 20 years. The changing demographics of our student population sadly does not reflect our current teaching population. This data is additional evidence that we need to work harder to create teaching pathways for teachers. Currently my daughter is in the AmeriCorp program in Baltimore. As a graduate student she is tutoring 7th grade math in Baltimore. We need to create similar opportunities locally to encourage more people to go into teaching, particularly to encourage more teachers of color to become teachers.