Stretching Your Thinking

From the beginning of the first video, one of the things that resonated with me was when the speaker said that there are a lot of smart competent people working hard, but there is still predictable racialized achievement disparities. This lets us know that it is not enough to just work hard, but actually have intentional work proven to decrease these achievement gaps. The idea of having tools, or a protocol, to help with uncomfortable conversations speaks to this point.  Also, I think having these tools helps to structure uncomfortable conversations with colleagues and students, something that has to happen for these achievement gaps to be closed.
Another thing that really spoke to me was the math teacher that recognized that although her algebra curriculum did not give much room for this additional work, it was important to give her students a safe place to process and vent their feelings helped them to be more focused and engaged the other 4 days of the week.  It is important as educators to establish these relationships with our students and that it can actually improve our instructional time.  It also benefits our students as it gives them the language that they need to have difficult conversations which is a skill that they can use throughout their lives.

● How can we support students in feeling secure in their racial identity? How can we foster trust amongst the racial boundaries?

• Celebrate themselves and where family and culture 
• We need to acknowledge and accept their unique sense of self and culture
• Use the multicultural crayons and colored pencils so they can see themselves in their art 
• Use of more of character of our students racial identity in our curriculum 
• Make sure all students feel safe and that the classroom is a safe place
• Connect lessons to student lives
• connect to students future 
• See students strengths and celebrate them and making growth and goals
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I found the entire concept of intersectionality interesting and enlightening. I had not entirely thought of the concept before listening to Kimberle. Race and gender issues. How stereotypes of more than one variable can play out. Identity is a relationship between people. Discrimination can happen based on many factors. I was envious that her family talked about social justice issues at home, as dinner conversation. I would love to have these types of conversations with my children some day, once they are old enough to communicate with me. I would love to make it as normal as it was for her. In regards to my students, I want to build these conversations into our classroom culture so my students are comfortable to have these conversations around race, gender, identity and feel as though my room is a safe space for them. 

I found these videos to be very informative! I did not fully understand what the definition of intersectionality was before watching these videos. I really like what she said about learning about what holds back our students due to their racial identity in order to move past it.

As I was watching Courageous Conversations I was struck thinking about language. The fastest way to exclude someone is to speak in a language they don’t understand.  We write journals, notes or snapchat to friends in coded language. We speak in ways that our teacher or parents may not understand. This is part of forming a group or community but at times it can be a group that excludes others from it. Moreover, we should also question: at what point does this communication only serve to reinforce oppression?

Which brings us to the racism in language. Lets think about the language in that courageous conversation. Is it racist?  As Robert Moore (1998) points out the symbolism of white as positive and black as negative is prevalent in our culture as well as good guys with their white hats and ride white horses with bad guys wearing black hats and riding black horses. We see angels as white, and devils as black. As Robin DiAngelo says we should let go of the messenger and focus on the message (2018). But the message is one of animosity. Truly who sets the standards for our written and spoken language?  Our use of language can be for the positive and the power of language can cut negatively as well. Language expresses our identity, relation to power and influences the way we view society. Even though we are using language continuously, we for the most part take it for granted. The effect language can have is potent and having a conversation while important should be closely monitored.

References:
Courageous Conversations (2014) Retrieved from   on February 5, 2022.  

DiAngelo, R. (2018). White fragility: Why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism. Beacon Press.  

Moore, R. B., & Rothenberg, P. S. (1998). Race, class, and gender in the United States: An integrated study. St. Martin's Press.  

What resonated with me is that all humans have their own unique collection of individual characteristics that make them different from one another. That being the case, they have their individual challenges as well as benefits. Some of those challenges being more difficult than others. For example, an individual has an ethnic affiliation, a socio-economic experience, a particular family structure, gender as well as religious affiliation along with many others. As such, a teacher needs to consider this when determining the amount of support or what type of instructional presentation a student needs to be successful in the classroom.

I watched Kimberle Crenshaw's videos on Intersectionality. What resonated with me is when she talked about the Black women she was defending who were being discriminated against not only because their race but also because of their gender. Crenshaw says that those who face intersectionality have "two or more punches" thrown against them. I immediately relate this to many students that I have worked with in the past who are ENL and SWD. In my experiences, these students tend to face the most discrimination and exclusion. These students are not included in programs such as afterschool or band/orchestra because not only are they SWD, but they are also ELLs and it is often assumed that the families won't even speak English, so why bother. After reflecting on these videos and the prominent  issues of intersectionality, I will commit to advocating for my students and their families who are, as Crenshaw describes, struggling with two or more punches being thrown against them. 

I had already considered that it seemed tougher to be a black woman than a black man, just in that then men still got the advantages of being male in our society. It was nice to finally have a name for that concept, intersectionality, having layers of identity, and a uniqueness of circumstance due to the combination. I, and a lot of my students, come from poverty, and I believe that can shape your identity and life experience (and lack of opportunities)  much like race or gender can. Its good to recognize the complex layers of oppression our students may be facing as they learn and grow each day. 

I watched Courageous Conversations About Race. I like that this course offers ways to have these types of conversations by providing tools to facilitate safe and productive methods of dialogue with students and other educators in order to combat misunderstanding and disparity. I also appreciate the exercises designed to help individuals explore their own racial identity and its intersectionality and relationship to other races. As a teacher mentor, I often grapple with how to help others explore their own role, but these lessons are not quickly or easily taught. Individuals must take time to reflect deep within themselves and their own experiences in order to reach the ultimate goal of racial equity in education. 

One thing that resonated with me is understanding identity is the relationship between people & history, people & communities, people & institutions. I think this is important to understand as an educator when issues arise in schools. Issues are not isolated, so thinking about the relationship of the students involved as well as their relationship with the institution and history. This framework has us shift the "blame" away from individuals and has us changing our thinking to answer: How best are we supporting students who might face problems in school due to their relationship with the institution itself. Ultimately--how can we change the institution to better fit the needs of our students.