The departure of Arne Duncan is irrelevant; the appointment of John King is irrelevant
The most important thing that teachers must remember is that they have the power, not middle managers or secretaries of education.
Despite mandates, there are countless ways individual classroom teachers can subvert the status quo and teach precisely how they want to teach. As a white male with a PhD, I recognize that I am not the average public school teacher, let alone a traditional Kindergarten teacher. I have certain privileges. But because of those privileges, I neither let them go to waste nor do I expect other teachers to have the same latitude that I do.
I’ve taken a lot of heat over the years asking tough questions and looking critically at every new initiative. I’ve tried to act as cover for other teachers who have been less willing to stand up for themselves, promising to have their backs.
Whomever is the Secretary of Education, teachers are the gatekeepers. Education reform has and continues to do whatever it can to demolish that wall of protection. Almost like a positive affirmation, I remind myself everyday that I am in control of all the influence that the Secretary has over my practice.
I am fortunate to be teaching Kindergarten because I am not subject to an excessive amount of The departure of Arne Duncan is irrelevant; the appointment of John King is irrelevant | @ THE CHALKFACE:
What to do when a colleague refers to students as bank robbers and murderers?
If you don’t know, I’m a white guy teaching Kindergarten in a school that is 100% Black and 100% free-meals. I am one of three white persons on a staff of roughly 30 that, other than the three, is all Black and majority women. A colleague, who is a person of color, has recently shown such incredible disdain for their students that I was speechless, and that says a lot. This disdain and frustration has been revealed in person to students.
I have been told in recent years that, as a white male with privilege, I have very little say or place in the conversations about teachers or youth of color. I need to sit down, shut up, and listen. I ask my activist colleagues out there in the ether: what are the protocols in this instance? As a white male, can I challenge and reply with equal disdain with my perspective on this colleague’s treatment of their students? Do I sit down, shut up, and listen to this person call their students “bank robbers” or “murderers,” call them “evil” to their faces?
Classroom climate and the overall happiness of students is typically front and center of conversations at a school in a high-poverty community. There are frequent instances of, for instance, students threatening teachers with both words and gestures, community members threatening teachers, throwing furniture, leaving classrooms, bullying other students, bringing knives or cap-guns to school, and going on tirades What to do when a colleague refers to students as bank robbers and murderers?
