A Reflection: Moving from the dark & difficult to the bright and dazzling

(For one of my courses I am asked to read and respond to articles on a weekly basis.  Here is one of my recent reflections, with hopefully more to come.)

In an article written by my inspiring advisor, Dr. Joan T. Wynne, entitled Moving from the dark & difficult to the bright and dazzling about the school to prison pipeline, she refers to a  TED.com talk by Bryan Stevenson, Director of Equal Justice Initiative in which he states "It's that mind-heart connection that I believe compels us to not just be attentive to all the bright and dazzling things but also the dark and difficult things.” In Wynne's article she connects Stevenson's idea to our current educational system.  She states that for educators, part of the “dark and difficult” is the growth of the school to prison pipeline and its impact on marginalized students and on society’s dream of becoming a real democracy. She continues explaining that another aspect of the "difficult" is the necessary admission by white and female teachers (who make up 84% of public school teacher) that we live in a racist country, benefiting from power and privilege that have an adverse effect on citizens of color. Wynne goes on to argue that "our admission of unearned power and privilege is a crucial starting point if we are to engage in meaningful conversation about justice and equity." Wynne continues to share the "bright and dazzling" that can be found within The Algebra Project movement and its youth-run offspring, The Young People's Project.

In reflection of Wynne's article, her thesis and essential question around the “dark and difficult things” with similar exposure to “bright and dazzling things” embody the reasons I decided to pursue a masters degree in Urban Education.  For the past 7 years I have been one of the 84% of white female public educators, and the growth of the school to prison pipeline is a reality that I am unfortunately all too familiar with in connection to my students.  The more entrenched I became within my profession, and engaged in my students lives; the more I realized the deep seeded racism that continues to permeate policies within our society and schools (especially the racism that I myself was, and still am, clueless too and have benefited from). 

In my experience the first thing that became apparent to me was how the urban schools I worked in were modeled, as Henry Giroux points out, after prisons.  Both in Chicago and NYC, as for district policy, my students were required to enter through metal detectors as they entered the school building.  In Chicago, female and male students had to enter through different entrances, so if necessary they could also be pat down by school security.  In NYC, all students entered through the same entrance but were greeted (or I should say berated) by school security that wore NYPD uniforms. Before any of my students reached my classroom they were already being treated like criminals.  In NYC my students (specifically my male students) endured the effects of the Stop & Frisk policy that contributes to the growth of the school to prison pipeline.  During the summer of 2012 I participated in a silent march in protest of the policy. It was the first time I had ever participated in a march for civil rights. I marched not just as a citizen but also as an educator; I marched for my students, for all students: past, present, and future. I found an incredible power in the sound of silence that day; and for anyone who was watching the march understood that the absence of noise did not mean we were silent.

Too often though, we as teachers are silent. Race is not something that is openly talked about within our school buildings, let alone how it affects how and what we teach. I agree with Wynne, that the shift also has to also happen within the Colleges of Education (COE) to make way for the conversations to begin to happen in the schools.  From personal experience I received little to no understanding of the challenges and issues hindering the educational success of my students.  None of the required courses to earn my degree and teaching certificate looked at the implications and effects of public policies on education or the importance of multicultural education for all students. Luckily, in both Chicago and NYC, I worked for administrators who also believed that such policies deemed by the district were detrimental to the betterment of our students and pushed alternative restorative justice discipline policies, and the implementation of teaching pedagogies whose aim was to increase both the teacher and student creativity and autonomy around learning (with similar attributes to those within the Algebra Project). In NYC I was even allowed to teach a 3 week mini course on the history and evolution of the n-word. Because of my administrations I was asked and encouraged to engage in conversations around race and education. However, when I then began looking for a COE to pursue a masters I was even more limited in finding educational programs that focused on and acknowledge these issues. The teaching profession in the United States is unfortunately still not revered and valued and that is apparent in the operations and admissions in COE.  If COEs and governments (federal and state) were really concerned about the disparities within the public school system, they would begin to honestly explore the injustice and inequity with in our society and how do we continue to close not just the achievement gap but rather the societal gap that exists. But until then, we as educators have to continue the professional development, force the uneasy but important conversations.  And for those of us white females, it must start with the uncomfortable reality of admitting that we live and benefit from the racism still entwined within our society.