Centering the Experiences of Students and Teachers of Color: Professional Development to Talk About Race

• In Event: Teacher Activism for Equity

Abstract

As current issues, conversations, and incidents about race occur in local and national environments, teachers should expect students will seek to make meaning and interpretations about what those issues mean for their own lived experiences and how they understand their own identity. The school environment is a natural setting for students to explore this sense-making experience, However, teachers are often ill-prepared for these conversations. Drawing upon interviews with a group of public school students and teachers of colors, we attempt to make sense of how this group experienced the classroom as a space of equity agency, cultural humility, cultural responsiveness, and anti-racism to contextualize current events. The result of this analysis is information that is used for teacher professional development.

Authors

• Isaiah McGee, Iowa State University

• Circe Stumbo, West Wind Education Policy Inc.

• Mary Anton, Boston College