I am often asked about my "why" - why am I so passionate about racial equity. There is no way I can talk about my why without talking about the School-to-Prison Pipeline. What is that you may ask? According to the ACLU, it is "a disturbing national trend wherein children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Many of these children have learning disabilities or histories of poverty, abuse, or neglect, and would benefit from additional educational and counseling services. Instead, they are isolated, punished, and pushed out." This is nothing new. The research around these trends go back to the Obama Administration, back to a time when I had a career in education. After a 20 year long career in education, I have seen this put into practice over and over, even by the most well-meaning teachers. It's a complex topic and I won't try to tackle it with just one post.
I went from being an elementary school counselor to being an elementary principal mostly because I had hopes of being able to support schools that would provide "additional educational and counseling services," that would create student success, not through punishment, but through teaching and support. I was a counselor, after all, and I saw time after time as students I worked with were suspended instead of being helped and supported to learn and grow. I saw students whose parents were in jail, whose families were homeless, whose home life was unstable, whose behavior was misunderstood, all because they were just acting according to their cultural norms or were just being kids or reacting to the trauma they experienced. I watched as students were punished by being removed from a classroom or recess or lunch with peers because they couldn't sit in a chair, sit still, raise their hand, stay awake, use an inside voice, control their emotions. They were kicked out of school, suspended, removed from the very place that was stability for them, afforded them routine and meals and relationships with peers, a chance to learn. I became an administrator because of these things, because I wanted to change them. I wanted to support a child's social/emotional/psychological learning so that they could be successful in school. I wanted to lead schools where a student's classroom behavior would be treated like any other aspect of schooling. A place where, when a student couldn't read, we would teach them to read - when a student couldn't meet behavioral expectations, we would teach them to do so. You may notice, I didn't say "behave" because that too needs to change. Whose standard determines what is the right behavior in schools? We expect compliance. We expect sitting in your chair and raising your hand. Does that help all students learn?
I've seen this happen time and time again in classrooms, in schools, and at district levels. Black and blown students entering school with a zest and energy that our schools are not equipped to support. Kids are told to sit in their chairs, sit on their carpet square, raise their hand. Teachers neglect to see that this passion and energy can be an asset, not something that has to be extinguished. We need to rethink schooling, rethink school discipline, rethink the behavioral "norm."
Students come to us with their culture. Black or white. Rich or poor. Suburban or urban. There are all kinds of differences but the standard we hold them to is rooted in white, middle class culture. Sit in your chair. Raise your hand. Fill out your worksheet. Memorize your facts. Walk in a straight line. We are missing the wealth and richness of cultural diversity. Passion, energy, zest. I'm not advocating chaos. I'm asking us, all of us, educators or not, to appreciate the differences our children posses, not just of skin-color but of the culture they bring with them to school and to see it as something to celebrate and even capitalize on in further their learning and not as something to squash.
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