We are the company we keep. Most of the people in my inner circle are educators or administrators. Despite our titles, we are servants. We chose to serve educators, students, parents, and our community each day. In our right, we are aspiring change agents for education.
They were colleagues, but now we are friends. My friends love children and education as much as I do. Our conversations often include content from the media or discussions about a standard workday. Both formats have led to a telling and passionate discourse about education.
Here is a conversation shared between a friend, Heather, and me. I changed her name to protect her privacy. This is a standard conversation in our daily lives, from beginning to end.
A friend texted me a link to an article written by Ileana Najarro.
Here is a thread of our conversation below.
Heather: Great read. (accompanied by a thinking emoji.)
Me: You know I'm about to read this now. I included similar research in my literature review.
I read the article immediately and provided a follow-up response.
I responded as an educator with 17 years of experience. Sixteen of the 17 years included employment in high-needs and economically disadvantaged schools. Students attending these schools were predominantly minority students.
Me: Yep [yes], that sounds about right. I have noticed that bias related to demographics can be a grave factor. Most of the teachers in previous places of employment were black, as were the students. They [the teachers] did the same thing. It really boils down to: If you're poor and your family is poor, I assume you don't know.
Heather: This breaks my heart. (broken heart emoji)
Me: Unfortunately, when minorities work to improve themselves, they do not realize that they can inherit systemic bias.
The message seems to go as follows: I say I work hard for you because I come from where you're from, but I don't realize that my frustrations with your lack of progress are because you haven't worked to get to where I am.
They [the educators] fail to realize that biases are rooted in personal experiences and camouflaged by empathy and/or sympathy.
Heather: I agree.
An interesting point about this conversation is that we were simply talking as friends. Friends who are passionate about education and equitable learning opportunities for disadvantaged students. Poverty has no bounds.
Prior to this conversation, I had not decided to create a blog. So, our conversation was not staged for this moment. This is a bird's-eye view of a personal and intimate conversation between friends. Truthfully, we have regular conversations about restructuring education for students in poverty. Those conversations served as a catalyst for my desire to blog.
We all have experiences that contribute to how we view and interact with the world around us. What do you think about the conversation between Heather and me?
I feel this conversation truly touch on valuable information that is so true in today’s world. It is so important to be true full when dealing with sensitive issues as race. Be is equally important to know how you present your information.