Tag: #Miseducation

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Mis-education and the Pandemic of Racism

a boy sitting at the table

Mis-education thrives endlessly in the absence of a relevant, grassroots experience base and an authentic connection to the Black experience. Full stop.

The increasing disconnect between U.S. Education Secretary Cardona’s agenda and that of countless superintendent’s and school districts fighting to remain open and to conduct ‘business as usual’ in the midst of our tumultuous pandemic climate; is exacerbated by the disconnect from the clear and present dangers of our current reality. And when I say ‘our’, please allow me to transparently name that Black people and our unique life experiences, are always and forever centered and at the forefront of my thought, educational scholarship and daily work. So, I/we are in the best position to state the claim that during these times in education, it is authentic Blackness, vast educational experience and/or your proximity to the same, which qualifies one to make sound decisions keenly attuned to the best interests, needs and sustaining of this country’s overwhelming ranks of Black and Latinx students in our education system.

There is little doubt that teachers, students and Black and Brown families are in the very best authoritative position to determine their needs regarding schools being physically open, at this pivotal time in history. It is us who are of African descent and/or who identify as people of color who are literally and figuratively on the front lines of the sacrificial lambs losing our lives in this horrid endemic. Literally every overcrowded ICU ward is filled with people of color (whether vaccinated or not), so the priority of ensuring our survival rate is directly proportionate to what is happening in schools. And so, it is us who comprises the distinct groups who are all too often very much in sync with what needs to happen to ensure our collective safety who must make the decisions to remain open or to meet virtually. It is us who are empowered to determine when to proverbially “hold or to fold” the hands which we’ve been unfairly dealt. And yet, it is us who happen to be consistently and wholly ignored.

Institutionalized racism sees only the need to value and center the needs of capitalism, white supremacist ideals and business as usual. This breeds mis-education and utter contempt for teachers, students and families (of all cultures) and it is this unsustainable, current climate of our educational system, which is contributing to the irreversible demise of Black lives. Whenever students, teachers, families IE: the true decision makers in educational policy are disregarded and ignored, then mis-education proliferates in unchecked forms. Further, to the extent that today’s school district leaders are responsive to external pressures to acquiesce to traditional schooling face-to-face norms – as opposed to being in tune and responsive to the masses of their largely Black and Brown, Title I demographic whose opinions and wishes matters most (especially considering that it is our lives at risk) – there is greater frustration, mis-education and death which results. The costs are too high and the damage has long lasting, generational implications. Of course, there’s no need to continue to police the teaching of history, and to disallow the refrain that Black Lives Matter, when the driving force and impact of your tone deaf decision making, continues to exist as proof positive that they do not.

The decision of whether or not to keep schools open or closed is an issue of racial justice. This is especially so to those of us who effortlessly emanate from and relate to or unapologetically reflect the norms of the Black cultural experience. As long as life-altering, government approved edicts as to whether schools remain open or closed and/or which dictate whether standardized testing and learning loss reigns supreme on the educational agenda (rather than the mental health, wellness and yes, even the authentic academic achievement and needs of our students are met against all odds), then the disconnect widens. Meaningless pandemic era policies, particularly as handed down by President Biden, education sec’y Cardona and others amounts to nothing but useless exercises in futility. The truth of the future of education and the final decisions will continue to be made by default (since you’re not listening to us anyway) by we, the people. Our beloved students speak (loudly and proudly I might add), as they continue to engage in rightful social justice activism and launch non-violent walkouts all across the country and in every major city. They will continue to vote with their actions and their feet. This is a sound prediction based upon having a pulse on their outspoken wishes and not at all a baseless opinion or a threat.

Teachers, paras, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and administrative/support staff have proven themselves to be convincing as they paid (and continue to pay) the ultimate sacrifice of losing their very lives and at the least their livelihood’s, as they leave the profession in droves via pine boxes or by mass resignations. Parents and families have spoken by homeschooling, tutoring, and essentially empowering their children to remain safely at home, even as they are forced to work. Because to send them to school despite their increasing protests that their teachers and beloved friends are dying (heavy sigh), is akin to sending them unarmed into a vicious battle, where the only outcome is to perish en masse. Clearly, it is only the scourge of capitalist, imperialist, white supremacist racism which persists in ignoring those who matter most and insists on keeping schools operating in person, despite the massive hemorrhaging and loss of lives. The only thing left to do is for government officials and school leaders to attempt levels of empathy, connection to those who exist outside of the safe umbrella of white privilege, by listening to us and acting accordingly. There’s no better time than now . . . our very lives depend upon it.

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Would you Pass an #Equity Litmus Test?

“Walk it like I talk it” is what comes to mind when you think about the attention paid to equity across today’s educational and professional landscape. Although a widespread verbal commitment to equity is now politically correct and upon everyone’s lips as a trendy way to appear #Woke, we must advance beyond mere lip service and into the realm of the tangible in order for deeply entrenched levels of equity to be realized. In other words, it’s time to show and prove that we can walk it, like we talk it.

In this sense, equity starts in your own belief system and household and does not encompass merely the lip service paid while one enjoys the privileges of whiteness or working/middle class affluence. Question: would you enroll your children in an integrated, inner city neighborhood public school? And educators: would you consider enrolling your own children in the schools in which you teach? 🤔 The question is no doubt rhetorical, but if the answer to this question is not affirmative, chances are that you are painfully aware of the inequitable funding, resources and academic outcomes which are a reality within a widespread system of mis-education; yet you have, like so many others, deemed low-income, Black students as expendable. #Smdh.

Ultimately, NO student should be regarded as a sacrificial lamb from an educational perspective but Americans have made a conscious decision over the past few decades since Brown v. Board of education, to re-segregate education (and housing) on the basis of white privilege and affluence – thereby rendering mis-education as a myth or the inescapable inheritance of those unfortunate, marginalized children. I guess the real question is: who decides which children are unworthy of an equitable and high quality education education? The resounding consensus is that WE do . . . Everyday and by virtue of which schools we opt to enroll our own children. Truly, actions speak volumes over words and the act of personal investment in an inequitable system goes a long way towards establishing your commitment to and unwavering involvement in fostering widespread change. For the record, I’m not speaking about my opinion here, I am honestly about that life and telling you what I know from my own experience as both an educator and a parent who made a conscious decision to invest in my own child’s education as commensurate with the sacrifices I was willing to make on behalf of our people and all of the other children whom society regards as expendable. If the neighborhood school system in the countless cities in which you make your livelihoods aren’t worthy of your own child’s enrollment…perhaps your commitment to equity is in lip service only.

Each of us is uniquely obliged and largely responsible for counteracting the institutionalized systems of oppression that marginalized people inextricably face in meaningful, tangible, and personally significant ways, not just with the imposter syndrome facades with which we adorn our public persona(s). How can the public, impoverished schools ever be improved upon and rendered equitable, if they remain as an enigma to our own experience as privileged, school choice decision makers? Inner city schools go the way of housing and many are wholly abandoned by the affluent change makers in our midst who use their privilege (as secured by educational esteem and degrees) as fodder for their decisions to move on up (and right out of) disadvantaged communities. That is until gentrification deems the financial benefits of re-discovering and re-investment in a well established ‘historic’ region with renewed interest and promise of prosperity and stability. Even more curious, the verbal commitment of educated professionals who ourselves work in inner city schools have often tied our public agendas to equity, student achievement and closing the opportunity gap, even as their own residence is outside the community in which they earn a living and their own children attend private schools. Recently, the Washington Post posited that equity “could be the most effective mechanism for driving better outcomes for Black and Brown children”, still it would be very telling to conduct a poll on one’s personal alignment to equity, using school enrollment and residency as a sort of personal preference litmus test (to determine if the private reality matches up with one’s public perception). I daresay, our collective actions speak louder than words.

Despite my esteemed educational attainment and lengthy career as a teacher, principal and now a college professor – choosing to devote the bulk of my daily energy to dismantling mis-education through my work as an instructional leadership coach – my life’s work pays homage much more to my own humble public school beginnings, than it does to framing an illusory portrait of financial stability and upward mobility. Because quite frankly, the truth is that for even working class professionals like myself, we are all merely 1-2 paychecks (or looming, depression-like recession status) away from the clear and present danger of financial crisis. So we must align our personal commitments with our public persona as a means to lend credibility and the spiritual fortitude of Ma’at (balance, truth and reciprocity) to our efforts and to what we hold dear.

My own daughter, nieces, nephews, and cousins have ALWAYS attended the same Detroit and Brooklyn inner city, public schools I have taught in. Moreover, in each of these cities, I also lived in the neighborhood in which the schools were located. This is not a novel idea, because my college educated, community invested parents ultimately laid the foundation for an exemplar of: community reinvestment, social activism, grassroots political engagement, Black economic empowerment and perhaps most importantly, neighborhood public school enrollment, involvement and accountability that I was genetically gifted with the literal playbook equity 101. Trust me: it makes a huge difference to be both immersed in and materially invested in (as opposed to pimping), the communities and schools for which we fight.

Equity, social activism, anti-racism and their inextricable ties to freedom from oppression are not just fancy buzzwords in my family – they were and always will be a way 👏🏾 of 👏🏾 life 👏🏾. If the communities in which we lived and the schools in which we chose to enroll our own CHILDREN were the litmus test for equity, progressive thought and an abiding commitment to anti-racist ideology, sooo many people (educators included), would fail. 👀💯 Contrary to popular belief, many social activists and leaders have similarly opted to align their personal agendas with their beliefs and public persona, and in doing so they courageously set the standard of a conscious commitment to equity (not just in words, but in deeds). Notably esteemed and admirably bad-assed journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, would likely agree that she and her husband’s reported decision to enroll their 4-year old daughter in a high poverty school is not sacrificing high quality nor lasting academic performance and success, rather she is exercising equity in action by investing in the very community within which some of our best and brightest Black and Brown children have sprung. She vehemently defends this decision against critics who insisted that she shouldn’t experiment with her own child’s education to a social justice agenda and she wisely counters “whose children should be sacrificed?”.

Of course I can only speak from personal experience, still I have admittedly been blessed to attend AND work in schools within which the founders, school leaders and teachers/support staff, all had their own children enrolled. It made a fundamental difference in how equity was practiced in terms of teacher pay, academic quality and the depth of the lifelong relationships and alliances formed. How blessed I have been to have had the exemplary privilege to have been enrolled in and to have taught in such unique institutions which meaningfully actualized the Educate to Liberate mantra of education as the basis of freedom from oppression. Surely the breadth of my lengthy experience as an educator also means that I have attended and worked in schools within which the leadership and instructional team have had multiple school-aged children who overwhelmingly attended private, suburban or parochial schools in the detached, affluent communities in which they lived. But of course, by and large these educators comprised the non-invested, savior, or “I’ve got mine, you get yours” ilk who represent the portrait of mis-education. No judgment if this has been your experience . . . But kindly save us all the empty lip service regarding your heartfelt commitment to equity. America has been far too willing to sacrifice its Black and Brown children to mis-education, while privilege and affluence prescribes the perpetuation of the status quo for their own offspring. Equity is not just a popular buzzword but informs a living, breathing and autonomous decision-making reality in each of our lives. How about making certain that we can walk it, like we talk it?

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White Female Teachers + Black Students = Mis-Education

An entire qualitative study is warranted on the inescapable, yet subtle ways that mis-education is propagated at the hands of seemingly benevolent White, female teachers whose disdain for Black students is glaringly apparent in microaggressions. Black students, the world over, have long been subjected to pedagogical racism in the various forms of: lowered expectations, assignment as pet projects/mascots, target practice for linguistic “speak standard English only” oppressive zones, poster children for the disproportionately tested, used as behavior referral and prison pipeline guinea pigs and as unethical study subjects in Tuskegee experiment styled, Common Core curriculum infused trials. Black students bemoan the recurrent disservice of being forced to act as ‘unofficial’ spokespersons #ForTheCulture and being shamelessly misused as fodder for slavery re-enactment displays (reeking of racism, yet poorly disguised as hands-on “history” lessons). For Black students, the K-12 years are akin to a torturous  journey of re-enslavement in which abject tokenism, tyranny and exploitation informs nearly every interaction with the vast majority of their White, female teachers. Too strong a statement? No. An over exaggerated assessment of Black students’ reality? I think not. But of course, this ideology is entirely dependent upon one’s perspective.  Consider that it is White Women who overwhelmingly elected Trump and that this is the same demographic who aggressively persists in reporting an incredulous litany of  non-crimes of law-abiding Black people to police on an almost weekly basis across the country. Clearly this troubling behavior exposes a pattern of behavior which does not lie dormant during the course of a typical school year. Informed analysis reveals that the same racism, classism and oppressive power dynamics which are manifest in society have disastrous implications upon all students of color and particularly on the psyche of Black students. Essentially, Black students are merely surviving the K-12 trajectory, but are not thriving and this is merely a testament to our well-honed survival skills in preparation for suffering a dreaded lifetime of institutionalized oppression. Acknowledge that any post secondary pursuit of academic excellence beyond the initial baptism by fire of the first 12 years of school, comprises the sum total of Black people’s remarkable ability to withstand hostility filled classroom environments, in which White women wield the only degree of power this patriarchal society allows them to exercise.

In terms of recognizing the telltale signs of modern-day mis-education in the covert form of microaggressions, the insidious hatred takes on many forms. From the common scenario in which a Black student (insert any student of color), innocently requests to go to the restroom with the question “Can I go to the bathroom, please?”, to which the White, female teacher (insert any holier than thou, privileged person in authority) snarkily replies “I don’t know? Can you go to the restroom?!”, in an apparent reference to the improper use of grammar. For the mortified student, they have just been publicly maligned and sarcastically corrected by a respected person of authority who casually assumes the role of the grammar police, thereby rendering the classroom as not a place of learning where everyone is welcome – and grammar lessons are delivered at appropriate times – but as a protected, White space in which no student of color dare exercise agency or free expression. Of course, the indignant power dynamic of centering whiteness as the norm is not new, on the contrary, racists publicly correct the language use of all people of color and regard all spaces as their personal domain to police as they deem fit – please reference pertinent examples.  Clearly, for the unsuspecting student in the aforementioned scenario, there are no valued lessons learned. They will retain only the harmful memory of having been embarrassed for innocently expressing a legitimate need, and become adept at internalizing oppression and ceasing to be themselves in a hostile environment. Whereas, the clueless teacher (even if confronted by a parent), fails to see the harm in utilizing what they deem to be a #TeachableMoment and ponders, in vain, as to how to better infuse music, slang and/or any host of other manipulative stereotypes as a means to effectively reach their Black students who don’t seem receptive to their loving, standards-based and welcoming classroom. Ha! Therein lies the rub, indeed a problem for the ages. The disproportionate diversity demographics of 80% predominantly White, female teachers to an almost equal number of students of color is an indictment upon an American educational system which has its historic foundation upon institutionalized racism and separate, unequal practices which essentially informs the ever-widening achievement gap. How will authentic education ever be accomplished in the midst of such divergent perspectives? It is my contention that no real learning can take place at all given this oppressive model (sigh), only gross mis-education.

As shared in my own qualitative, narrative dissertation of the prevalent (yet oft-ignored), phenomena of mis-education, the study concluded that the narrative voice of Black educators must be afforded a prominent platform as a pertinent means for ‘resident experts’ to willingly share of their own degree of mis-education and to similarly propose the best, evidence-based practices to successfully counter the debilitating effects of suffering a daily onslaught of microaggressions within the classroom setting. Among the all too common themes which frequently emerge in the empirical data of Black students suffering mis-education, there are incidents of being told that “You speak/read/learn/ compute very well” as if African genius is an anomaly or that “You are a credit to your race” as a supposed compliment by an authority figure who actually believes that they have their innate bias in check. Despite record levels of creative innovation and educational advancements, Black people are still being acknowledged as “the firsts” in so many diverse arenas and in the presence of equally (or even lesser) educated peers. We are generally regarded as “the help” or as having earned a position through affirmative action, while being unfairly compensated for performing the same professional capacities. In fact, among the academic community and in society in general, White women and men so often leverage their Whiteness to game the system, that it limits  their capacity to ascribe natural genius to Black people at all. There’s such a wealth of insidious, persistent stereotypes governing  educational policy in the key areas of curriculum, instruction, assessment and scholarly research that it is fairly common to still be the only person of color to be published in elite journals, sought as featured presenters, or to occupy the seats on policy boards which empower us to wield significant power in schools to effect the change needed to turn the tide of mis-education. Until Black scholars (and all people of conscience who support our revolutionary efforts to decolonize education) collaborate in exposing these issues throughout districts and via targeted government appointments – students of color will continue to comprise the ranks of the oppressed. Far too many Black, Asian, Latinx and Indigenous students have been undervalued for their (or their family’s) immigrant status and asked to clarify where they are born, or to say words in their native language on command. In terms of the microaggression of color blindness – in what alternate reality has it ever been appropriate to foolishly proclaim that you “Don’t even see color” or that “I have Black friends”?  Please be crystal clear in recognizing that all claims of color-blindness are as offensive as the day is long, yet such statements are repeatedly uttered by folks who would rather pretend that they don’t acknowledge another’s ethnicity as preferable to being mindfully conscious of and ultimately working everyday not to weaponize their normative whiteness and privilege through self-education and concerted effort. 

It is clear that for White, female teachers and Black students . . . nearly all interactions are problematic, particularly given the power dynamics of an outdated, yet all-too-common classroom construct, whereby the teacher is the sole authority figure and students’ are regarded as merely empty vessels waiting to be filled. For White, privileged education policy makers, there is no apparent urgency to increase the diversity of America’s teaching force or to level the playing field of potential success for Black students because the intentional design of the system holds that some students will inevitably fail.  There is no authentic crisis in the myopic view of policy makers, as long as the student failures reside squarely within the demographic of Black students, and other students of color.  An analysis of multiple studies devoted to the Black-White student achievement gap conclude that systemic discrimination and generational poverty are at fault for the massive disparity in student achievement and this is indeed a sound conclusion, supported by data. However, little attention is paid to the direct correlation between the overwhelmingly White teaching force and the increasingly diverse student populace, as a primary contributing factor to the ever-present achievement gap. From a purely statistical perspective, it is absolutely unacceptable for there to be such a dearth of quality, educators of color (in general) and Black educators (in particular), to teach our increasingly Black and Brown student majority.  Honestly, how can you teach me, if you don’t know me, respect my worldview (often antithetical to your own), or love me? It’s arguably impossible to learn, think critically or prosper when subjected to the same level of purse clutching fear and abject hostility in play elsewhere. Although studies have shown that there is no effect upon White students when they have Black teachers, the exact opposite is true for Black students who are irreparably damaged and otherwise mis-educated from a lifetime of exposure to the White, female homogeneity of the schools. Still, there’s been little to no national recruitment efforts sponsored by educational policy makers to significantly and permanently increase teacher diversity, at a rate which honors, values and is commensurate with the overwhelming ranks of students of color. Even the New York Times cited diversity and bias training as only a temporary remedy to addressing an age-old problem. Yet, many schools fail to even undertake this preventative measure, thus ushering in an entire era of tone deaf, misguided, out of touch White teachers who could care less that their repeated, failed attempts to “teach” students of color, only reinforces their innate bias, privilege and normalizing the tendency to project a superiority complex over our children. Sigh . . . and so a vicious cycle proliferates.

Undoubtedly, there are countless exceptions to the rule, in the form of admirable, White women educators who are staunch professionals, conscious of their White privilege and who are instrumental in sounding the alarm re: the need for change. However for others, the sincere message is this – listen up clueless colonizers: no más, no more, no ma’am! Keep your ‘Angelina Jolie wanting to adopt us’ energy; coupled with your ‘Sandra Bullock I’m only married to racists and star in Hollywood savior films for fun’ energy; and especially your ‘Alyssa Milano #FakeWoke, wannabe anti-racist, Twitter fingers-activist screaming “I see you, I feel you, I AM YOU” toxic, empath energy back to the ‘unsolicited, denounce Min. Farrakhan or else soapbox, which you hastily handcrafted to showcase your poorly disguised allegiance, while inadvertently outing your own unchecked superiority complex’. By all means, keep your ‘detached suburban living, my own children attend private school and my conservative political preferences are private’ energy waaayyy over there. Because trust me, Black students/parents and the community in general are already accustomed to carrying the heaviest load in terms of our own freedom from oppression, so you are either helping or harming the cause – there is no middle ground. It helps tremendously to be mindful of never engaging in widespread posturing, placating or complete ignorance to the power imbalance that the average classroom environment cultivates and governing yourselves accordingly.  As a viable starting point towards a solution for what ails the system of mis-education engendered by White, female teachers and Black students is to engage:

  • Nationwide Recruitment/Retention of Black Teachers – It is pivotal to honor and attune the entire education community to the empowered voices and opinions of Black educators who are as commonly tokenized and disrespected as valued professionals as are Black students in the classroom. Black educators have long been vocal about the need for increased support in both entering and sustaining a viable future in the education profession. Thus, nationwide recruitment and retention strategies are key.
  • Diversity & Inclusion Training – Racism, elitism and White privilege are so firmly rooted in education as to render diversity training one of many mandated curriculum strands required for the well-rounded, rigorous and relevant professional development offerings of all educators and pedagogical leaders. Every school needs rigorous, relevant and competent diversity training, ideally at the hands of an experienced Black scholar educator well-versed in institutionalized oppression in schools, in order for each institution to attempt to rid itself of its own unique form of the universal scourge of racism.
  • Scholarly Research (both Qualitative and Quantitative) – Without question, the demographic impact of the prominent number of White women in leadership of diverse classrooms and schools must be thoroughly researched and analyzed in terms of their reinforcement of the ‘survival of the fittest’ culture, which supports the status quo and sustains institutionalized oppression. Any and all attempts to contribute to the virtually non-existent, 21st Century knowledge base of mis-education in the field of educational policy are welcomed.
  • Policy Change & Legislative Action – It’s not enough to support ongoing mass opposition to DeVos’ racist policies, targeted commercialization and the widespread privatization of schools. Teachers nationwide engaged in protesting and fighting for better pay and legislative change while opposing future cuts to education must similarly advocate for increased federal/state investment in anti-racist teacher education and all other complementary efforts to decolonize pedagogy through anti-racist curriculum, instructional and disciplinary protocols rooted in equity and justice. Educators have a collective obligation to actively work towards leveling the playing field in the areas of: recruitment, hiring and teacher retention strategies while simultaneously tackling the increasing incidents of racism and xenophobia in all of our K-12 schools and college campuses across the country. 

Educational institutions and teachers which continue to operate in a vacuum, business as usual, despite the presence of the significant injustices buoyed by the overwhelming number of White, female teachers and Black students will only serve to exacerbate the problem of  mis-education.