Creating Affirming Experiences
Grow Your Own, Inclusively
- Child Development: The physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of children.
- Principles of Education: The history and philosophy of education, roles of educators, diversity of cultures, and communities related to educational settings.
- Best Instructional Practice: Topics related to instructional and assessment methods and professional development.
- Education Internships: Applying knowledge and skills into a structured workplace experience with coaching from supervising professionals.
- Create affinity spaces for students of color. Getting the opportunity to talk with peers who share their identity can help students feel safe and explore their authentic selves. Try to create spaces where they can talk about the foundation of what they are learning and how it applies to some of the unique challenges they face. If you can't form affinity groups within the immediate environment, seek partnerships with other schools, perhaps virtually, to connect students to diverse groups.
- Connect students to mentors of color who can validate and reframe their experiences. Hearing a mentor's personal story can benefit students by helping them see and learn from their mentor's resilience, identify how their own story can make a difference to the students they may one day teach, and learn from their mentor's successes.
The process of drawing students of color into the teaching profession begins the very moment they start their education journey.
- Focus on building efficacy and confidence. Create a classroom culture centered on building student self-efficacy that allows students to take risks in learning without fear of social consequences. In such environments, even when students make an error in their thinking, they are not met with negative comments or gestures that make them feel inadequate. Teachers must be purposeful in affirming student thinking; encouraging inquiry; and helping them identify, explore, and build upon their gifts.
- Facilitate access to role models. Provide opportunities for students to identify with and learn from faculty and guest speakers who share similar cultural backgrounds or identities and can serve as role models (if not in-person, virtually).
Establish Relational Value
- Celebrate students of color and their education in ways that are sensitive to who they are and what they value as individuals. For example, some students may not want widely shared recognition. They may not like being the center of attention or could feel that this outward approach lacks sincerity. The key is understanding the unique circumstances of each student and what they appreciate or value.
- Discover their genuine needs. Once, as a 5th grade teacher, I attended a school function in which we provided coats and hats to underprivileged families. One parent told me, "I actually don't need these things, because I already know where I can get them out in the community. I take them because you give them to me. I just wish someone would have taken the time to ask me what I really needed." It is the same situation with students. There are often things that we do "for their benefit" that do not meet their actual needs. Solicit the voices of students of color to learn more about their experiences and needs.
- Promote well-being through relationships. Because feelings of isolation can have a profound effect on the psyche of students of color, educators must commit to building authentic relationships. This requires an understanding of personal biases when interacting with students of color and the ability to provide these students with a mirror of their strengths through encouragement, help them build confidence in their abilities, and be an ally by challenging social injustice within the school environment. Show students of color that their voice counts by seeking their input and allowing them to influence change. Also, practice listening and understanding. Be slow to pass judgment, and show sincere care while supporting students of color as they work through challenging situations. As teachers promote and model well-being, they are painting a picture in the minds of students of color that the world of education is a place for them.
- Protect them from unfair consequences. Each time a student of color sees rules or discipline applied differently for white students, it further removes them from seeing schools as a place for them.
- Come to know your impact by asking hard questions. Go beyond the surface level and seek to understand how school culture is impacting students of color by looking at the learning environment through their eyes. To go deeper, school teams might consider asking themselves, "What is our data showing about the daily experiences of students of color and our ability to be culturally responsive?" or "Where are we perpetuating unfavorable conditions for students of color? How is bias reflected in our grading or behavior practices?"
Ramp Up Encouragement
- Make it a routine practice to learn about and monitor students' career interests. For example, a teacher or school might have a set time once or twice a month for conversations with students about their career aspirations.
- Get students of color actively talking and learning about their future and the talents they possess. Teachers can do this by encouraging students to chat with peers and offering words of affirmation (confidently providing clear examples of the abilities you see within each student you are engaging) and classroom activities exploring areas of interest relating to their potential. When providing affirmation, use phrases such as "I see you," "Why not you?" and "You are not broken" to counter deficit thinking and help students understand the talents you see in them. The goal is to reiterate that they are gifted and possess the ability to achieve any career they desire, and to validate that their professional journey does not have to mirror anyone else's.
- Invite students to have a conversation about careers that interest them. This can happen over a lunch period or during student work time. Look for students of color whose career interests involve collaboration, adaptability, leadership, creativity, and communication, as a potential avenue to elevate the teaching profession.
- Discuss diverse career opportunities. If you find students of color who seem to be interested in careers with similar characteristics to education, introduce them to a variety of additional career options, including teaching, that can support their skills and interests.
- Have students set goals that allow them to cultivate their abilities further. This could be part of a routine check in. Ask students to research career paths that align with their skills and interests and choose outside actions to learn more about each field. To further explore teaching, for example, students of color might interview or shadow a teacher of color. A teacher might also introduce students to various support groups for future teachers of color—for example, BOND (Building Our Network of Diversity) or the One Million Teachers of Color Initiative—allowing students to see the additional care that is available.
Expose Students to Quality Curriculum
- Examine how curriculum decisions are made and ensure that diverse representation is a priority. Challenge yourself to answer the question, "How can we be certain we have achieved diverse representation in the curriculum?"
- Observe teachers engaging with the curriculum. Purposefully incorporate cultural relevancy into coaching conversations. This can be accomplished by leaders asking questions such as "How did you leverage the curriculum to support the diversity of your students?" or "Are there adjustments you would make to the curriculum to further connect students?"
- Conduct classroom visits to learn how or if students of color find relevance in the curriculum. Ask students if they are making natural connections with questions such as "What are you learning and why is this important to you?" or "In what ways are you making personal connections to what you are learning?"
Expose Students to High-Quality Teaching
- Leverage data and students' voices to understand how teacher instruction is culturally responsive and impacts the growth and development of students of color.
- Engage teachers in routine reflective practice around cultural competency and goal setting to enhance the quality of instruction.
- Provide teachers with quality leadership to model and support their growth and the development of a cultural lens cognizant of bias.
Cultivating Hope for the Future
Reflect & Discuss
➛ How can you help students in your school or district rethink ingrained narratives about who is right for the teaching profession?
➛ What are strategies you have used or would like to use to reflect with students of color on their career aspirations?
➛ What steps can your school take to cultivate stronger mentorship, especially for students of color?
Leading Your School Toward Equity
Veteran educator Dwayne Chism shows district, school, and teacher leaders a four-step process for taking equity work beyond talk and into effective action.