Why Our Classrooms Need to Look More Like Our Students
The Problem Hiding in Plain Sight Walk into almost any public school classroom in America and look around. Notice the faces of the students. Then look at the teacher at the front of the room. In far too many schools, those faces don’t match. This isn’t just about representation for its own sake. When students […]
Helping Children Talk About Race Without Fear: Why Honest Conversations Matter Early
Silence Is Not the Same as Understanding One of the reasons I wrote When You Arrive: A Children’s Book About Racism is because I noticed something that happens in both schools and homes. Adults often assume that if we avoid talking about race, children will simply grow up treating everyone equally. I understand where that […]
What It Really Takes to Build More Diverse Teacher Pipelines in America’s Schools
Looking Beyond the Headlines For years, I have heard people say we need more diversity in education. It is a statement that almost everyone agrees with, yet I often wonder how many people stop to think about what those words actually require. Building a more diverse teacher workforce is not as simple as recruiting more […]