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One of the big issues that teachers will have to tackle around anti-racism PD is the ways in which we police students in schools. We can't just point to SRO's without evaluating how we police student behaviour and norms in our classrooms and schools.
How does racism and other forms of oppression manifest in our hat/hood and dress code policies? How are we defining what "appropriate" dress in schools looks like? How do we critically examine these policies within an equitable framework?
Who are we kicking out of our classrooms and sending down to the office? How are we applying our norms of "good behaviour" onto students and even punishing students for cultural forms of expression?
We need to evaluate everything we do within an equity framework to root out and confront the ways in which racism and other forms of oppression impact our decision making as teachers and to understand that our job is not to be authoritarians in the classroom.
Teaching for equity and social justice has provided me a framework over the years in reflecting on my own bias and challenging myself to continually be committed to anit-oppressive teaching practices. I'm hopeful that we can take this work more meaningfully to our colleagues.
In our rush to embrace anti-racism PD let's ensure that we're not just focused on the topics we teach in our classrooms but also evaluate the ways in which our practices and policies create inequities in schools for students.
This work is messy and I stumble all the time. If you're new to this feel free to reach out to me at any time. I'm here for folks who are not sure where or how to start. We have an important opportunity to center this work and make change for the young people we work with.
