Read on Twitter
1/ This tweet from @ChristieNold has been rattling around in my head all week. I tried to write a thread the other day but accidentally deleted it... I want to try to share my thoughts here in an attempt to make sense of this all. I encourage dialogue on this rambling thread! https://twitter.com/christienold/status/1346908292254216199
2/ First of all, the weight and responsibility of educators in the struggle to dismantle white supremacy should not be news to anyone. This work has been critically important before Jan 6, and will continue to be important in the future. Get on board and get to work.
3/ I think that for how my brain works, trying to categorize the various responsibilities helps me to understand what the role of educators is in all of this, and the different fronts we need to be working on.
4/ Priority A: Obviously, culturally responsive curriculum and instruction is immensely important. White supremacy will flourish when students aren’t taught the our full history. When they aren’t given examples of people in marginalized groups thriving and even just 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨.
5/ There are SO MANY resources out there to learn more and put this into action immediately. I am consistently grateful for all the educators who so willingly share their knowledge on this platform. @DisruptTexts and @liberateNchill and @ClearTheAirEdu
6/ And so many more that I won’t individually tag because I don’t want to clog up their mentions with my ramblings. There is writing by Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings and Zaretta Hammond. Don’t listen to my white self- seek out BIPOC. Their materials are out there. Use them.
7/ Priority B: It all connects together, but 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 working to dismantle systems of oppression. Maybe you’ve worked hard to make your own curriculum better. Then, what are you doing to move beyond your own classroom??
8/ @sheathescholar has shared so much this week that continues to resonate with me. It doesn’t matter what your school or your system is like, it matters what 𝘆𝗼𝘂 do to move towards liberation. https://twitter.com/sheathescholar/status/1347365142003068928
9/ More brilliance shared by @sheathescholar. A system is made up of each of its individual components. If you are not actively working to dismantle an oppressive, white supremacist system, you are upholding it. https://twitter.com/sheathescholar/status/1347364978861481985
10/ So then, connecting their words to this news article... https://twitter.com/dawnbvaughan/status/1347404341951475712
11/ We know that actual teachers and educators took part in Wednesday’s events. I wish it surprised me. Honestly, I’m less concerned about them and more concerned about what lunch conversations have looked like in those teachers’ workrooms the past year...
12/ How many times have they said harmful and problematic things, in front of colleagues who KNEW those things were wrong? And how many times did those colleagues remain silent?? Choosing to prioritize their own comfort over the lives of marginalized groups.
13/ I keep thinking of the words of @BLoveSoulPower, “If you’re doing antiracist work and everyone likes you, you’re not doing antiracist work.” And yet time and time again, we see (white) educators prioritize their own comfort and choosing to stay silent.
Stop it.
Stop it.
14/ Priority C: critical thinking and historical/source analysis skills.
In the days since the attack, it’s become clear just how critical this threat was. This was more than just a bunch of rowdy idiots wearing face paint and a weird amount of fur.
In the days since the attack, it’s become clear just how critical this threat was. This was more than just a bunch of rowdy idiots wearing face paint and a weird amount of fur.
15/ There were bombs. They were armed. They had flex cuffs. They built a gallows. They intended to take hostages and to execute people.
16/ Then there were also those spectators who didn’t go inside the Capitol, but cheered them on. Like our teacher friend in the article above. These people who traveled to DC in an attempt to march on the Capitol seem to truly believe that the election was fraudulent.
17/ They believe the lies that millions of dead people voted. That people’s dogs voted. They believe these completely false claims, & on some level you have to question an education system that has left so many people ill-equipped to critically evaluate information and sources.
18/ I think about @samwineburg’s work here, and his book Why Learn History (When It’s Already On Your Phone). Here’s a section from the back cover.
19/ It’s clear that educators of decades past probably did not imagine a social media system that could spread disinformation like wildfire (fueled by an entire media ecosystem designed to further these falsehoods). But it’s where we are now.
20/ And the failures of educators past have led to present problems. My major question to all educators: What are we doing to 1) imagine what the future problems will be? and 2) prevent them from coming to fruition?
21/ In closing, I’m sure there are holes in my thought process here, and as I said before, I welcome and encourage dialogue on this thread! I hope that I’m not the only educator grappling with the role of schools in all of this.
22/ It is 𝗼𝘂𝗿 duty to build an education system that dismantles white supremacy. And it is our duty to equip students with the tools they will need to be critical thinkers in 2021. In 2030. In 2050.
I also just read @CovingtonEDU’s thread about education and wanted to share it here. https://twitter.com/covingtonedu/status/1348266929627287552
