Cue Speaker series: Teachers as Deputies? Confronting ableism, racism & linguicism in schools. / Event #2

 

This was an event hosted by Bree Picower and Tanya Maloney. These two ladies are educators who have banded together to fight the injustices that students of color are exposed to in our United States school system. They pose the question, “What can teachers do avoid the complicity of enforcing and reinforcing an educational school system that is built on the foundation of ableism, racism and linguicism? These three words ableism, racism and linguicism have been the catalyst of destroying children of color lives during their educational plight, as well as setting a trail of destruction upon exiting the school system. A flawed school system that consciously promotes isms will hinder children of color from succeeding and will continue to promote deficits. From unemployment, narcotic abuse, and jail terms children of color are doomed before they are even conceived. Therefore, teachers have to step up and deputized themselves to right the ills of the educational system. This will not be an easy feat as stated by Subini Ammamma, who was a panelist on this webinar. She eloquently stated that we as educators must look at the education of our teachers. Basically, she stated we need to look at our influx of future teachers and who are they, as well the systems that are used to measure a students of color progress. She stated that most of our future teachers are white women, who she would implore them to challenge themselves and the school system to enforce change. They are to ask the tough questions why are these racist practices still in existence and where can they be eradicated. Where can they rid the school system of their complicit criminal acts of affording children of color a beneficial education. She states that uncomfortable conversations must be held to get things moving in a positive direction. This will not be an easy feat for educators to do considering there are over thirteen hundred years of a system that puts children of color in a box where they are labeled inferior which translate them dead child walking. Another panelist was Maria Cioe-Pena and she express that she experienced trouble utilizing a system of point sheets which she found marginalized her students which reinforced a status of complicity that she deemed damaging to her students. Therefore, she found herself walking away from teaching but not giving up the fight. She experienced what most teachers experiences what is called burnout. Teachers are front and center who report to principals and deliver crucial information about the students they are serving. Utilizing their chain of command information of this epic proportion must go through the proper channels. Unfortunately, deputized teachers cannot snap their fingers and fixed the problem they must report to their principal who do wield the power to institute change and bring matters of a flawed system to the light. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00098655.2019.1690419?journalCode=vtch20

Now where do you begin to enforce change and dismantle a racist system? We must first start with legislature and have laws instituted for change and this must be relentless. Change will not happen if we do nothing. Teachers and educators must continue to deputize themselves and fight the injustices that plague our children of color in the educational system.