Never Give Up
Why We Need Equity-Driven Teacher Preparation
I chose this photo with this quote because it perfectly illustrates why we must never stop fighting for justice and equity in education. Although the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision occurred in 1954 with Brown as the lead complainant, Linda Brown never actually attended the all-white school her father tried to enroll her in — Sumner School. Brown shared her thoughts on this situation in an NPR article about 19 years after the decision:
I just couldn’t understand…We lived in a mixed neighborhood but when school time came I would have to take the school bus and go clear across town and the white children I played with would go to this other school,” she said. “My parents tried to explain this to me but I was too young at that time to understand.[1]
All these years later, we are still suffering from the effects of espoused equity values and goals. The championed values and goals often mask the reality that we have never fully achieved these goals.
Case in point, California’s Latinx and African American students still attend more high poverty schools that are majority students of color than white students. Furthermore, White students are likely to attend low-poverty schools with a majority of White students.[2] In other words, students of color go to high-poverty schools with most other students of color; and, white students go to schools with mostly white students. But we do not talk about this much, do we? Especially not in mixed company.
It is not enough to say we believe in equity. The belief requires action too. We cannot just say Black Lives Matter, LatinX Lives Matter, Black Minds Matter, and so on, and then be unwilling to change the policies that ensure they don’t.
One of the best ways to ensure that we see the positive shifts we seek toward a more equitable and just society is through equity-driven teacher preparation. We need more teachers of color. We need to ensure that we are preparing educators to teach California’s diverse student population effectively, with a philosophy of teaching that is anti-racist.
Helping preservice teachers develop an anti-racist teaching philosophy requires talking about race and racism. It also requires intentionality, vision, and a commitment to equity.
That is why I am so proud of the work we are doing in The California Teacher Residency Lab at the CDE Foundation. Our focus is Advancing Equity: Recruiting, Retaining, and Supporting Teachers of Color.
We are developing a community of equity-driven teacher preparation partnerships who are working to create the types of conditions and climates that ensure African Americans, LatinX, and all teachers — enroll, thrive, and stay in the profession. Learning support offered thus far include:
- 10/13/2020 — Supporting and Retaining Teacher Residents of Color with Dr. Travis Bristol (Session 1)
- 10/22/2020 — Reducing the Impact of Racism on Teaching with Dr. Rose Owens-West and myself.
And up next:
- 11/10/2020 — Serving English Learners: Structural and Instructional Practices for Equitable Learning with the Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL), Loyola Marymount University (Session 1)
- 11/10/2020 — Supporting and Retaining Teacher Residents of Color with Dr. Travis Bristol (Session 2)
- 11/12/2020 — Educator Well Being: Trauma-Informed Support for All with James Gallagher, Ei Collaborative
These offerings are robust and designed to ensure that the anti-racist teachers we prepare will ultimately be able to do what they entered the profession to do — make sure students learn and thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Interested in joining The California Teacher Residency Lab Contact Jacquelyn Ollison at jacquleyn@cdefoundation.org to learn how! Visit us at www.residencylab.org
