What are your thoughts and feelings regarding teaching students from BIPOC (Blacks, Indigenous, People of Color), communities? We, an interdisciplinary team consisting of faculty from elementary and early childhood education to secondary education and teaching English in other languages, asked teachers from a Northeastern university to answer this question.
Working with colleagues who seek to improve and enhance equitable learning and teaching environments has shown us that social justice requires many hands, many minds and many conversations. As many educators (Todd & Smith 2019, 2019), we observed a tendency in our teacher candidate to view racism as something that they weren’t responsible for. They treated all the children with whom they worked equally. We suspected that there were not meaningful conversations about race. Through this study, we sought to understand how BIPOC children were viewed by our teacher candidates and how they viewed their preparation for teaching them.
We used a survey and focus group to analyze the experiences of candidates (pre-service and inservice teachers) thoughts, feelings, and opinions in order to inform the teacher education field. These findings lead to recommendations for those who want to create more equitable learning environments.
The Social Justice-Inclusion Survey (SJ-IS), which asked candidates to reflect on a scenario involving changes in the demographic makeup of a classroom, was given to them. The demographics of our participants included 81 white candidates; five Cape Verdean, five Black/African American; five Asians; four Middle Eastern/North African; four Middle Eastern/North African; two Hispanic/Latinx; one Brazilian and one Portuguese American; and three who preferred not to answer. Ninety-five percent of the 107 respondents completed the survey. Here is a sample of the survey:
You will be transferred to another school. The administrator continues to state that your classroom has 90% POC (i.e. Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latinx and Indigenous as well as 10% white or European parents. You leave the meeting feeling. . . (Social Justice Inclusion Survey).
The candidates were asked what emotions they felt by choosing adjectives to describe them, such as calm, prepared, scared, neutral, anxious, or nervous. Each of the 17 adjective pairs reflected a range of negative and positive feelings (i.e. nervous, somewhat nerves, neutral, somewhat calm and calm.
The survey data revealed that more than half the participants were willing to work with students from BIPOC. Most participants said they were willing to accept or disagree with the idea when asked if they accepted it. Most candidates felt cooperative, cooperative or somewhat cooperative, and optimistic or optimistic.
Most of the 95 responses indicated that they felt more anxious than relaxed. 58% of the candidates felt comfortable, or somewhat comfortable. 51 candidates felt nervous, or somewhat nervous. More than half of candidates felt prepared or somewhat ready; however, 28% felt somewhat unprepared.
After candidates had completed the survey, we asked them to participate in focus groups and share their deeper thoughts with us. We also used semi-structured interview questions to ask them questions. There were three Cape Verdean and four white participants. Each focus group lasted 35 minutes to 60 minutes. Two members of the interdisciplinary team met one to three participants. We coded focus group data by reviewing videos from sessions and identifying themes aligned with our initial research questions. Below are some of the most notable findings from the focus group data.
Candidates desired and needed more conversations about social justice issues, especially issues surrounding race. Candidates explained that in teacher education courses, there is a focus upon culture, language, diversity and justice in general, but no explicit focus on racial/social justice. Topics are ignored or neglected in course content. Candidates who participated in the study expressed a desire for more discussion and opportunities to address biases. They also want to facilitate these conversations in future P-12 classrooms (starting the conversation at an elementary age) and learn how they can be facilitated.
One of the BIPOC candidates, a Cape Verdean student, stated that there is a lot of pressure on international students from BIPOC to lead these conversations. Instead, they should be integrated into course content and facilitated and guided by faculty from a variety backgrounds. He explained that he was asked to organize an extra-curricular book group on racial injustice, but he felt unprepared. He stated that it is difficult to have discussions that do not create tension. He also shared the sentiment of all study participants: he would like to have more opportunities to learn how navigate difficult conversations about social justice and racial issues.
Candidates in this study were also reluctant to discuss issues related to racial justice and social justice. They said, “I don’t want to say it wrong, or I don’t know if that term is correct.” These focus groups also mentioned how race topics were also tipped-toed about in teacher education classes.
Focus group data also revealed that there was a need to counteract unintentional biases, and/or negative connotations in discussing social justice topics in teacher-education classes. Three of the four white candidates discussed the depressing school environment in P-12 schools. One candidate mentioned the suffering of students. While white candidates were generally positive about teaching BIPOC in the survey, they had a tendency to stereotype and victimize diverse P-12 school children and schools when asked how they would describe them. Five of the seven candidates spoke out about the goal of treating students as normal and equal. Sometimes participants explicitly stated their desire to be colorblind, while at other times they implied it in their teaching goals. Focus group data showed that white candidates did not realize that being colorblind was not an ideal condition and that they embraced a white-centric, racially evasive approach to teaching. The focus groups did not discuss the differences among the BIPOC acronym groups or the difficulty of navigating intercultural, interracial dynamics within a classroom.
This analysis has led to three recommendations for educators who are interested in creating equitable learning environments. These recommendations are intended to be a guide for teachers, teacher candidates, and inservice teachers, but they can also be applied to other settings.
1. Incorporate antiracist and equity conversations into your school community and course content.
Educators have the opportunity to host discussions and forums that allow educators to share thoughts and feelings about not only culture, language and difference but also about racial justice and the implications for identity and development. We recommend that educators use the Social Justice Standards In order to organize the conversations around social injustice.
2. Facilitate community-wide (e.g. P-12 students, preservice/in-service teachers, administrators, educators, other stakeholders) reads that address unintentional biases and/or negative connotations.
Students who are not able to opt-in on their own should be required to take part in interdisciplinary community reads. To help teachers educators address biases and/or negative connotations, they should choose texts that highlight the strength and resilience of BIPOC communities and lay the foundation for deeper discussions.
(Recommended texts: Teaching Race: How to Help Students Unmask Racism and Challenge ItStephen D. Brookfield Fire, not lightMatthew R. Kay This Book Is Anti-Racist: Twenty Lessons on How to Wake up, Take Action, And Do the WorkTiffany Jewell Unconscious Bias in SchoolsTracey A. Benson, Sarah E. Fiarman
3. Facilitate intercultural communication using an intersectionality lens.
Students should practice talking about racial or social justice in order to improve their language skills and confidence. Educators can help students not to be afraid to say the wrong things and inform them about subtle differences within and between communities to ensure that marginalized communities don’t become one homogeneous group. The Dangers of a Single StoryTED Talk by Chimamanda Nagozi Adichie
This research has demonstrated the value of learning from and alongside others to improve equitable teaching environments. It has been a great opportunity to critically examine the thoughts and feelings of students by listening to their reflections on racial justice and social justice. This study has informed our practice immediately as we plan to revise our teaching methods and practices for the spring 2022 semester. We look forward for another iteration in this study. We welcome feedback about our work and data collection.
Dr. Sheena Manuel, assistant professor of special education, is a Bridgewater State University student. Manuel spent seven years advocating and teaching blind students in the north-central/I20 corridor of Louisiana before joining BSU. Sheena’s research interests are in teacher candidates dispositions towards specific marginalized groups, blindness education, social justice, and teacher candidates.
Emily Spitzman is a PhD assistant professor of TESOL, Bridgewater State University. She studies critical intercultural communication in practice and culturally responsive family engagement. She also studies linguistic awareness among teachers. Before her work in teacher training, she taught English to adults and international students. She also co-developed English language classes in Brockton for parents/caregivers.
Dr. Jacquelynne Boivin is an assistant professor in elementary and early childhood education at Bridgewater State University. She is a former elementary teacher and uses her knowledge in this field to contextualize her teacher-preparation instruction. Dr. Boivin’s research specialization is in multicultural education and anti-racist pedagogy. She is co-editor of Education as the Driving Force for Equity for the Marginalized and the book Exploring The Role of the School principal in Predominantly white Middle Schools: School leadership to Promote Multicultural Understanding. She also teaches courses in math and anti-racist educational methods, and supervises student teachers. She also mentors honors thesis project students. Her passion lies in authentically connecting academics, pedagogy and social justice.
Associate professor of early childhood and elementary education, Dr. Jeanne Carey Ingle. She teaches courses in English learning, equity in education, and educational technology. Her research interests include PK-12 teaching during COVID-19, teaching in a multilingual classroom and English learner access STEM education. She also uses immersive technologies to prepare preservice teachers. Dr. Ingle is the author of numerous articles and book chapter for both academic and practitioner publications. Ingle is co-chair of Elementary and Early Childhood Education’s honors program and coordinator of the Adrian Tinsley Program Undergraduate Grant. Dr. Ingle was recently honored with the Bridgewater State University 2020/2021 Honors Outstanding Professor Award.
Kevin McGowan is an associate professor of early child education at Bridgewater State University (BSU). McGowan is also an academic director for the Martin Richard Institute for Social Justice at BSU. McGowan was a prekindergarten teacher, an instructional coach, and an early childhood administrator for the District of Columbia Public Schools’ Head Start Program. His scholarship focuses upon diversity, equity and empathy in early childhood education.
Melissa Winchell is an associate professor in Secondary Education and Educational Leadership at Bridgewater State University. She is the vice president of NAME’s Massachusetts chapter. Winchell is a 23-year veteran in urban education in Massachusetts. Winchell’s research interests are in social justice pedagogy, especially in critical cultural competence, disability studies, and teaching and learning in higher education. Winchell founded the non-profit Inclusion Matters. He also co-founded the educational consulting firm EquityEDU. Winchell has been a volunteer activist with both the Federation for Children with Special Needs as well as the Department of Developmental Services.
Refer to
Adichie, C. (2009, July). The Dangers of a Single Story [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en
Benson, T. A., Singleton, G. E., & Fiarman, S. E. (2019). Unconscious bias in schools – A developmental approach to investigating race and racism. Harvard Education Press.
Brookfield, S. (2019). Teaching race: How can students confront racism and demask it? (First edition.). Jossey Bass, a Wiley Brand.
Jewell, T., & Durand, A. (2020). This book is anti-racist. Frances Lincoln Childrens Books.
Kay, M. R. (2018). Not light, but fire: How do you lead meaningful conversations about race in the classroom?. Stenhouse Publishers.
Teaching tolerance. (2016). Social justice standards: Teaching tolerance anti-bias Framework. Retrieved at https://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/2017-06/TT_Social_Justice_Standards_0.pdf
Todd, R., & Smith, J. (2019). Multicultural teacher education is important. The Journal of the Research Association of Minority Professors (20).(1), 1. https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/jramp/vol20/iss1/1
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