Courageous conversations compass pdf how to#
Courageous conversations compass pdf windows#

Often what we find is that there is more that binds us together than separates us, contrary to the images we saw coming from the Charlottesville rally.Īs for much of the commentary that followed it, let me be clear: A panel of so-called experts shouting at one another is not a courageous conversation that’s venting. The key is to find a way to have meaningful communication to understand what is at the root cause of our feelings and beliefs. We cannot work together to create solutions for problems about which we are afraid to talk.

Courageous conversations compass pdf how to#

The first step is to learn how to have a courageous conversation: an honest discussion about what has happened and is happening in our classrooms and how it makes us - all of us - feel. When we all agree that we have a problem with race, class, and equity in education, then comes the challenging question, “Now what?” What can we all do to start fixing the problem? I often hear educators say, “I’m only a teacher, what can I do?” But if all adults are not seen in the school as equal, valued members, it will be impossible to create a trusting environment. In the school culture work I do through CT3, I see firsthand how diversity in schools can stimulate creativity and build cultural understanding, not only among students but also non-white teachers and staff who often face the same disadvantages. Today I am fortunate to share what I have learned with coaches and teachers all over the country. It wasn’t until I got to college that I had a professor invest in me and help me find my hidden talents. I know because I am one of those students. Because our students fail to see a representation of themselves in the teaching field, they have little desire to enter it. Schools struggle to recruit and retain teachers of color due to lack of exposure, not talent.

Those groups that are consistently marginalized (students of color and students with disabilities) are not proportionate or nearly representative of the teachers serving them more than half of students attending public school are children of color, while less than 2 percent of teachers are black males.

Courageous conversations compass pdf windows#

Unfortunately, many schools whose demographics are predominantly children of color have become analogous to prisons, with metal detectors, bars on windows in some school districts, police officers on guard, and teachers or administrators as wardens. Department of Education reported in 2014 that for all suspensions of preschool-age children, 42 percent were given to black children, compared with 28 percent given to their white peers. Without a trusting relationship, we cannot have a courageous conversation and approach topics that are uncomfortable and scary.įear spreads hate spreads the cycle seems unbreakable. Because we are separated from one another, it is impossible to build relationships with each other. The resegregation of America’s schools over the past 20 years has created an environment where lack of exposure to those different from ourselves presents a seemingly insurmountable barrier. Board of Education that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,” our schools are still separate and unequal. The recent events in Charlottesville proved that we are not as far along in this journey as we had hoped, a sad truth that many educators across the United States have known for a long time. With the election of our first black president, many clung to hope that we had entered a post-racial America.