CSU Monterey Bay’s Department of Education and Leadership hosted a dialogue titled “Making a Difference: Men of Color in Education” on Wednesday, April 20. The occasion featured 5 panelists from numerous backgrounds and positions inside the Okay-12 and better schooling programs.
Professor of liberal research Ibrahim Shelton instructing in a classroom
The occasion was organized to focus on the actual fact that there’s a dearth of males of color in schooling and to discuss how one can change that. According to the California Department of Education, solely 6% of male academics in Monterey County determine as Hispanic or Latino and just one% determine as African American.
The panelists described the numerous boundaries they needed to overcome to turn into academics and directors in schooling.
“When I was in the tenth grade, my math teacher pulled me aside. I was getting a C, and he told me, ‘I think you should quit. You don’t have what it takes,’” stated Ibrahim Shelton, CSUMB professor of liberal research. “At the time, I didn’t have the courage to speak back. And I believed him. So I quit the class.”
Luis Poza, assistant professor of instructor schooling at San José State University, confronted a barrier that made him notice he needed to show in increased schooling as a substitute of Okay-12.
“Once you get into schools as a man of color, they say ‘You’re the one who can clean up the mess. You’re the discipline expert,’” he stated. “I was expected to be authoritarian.”
But he needed to strategy instructing from a lens of collaboration.
“I wanted people to be open to different kinds of teaching, getting folks to be the kinds of teachers that our kids need,” Poza stated.
The panelists additionally spoke about Critical Race Theory and educating in a rustic that’s divided concerning race and tradition.
“A lot of times there’s noise at the national and global level, and then it comes into your neighborhood and you have to address it,” stated Antonio Garcia, director of academic companies for the Salinas Union High School District.
“People are talking about CRT. If you don’t know what it is, you can’t explain it well to people. You need to know your work and build your community so you’re not tackling it alone,” he stated.
An viewers member requested if the panelists have methods for saying no to keep away from being stretched too skinny, particularly as a brand new instructor.
“When you say no the first time, you have to hold it,” stated Dwayne Aikens, government director of a hands-on studying baby enrichment program in Oakland referred to as We Lead Ours.
“Some kids say some mean things that get under your skin, but you have to say, ‘No. The expectation is this, so the answer is no.’ It doesn’t have to mean indefinitely, but the moment you give in to it, you take away a lot of your power in that space. You have to set boundaries.”
Mark Gomez, curriculum specialist and former instructor in the Salinas Union High School District, answered from the angle of responding to an administrator.
“I’d flip it back and say, ‘What do you want or need me to do effectively? You have to be transparent and say, ‘I need more time, and this is taking up my bandwidth,’” he stated. “A lot of educators are fearful of losing their jobs. I encourage veteran educators to back up our younger teachers and protect them. And learn how to say no graciously.”
The panelists additionally outlined what alternative in schooling meant to them.
“Opportunity in the education system means the chance for students to engage meaningfully as agents of their learning and to have a curriculum that gives them the skills, knowledge, and self beliefs to address issues in their lives and their communities,” Poza stated.
Some had extra private definitions.
“I grew up in East Oakland,” Aikens stated. “My mom and dad were on drugs. Even though I graduated high school with a 3.5 GPA, I didn’t even know what organic chemistry was. Coming back, working in that school district, I realized high school students weren’t taught anything new since the eighth grade. That’s why I’m in this work. I feel like our kids are left out of the conversation of being great. They’re taught to be basic. If you show up to one of my programs, you get to participate. I want to produce leaders both on and off the field, athletes as well as scholars.”