#EduColor was created both as a resource for intersectional discussions of race and education and as a safe space. Therefore, even though hashtags are open to the public, those of us who started it reserve the right to push back and challenge tweets we see as leading the discussion astray (see “derailing” for more details). This includes using #educolor on bios, blog titles, and paraphernalia.
Q0 #EduColor Intro: Hello! ¡Hola! I’m Yamil, a high-school World Language teacher in MA. I’m here because I believe that conversations about how colonialism impacts education will help us in our goal of achieving equity.
A0: I’m Jose, and I’m one of two hosts (@yamilb12 the tag team) tonight for what we hope is a great discussion about resisting colonialism in education. #EduColor
Hi! My name is Jose Martinez. I'm a Special Education teacher from Dodge City, Kansas #usd443. This is my second #EduColor chat and I'm excited to be here. I know very little about the topic, so I'm excited to learn more about it!
#educolor Thomas Mision 4th grade Student Teacher. I'm here bc I need something else to focus on besides my denied financial aid appeal. Also, to put words into thoughts about the colonialism evident in my education all the way back to when I lived in Philippines
I'm @MelissaTurenne1 from Oregon and I am a guest teacher and a training consultant for @RealReadRight . I am here to connect with others and to learn more about decolonizing pedagogy. #educolor
Khalilah, checking in from #MyBmore... Mom, education advocate, fighter for equity in opportunity & culrurally relevant pedagody and practice #EduColor
Hello #EduColor! I am a new TK-12 school librarian, and I am here to learn. I am very interested in tips for developing anticolonial & equitable professional development for my team of paraprofessional school library techs.
Good Evening...Paul Forbes, NYC Dept of Education.
I'm here to learn with and from others. We're doing good work in @ESINYC where we are focused on disrupting and dismantling structures in education that is supporting and nurturing inequitable outcomes #EduColor
Hi! Chelsea, Teacher Librarian at a junior high in Iowa. Always looking to learn. Interested in how white teachers can better serve our students of color. #educolor
My name is Brandon White (artist name Bushido Garvey), I am an ELA Content Specialist, and I have always been a quiet follower of @EduColorMVMT work, would like to be apart of the conversation. I would love to learn more about content selection for the topic.
#educolor
A1: #EduColor I think about how my existence and identity is tied directly to the complicated conquista of what we call the New World. This conquista is full of pain and confusion
Hey #Educolor! Mike here. I'm an AP in @WCPSS in NC. I'm here because unlearning has been the name of the game for me for the last several years. Still got a long way to go, and learning with/from y'all helps make me better #Educolor.
A1: #EduColor I think about how my existence and identity is tied directly to the complicated conquista of what we call the New World. This conquista is full of pain and confusion
Hi! Rebecca, gringa teaching in the Dominican Republic. I'm particularly interested in what it looks like for me to resist colonialism while teaching in a place that has suffered the colonial ambitions of my own country (most recently). #EduColor
A1: #EduColor I think about the diary/diario of Cristobal Colon that I didn’t read until college which clearly presents the colonizer’s perspective which renders the colonized as lesser humans
A1: #EduColor I think about how in our history classes we learn about colonies from the colonizer perspective and get a white-washed narrative about those displaced and violated by colonization.
A1: Happy Thursday! I'm Grant, a Special Ed Teacher in suburban Minneapolis. I'm here to learn from people who know a lot more than I do. I'm here because learning about decolonization will help me do better for ALL of my students and colleagues. #educolor
A0. Shannon here, HS teacher from CA. So happy to be here at #educolor. Here to learn how to continue to actively decolonize our practices. So happy to learn from you all.
#educolor A1 The far-reaching, still reeling effects of European imperialism that managed to depose and erase the history of many cultures. It continues today as an "accepted" version of history, i.e., Might Makes Right, so the colonials' history is the birth of nations
When I think of colonialism, it makes me think of political, spiritual,geographical, and economic programming that goes against the interest of the programmed and works in interest for the programmers. #educolor
When I think of colonialism, I think of my curriculum. We just finished a whole unit about the "age of exploration" and in order to get any non-European perspectives, I need to dig and dig on my own because none are ever provided. #educolor 1
A1: Colonialism to me means a taking over not only of another person property, but their culture, identity, and beliefs. Stripping them of who they are! #EduColor
Hey peeps! Christina, special educator in NC, joining a tad late. Here to learn about decolonizing my classroom practices and curriculum as well as disrupting larger oppressive systems #EduColor
A1: As a Black man whose family is connected to Quisqueya (Haiti / Dominican Republic), I started to see how narratives around Columbus too often informed how others (often wrongly) perceived my identity. Even my own family. #EduColor
#educolor A1 It also brings to mind of the Filipino stereotype that white/American = success. *grumbles about whitening creams and predominantly English-taught private/"international" schools in Philippines*
First thing I think of is that chapter in the history textbook. The next immediate thing is ongoing violence. Maybe switching the order of those in my own mind would go a long way for my own development. #educolor
A1: When I think of colonialism I think of the historical occupation, domination and annihilation of Indigenous settlers and the ways these continue to manifest in contemporary times #EduColor
A2: #EduColor Colonial oppression is reinforced by the practice of dehumanizing others based on religion, creed, culture, skin color, etc. thereby disabling access to the human rights that we profess protect.
A1: When I think of colonialism I think of the historical occupation, domination and annihilation of Indigenous by European settlers and the ways these continue to manifest in contemporary times #EduColor
And now we're headed into talking about immigration. Again, everything is about European migration to the US. This is important history to teach, but only tells a portion of the story. I love doing the work to decolonize, but I wish it was the norm for curriculum. #educolor 1
A1 I think of the British and India. I think of resource theft. I think of a culture that thinks itself "civilized" helping itself to whatever. #EduColor
#educolor A1 It also brings to mind of the Filipino stereotype that white/American = success. *grumbles about whitening creams and predominantly English-taught private/"international" schools in Philippines*
Hi all, I’m Chris and support #CommunitySchools in NYC. When I hear colonialism I think of a dominant force exerting power without regard to culture, traditions, assets of others. #educolor
A1 When I hear colonialism, I think white people using power to exclude (read: enslave, murder, and create oppressive systems) folks of color #educolor
Hi, parent in Connecticut working in education and on behalf of equity.
A1) A system that subjugates others who attempt to challenge their own subjugation. #educolor
A1: where to begin! it's everywhere! conquistadores from the past with mi tierra in Latin America having lasting impact, current policies with Puerto Rico, anti-blackness in Latinx communities, racialized hierarchies of language practices, curriculum, texts 😱 #EduColor#raciolx
#EduColor A1: currently I think of the neocolonialism of rapid gentrification of communities of color by greedy multibillion dollar industries, as seen in #SanJose & the South Bay/"Silicon Valley"
A2 only using victim ideologies (they suffered, they died) or seeing marginalized groups as perpetually existing in the past or being stuck there (eg anti-science for not wanting multimillion dollar project built on sacred land) #EduColor
#educolor A2 what stereotype DOESN'T reinforce colonial oppression? Lol. But seriously, the idea that countries like the US must police the world, carrying a big stick, 'cause no one else can do it. In addition, the continuing notion of US being WASP
A1: And let us remember what King Johnson experienced in 2018 exemplifies the experiences of many young scholars in our schools 🤦🏾😢😐🙃 #EduColor@EduColorMVMT
A1: I live and work on land that was ripped from its people. whose stories have been wiped from our local history. I embody systems designed to uphold fundamentally oppressive paradigms #EduColor
A2: The notion that your job is to "save the natives". The notion that you have to discredit any norms and practices that people bring to the table.
The notion that whatever is imposed, that those policies and practices must be better than what was there #EduColor
A2: Colonial benefactors reinforce colonial oppression (even if they didn't design it) by remaining blind to privileges founded in exclusions #educolor
A2 There's a kind of "manifest destiny" idea present in gentrification. The colonizers believe firmly in a right to go wherever we want and take whatever we can grab. #EduColor
A1: And let us remember what King Johnson experienced in 2018 exemplifies the experiences of many young scholars in our schools 🤦🏾😢😐🙃 #EduColor@EduColorMVMT
A1: I think of whitewashed history I learned in school. I think of the feeling I had my first couple college classes where I had professors that talked about racism, inequity, and gave me a new perspective of the history of the U.S. and world. #EduColor
#educolor In addition to that, immigrants must be able to speak English fluently from the get-go, lured into the promise of insta-success into the US as well.
A1: colonialism makes me think of complete wipeout. Erasure. Moves to enable and enact systems where authenticity and individualism are null. #EduColor
A2: Dominant narratives around beauty, intelligence, criminality, athleticism, work-ethic, and the countless split-secon decisions that lead to folks deciding who is deserving of full humanity. #educolor
A2: Colonial Oppression is reinforced by the showing students that there is always winners and losers. We need to show students that the world needs all types of students. Thinking in white and black is not going to benefits all students. We need to throw in some color #EduColor
A1: Curriculum with a white euro-centric viewpoint. WS and white savior complex are huge pieces with a few POC 'sprinkled' in. WP are always centered. #EduColor
A2 only using victim ideologies (they suffered, they died) or seeing marginalized groups as perpetually existing in the past or being stuck there (eg anti-science for not wanting multimillion dollar project built on sacred land) #EduColor
Right! Respect to King for using his voice in the face of an educator willing to promulgate garbage in the age of the interwebs. She should google her lesson plans 😐 #EduColor
#educolor In addition to that, immigrants must be able to speak English fluently from the get-go, lured into the promise of insta-success into the US as well.
A2 and intro: Jackie from Newburgh, NY-so glad I saw this chat happening! The idea that any one group of people is less than another and needs to be “saved” (or has resources the colonizers will take and pretend to be benevolent in the meanwhile) #EduColor
preach! a3 colonialism also creates a regime of laws that are only imposed on others, making the same movement that created colonial structures illegal for those who come after #educolor
#educolor A3 Thru colonialism, thru stripping of native cultures, immigrants have been infected by this viewpoint that immigration (except for war/genuine suffering)= success. Yet, at the same time, the Land of "The Free" decry the immigrant and ignore their immigrant history.
Did we all also this ‘study guide’ on/abt Africa (a place I Love and have lived) given to Ss. Actually stopped working to read this thread earlier while fuming in my office. #EduColor#letitburn
A2. The idea that White people who aren't "racist" have no responsibility for racism in our culture. Notions of respect and what is proper. Ideas about language and being articulate. Laws that benefit capitalism over labor. #educolor
a3| Immigration is moving people without them wanting to right where colonialism is taking over a certain people and the like without them wanting to, I'm not really sure on this. #EduColor
Capitalism has us competing for scarce resources, when truly our resources are ABUNDANT and we should be collaborating to best utilize our abundance #EduColor
A2 and intro: Jackie from Newburgh, NY-so glad I saw this chat happening! The idea that any one group of people is less than another and needs to be “saved” (or has resources the colonizers will take and pretend to be benevolent in the meanwhile) #EduColor
A3) Immigrants of color, Middle Eastern descent, etc., have fewer or no rights to citizenship compared to their white European counterparts. Or they must somehow prove their rights while the others don't. #educolor
a3 colonialism creates the conditions that force people into "nations" regardless of identities and networks, then forces them out of their home countries while making it impossible to enter new ones #educolor
A2: In most cases POC are side kicks or role players in the story of America or our world. POC are given labels and treated as less than human because white is the gold standard. #EduColor
A3 some seem to believe that immigrants are choosing to be colonized (or should want to be, or should be forced to be) - that they want to erase their past and assimilate to a white culture. A very Colonial viewpoint. #EduColor
A3: True colonists often masquerade is immigrants (Boers, Pilgrims, etc.) with pure intention on dominating, and true immigrants are often painted as threats by true colonists. #educolor
A2: Blaming oppressed peoples for their own oppression, endowing shame onto people for the subhuman treatment of their oppressors and ranking oppressions thereby pitting the oppressed against each other #EduColor
A3 I feel like the difference is the assumption of who's going to be in power at the end. Colonizers show up to run the show their way. (It's why white supremacists project their desire for power onto, say, Muslim immigrants they accuse of wanting to impose sharia law.) #EduColor
A1. White supremacy. People being stripped of self-determination and economic, spiritual and cultural autonomy to benefit a privileged group. #educolor
The connection between colonialism and immigration that I see is that so much of colonialism gets re-branded as "immigration". The language we use is so powerful and we must use it wisely in and out of the classroom. Otherwise, we end up lying to our students. #educolor 3
#educolor YEEEESSS! That colonialism even starts in colonized countries, where the culture is to marry a white person because they are shown as successful, or that schools in an immigrant's home country teach fluent English, discarding their own culture
A3 The failure to allow refugees from countries hit hard by wars seeded by outside forces and sending new Americans brought here as children "home" is unconscionable #EduColor
There's a school I know of in NY that teaches a unit on Sacagawea, making Lewis and Clark just players in her story and that simple switch has meant so much. #EduColor
A2: the policing of children's expressions of gender and language, policing of black and brown bodies where white heteronormative identities are valued, celebrated and promoted #EduColor
Consistent, long term & inter-generational influences that create an intellectual, social and colloquial culture of marginalization and disenfranchisement. #EduColor
A3 We protest immigrants is if they are inferior and coming to take what is "ours" without acknowledging that we stole this land in the birth of our country. #educolor
A2: Jamaica 🇯🇲 runs through my veins and notions abt Colonial oppression are mindsets in action. Color falsities that kills us here and across diaspora... “
white is right and black is NOT beautiful. All flows from that! #EduColor
A3 Immigrants who don't fit the profile are discriminated against and expected to assimilate to be accepted and respected by the dominant culture. #EduColor
Capitalism has us competing for scarce resources, when truly our resources are ABUNDANT and we should be collaborating to best utilize our abundance #EduColor
A3: By relegating Indigenous peoples to reserves and “maintaining borders” to stolen lands, colonizers can adopt sovereignty and continue to perpetuate colonialism #Educolor
A3: When non-white Americans move into the USA, they're often called immigrants. When white Americans move to other countries (often black & brown countries) they are "expatriates" #lotstounpackthere#EduColor
#educolor A4 Nationalism perpetuates the view that those of different heritage and culture, from different places, begin to poison their home, purity of their dominant, oppressive culture is absolute, immigrants are the enemy for tainting their dominion.
A3: I’d also say it does a disservice to folks who’ve either been here (First Nations / indigenous people) AND to the enslaved peoples because we are not a “nation” of immigrants. We have to be more precise about the language of oppression. #EduColor
Didn't know where to begin, but a start:
1) You can't be disappointed in someone's journal. It's a freaking journal.
2) Cavalier dismissal of the student's challenge to a debate--education at its most vibrant.
3) It's the student who's expressing disappointment. Listen. #educolor
A1: And let us remember what King Johnson experienced in 2018 exemplifies the experiences of many young scholars in our schools 🤦🏾😢😐🙃 #EduColor@EduColorMVMT
A3: The connection is the desire to make the world “pure.” Immigrants are a threat because they bring new culture and experiences that may that colonist see as a threat. #EduColor
A4). in colonialism...immigration celebrated a euro-american culture which was later reinforced by nationalism & flexed everyday in public schools #educolor
A3: Goes back to power, hierarchy and framing. Settlers came to the Americas on a high horse and forced, destroyed, and oppressed most other people and things in their path sadly. #EduColor
When certain countries (say, Norway?) are seen as the only kinds of countries that have a "desirable" population, we see the role that culture and race have on our perceptions of immigration. Anti-Blackness in everything. #educolor 4
a4 culture and heritage shape who is seen as the 'in group,' as valid for entry, as worth a bestowed humanity and the rights that flow from it #educolor
A4: In too many instances, it gives permission for different groups to hold steadfast to the borders we’ve inherited instead of the cultures and roots we have around the globe. #EduColor
I don't have the #'s on this but I'd be willing to bet an overwhelming % of immigrants come from nations that were on the receiving end of a colonial legacy. Lots of folks are more comfy talking about immigration rather than the mess that necessitates much of it. #EduColor
A4 I think I am too primed to think of nation in the Biblical terms of ethnos to fully process this question. Nationalism = nation + political self-determination? Or...? #EduColor
Exactly - instead of us valuing the identities, experiences and funds of knowledge they bring - we endow them with deficits and blame them for our definition of their failure #EduColor
A3: establishment of borders, to colonizing infiltrations (list of examples too long to fit in tweet even with flag emojis), causing movement of people who have been displaced by these whose resources have been depleted, facing obstacles in new "home," cycle continues #EduColor
I'm stuck at #1 brother, where did this person get their credential, bc it should be revoked. Never ever challenge a kids journal entry. If you want an essay ask for one and grade that.😒 #EduColor
that narrative also recasts the colonizers as immigrants and therefore deserving of sympathy or respect or admiration for their bravery *rolls eyes* #educolor
A3: I’d also say it does a disservice to folks who’ve either been here (First Nations / indigenous people) AND to the enslaved peoples because we are not a “nation” of immigrants. We have to be more precise about the language of oppression. #EduColor
A3: we (immigrants) flee colonial ruled countries, pushed/pulled elsewhere ending up in more colonial rule. Even my Jamaican passport is oppressed. Stopped everywhere, Always and never with US passport. #EduColor
Culture informs your ideas about collectivism, interdependence, and wholism, which informs your thinking about new people entering your country. If you are inclusively nationalistic, you embrace immigration, if you are xenophobically nationalistic then you'll detest it #educolor
Absolutely. The ahistoricism of immigrant-bashing/ethnonationalism is both disgusting but, oddly, heartening -- if we teach this, perhaps, PERHAPS, we may change some minds. #educolor
This is so important, and ignored in much of the conversation around what it means to be an educator. We all need to work to de-center ourselves and help our Ss find ways to empower themselves that hold true to who they already are. #Educolor
A2 also lets be real: the entire prevailing discourse around teaching in urban schools, the entire idea that we need to chip away at our students' culture, dialect, etc and make them conform to some idea of white respectability
Q4: Nationalism is a double-edged sword. It can bring people together due to a common heritage and culture, but it can also be used for populations to see themselves as superior. The view that the colonizer is doing a good thing and saving the savages is wrong! #EduColor
A3b: To colonialist and those who believe in WS, anything unlike themselves is a threat and must be put into 'their place' in the hierarchy, which is below them. Immigrants are treated as less than by many for this reason. #EduColor
A3: Colonialism in its dehumanization and violence destroys homes. Immigration is the quest for whatever reason to find a new one. Anti-immigration belief denies our humanity and our right to a home. #educolor
A3: People seeing immigrants as "lesser than" because the country they come from, then not being welcoming. AND not seeing the humanity of individual immigrants unless they've achieved x, y, and z, OR are white. #EduColor
a5 the need for the 'striving immigrant' narrative means too often that teachers sell a paltry and heavily colonized product as the 'best way to get ahead' for immigrant children #educolor
A4) Culture is always about somebody else. Heritage is positive if our immigrant ancestors were white and is dismissed otherwise. Only majority white nations are in the club. #educolor
A3: can we also talk about indigenous rights and how colonizers view their immigration to indigenous lands as their right? Connection I'm thinking of here is which kind of immigrant is welcomed #educolor
A5 HURT. As long as the talk is framed around more and less "deserving" immigrants, children are seen as more or less "deserving" of their human rights, including the right to an education. Rights don't work that way. #EduColor
A4. Some immigrants are welcomed and some are considered a threat to our nation--the dividing line is usually skin color. Been this way since the beginning. Some cultures seen as good and others as bad. #educolor
A5: As @xianb8 reminds us, it’s important for us to look towards amnesty. We’re on stolen lands, many of us descended from a plundered people. That’s part of our edu-legacy, too. #EduColor
A3) I also wonder if colonialism is the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial control over another country, in essence immigration laws & strict guidelines re: citizenship were created to establish, support, & undergird systemic racism impacting POCs #educolor
A2: teaching history with great white savior perspective (i.e Lincoln freed the slaves) and pop culture that continues to perpetuate this myth (i.e Tarzan, that craptastic Lincoln vampire Hunter) #EduColor
I have a classroom full of first-gen immigrants. The current "dialogue" about immigration hurts. There is anxiety and fear. How can I expect the best from my students in this kind of political climate? It's their own families we're talking about. #educolor 5
A3c: Often times people forget white Europeans colonized not only the Americas but destroyed and ravaged other areas in the world. People lost lives, countries lost natural resources, and their culture desminated. #EduColor
A5 I believe that it has been helpful bc we have heard publicly what people have thought and said privately. Educators need to now examine what we have been teaching (if we have) about other countries like El Salvador, Haiti & Nigeria. Starts w/ each of us #EduColor
A4 As a child of immigrants I'm heavily biased towards welcoming huddled masses. When I watched two 1st graders-one Black & other new American fr Ecuador present about their language immersion program in Spanish, I thought what if the immigrant child couldn't be here 🤔 #EduColor
A5: In most educators remaining "neutral" on an issue rooted in the dehumanization of their students, it stunts genuine teaching/learning relationships. It also teaches a lot of horrific lessons to peers without status anxiety. #EduColor
A4: For many, People if color are perpetual immigrants; we do not represent the image of the nation state they’d like to create. People of color are a reminder of the histories of African enslavement, Indigenous genocide etc. #EduColor
This is such a fascinating question to consider for us white Americans who identify as "Irish" even though we're 4th, 5th generation Americans. #EduColor
Yes. The racist "why don't they fix their own country?" argument presumes that our nation & other colonizers aren't the ones who actually made the mess & ought to help fix it #EduColor
I was given a similarly harsh note to my heartbroken poetic response to a required journal prompt about MY SCHOOL LIBRARY SET ON FIRE and I'm still furious about it *mumble* years after the fact. #EduColor
Q5: The current dialogue places a shroud of fear in students. It also helps teachers start shaping the next generation of activist. Students will start standing up for what they believe in! #EduColor
This is such a fascinating question to consider for us white Americans who identify as "Irish" even though we're 4th, 5th generation Americans. #EduColor
A5 it gives some an excuse to doscount the importance of educating ALL children in our schools. Or the excuse/stereotype that immigrant parents don’t care about their children’s education (when it may be fear of immigration politics) #educolor
A5: Our kids live in a global society. Advancing ideas of nationalism and protectionism hinder their ability to participate in a global economy and prepare for the future of work. #EduColor
The reality is that we are the best defense to fighting colonialism. Speak the truth, seek the right sources, and never take the textbooks as face value. #EduColor
A5: The current conversation about immigrants highlights the inequities in education more and more everyday. There's a growing vocal backlash against those deemed "undeserving" based on their legal status. #EduColor
a5 too often, good intentions also lead to stereotyping immigrants without ever making room to hear the stories of the families represented in the classroom, not as spokespeople, but just as people #educolor
A5) IMO it affects the level of empathy one has towards "immigrants" & influences efforts to reform. Additionally, nationalism is like the heartbeat of the xenophobic structures that facilitate deportation, lack of advocacy, or clear supports leading to citizenship #educolor
A5: it's anecdotal and mostly on social media, but I've seen more push back to "we're a nation of immigrants" among educators. So, in a small way, it's helping... ish. #EduColor
Lots of silence in education, especially on immigration. Students and families literally fear for their safety while teachers feel like speaking on the unacceptability of 45's rhetoric makes them politically partial (but the truth is, we already are when we're silent) #educolor
A4) IMO it affects the level of empathy one has towards "immigrants" & influences efforts to reform. Additionally, nationalism is like the heartbeat of the xenophobic structures that facilitate deportation, lack of advocacy, or clear supports leading to citizenship #educolor
A4 can't tell you the number of times someone's been offended because I say I'm Mexican-American. "If you're really American you don't need the hyphen". Why is it insulting? #EduColor
A6: Many of my students’ families immigrated recently. I’m proud that we have that in common, but our curriculum still leans towards the dominant culture and sees us as less. #EduColor
it also sadly prevents them from having the tools to see how that global economy often replicates old-school colonial thinking and practices, particularly around labor #educolor
A5: Our kids live in a global society. Advancing ideas of nationalism and protectionism hinder their ability to participate in a global economy and prepare for the future of work. #EduColor
A5:Both; hurts because talks are more about who deserves to be let into a country which takes away educational freedoms...helps because a conscious T will encourage Ss actions & discussions around immigration (forced & voluntary) #EduColor
A5. The current dialogue has ramped up the fear factor for immigrants making it harder for them to learn. But it has also lit a fire under the feet of some educators who can see the injustice more clearly now. #educolor
A5 current dialogue on immigration... We have folks whose entire decision-making processes revolve around protecting what is "theirs". Public ed & public institutions in general are considered unnecessary expenses. #EduColor
A5: current dialogue Hurts the conversation around education bcuz the lies, hate and negative framing is skewed to the caste system of ‘which immigrants’ are worthy. Every human has right to freedom health and sound education. #EduColor
A6 I learned at the last @BaltCitySchools board meeting new Americans are the fastest growing student population with 80+ countries represented. We must adjust for that reality #EduColor
A6 Roundups and random "papers please" stops of dark-skinned people with busses to the Haitian border. Denial of an education because you can't graduate primary school without legal papers. Poverty, rage, overt racism, violence. #EduColor
If our Ss don’t see us as advocates who want them to be safe, how or why would they trust us? The time for neutrality has passed..:preaching to the choir here, but still #Educolor
A5: In most educators remaining "neutral" on an issue rooted in the dehumanization of their students, it stunts genuine teaching/learning relationships. It also teaches a lot of horrific lessons to peers without status anxiety. #EduColor
A6: I've seen sharp contrast between my current school which is based around community power and my previous, built around a service model. One organizes power to resist oppression and exercise agency, the other justifies oppression while triaging it. #EduColor
A5: what does it mean when children are terrified and dehumanized daily in the media, in politics and in schools, and we keep trying to teach number talks? #EduColor
A6: Unfortunately, immigration does not impact our predominantly Eurocentric curriculum enough. Schools continue to marginalize some immigrant families- treating some like model immigrants while writing off others #EduColor
it also sadly prevents them from having the tools to see how that global economy often replicates old-school colonial thinking and practices, particularly around labor #educolor
A5: Our kids live in a global society. Advancing ideas of nationalism and protectionism hinder their ability to participate in a global economy and prepare for the future of work. #EduColor
A6: Too many people still think they’re exempt from colonial thinking. Decisions still lean towards “we know what’s best for you because we’ve won in the white world here.” #EduColor
Rather highlight EVIDENCE reinforcing colonial oppression.
- Black kindergarten boys school expulsions
- Under resourced ESL programs
- Inter generational under education
- Dominant culture dominated historical and literary texts
- Paternalistic social justice curricula
#EduColor
There’s a weird fine line between “you’re not good enough as is” and “be a lifelong learner, always open to change and growth” and internalized oppression shapes where we come down on the line #educolor
I'm feeling the love we have for our students coming through in this chat! How do make sure our schools are letting us treat our students as humans? #EduColor
A6 It means a lack of curricular resources but kids who are unwilling to read the #ownvoices material we have. It means dress codes that require Black girls to relax their hair. #EduColor
A5: we tend to think of people not from this country as a burden. However, that’s far from the case. As educators, we need to make sure we reach out to parents who’s native language isn’t English and continue to empower those students. They face an uphill battle. #EduColor
A6: Immigration SHOULD impact the school buildings aesthetics and images, and should impact the content and pedagogy decisions centered on the respective immigrant cultures epistemology, axiology, and cosmology. However,this doesnt happen enough bc of colonists in edu. #educolor
A4: I learned about immigration growing up as, "hey let's go make more money in the U.S." I think a lot of people are willingly ignorant of the plight of new immigrants b/c of racist ideas of what a "real American" looks like. #EduColor
A6:My school does fairly well with immigration. We have an ELL coordinator & a parent group that meets frequently with staff to discuss transitions, curriculum, & other needs. #EduColor
A6 Our ELL teacher does a great job of building relationships with families. Curricula are not as responsive as they should be and state testing requirements are ridiculous. #EduColor
Growth mindset still doesn’t account for the biases in which the dominant culture wants the learner to grow in, and who gets to control the teaching. #EduColor
There’s a weird fine line between “you’re not good enough as is” and “be a lifelong learner, always open to change and growth” and internalized oppression shapes where we come down on the line #educolor
A6: Immigration DOES NOT impact my school community nor influences curriculum. We still lie in state a lot and just deny the cultures of Ss in our midst. We (ELA Ts) work 2build culturally relevant libraries & live inside story and books. #EduColor
A6: As a school, we do a pretty good job of making sure families have resources, but we can always do better. Before giving anything out, I need to do a better job at asking myself, is this accessible to all my families? #EduColor
A6: There should be so much for focus and effort on inclusivity of all the diverse cultures represented in Atlanta reflected in our schools and content. Sadly it is not the case many places in the metro area. #EduColor
Q6 At our school I teach a Newcomer Academy. We keep the class size small so I'm better able to meet individual Ss needs. Counselors ask for ESL Ts input for scheduling and admin supports meeting parents at a local center rather than the school which can be intimidating #EduColor
The only reason that curriculum is ever Euro-centric in a nation such as the United States is because of White supremacy. The goal is for native-born people of color and immigrants of color to always feel like the outsider. Thus, we get White supremacist curriculum. #educolor
Q6: My district is largely newly immigrated or first generation... I'm afraid we don't place enough importance on understanding the impact this has and the impact we have given our biases. How well do we truly know those we serve? #EduColor
#educolor A7 Schools continue to reinforce colonialist ideas, especially as the disparity between majority white Ts & majority SoC populations remain. Immigrant populations, natives, everyone forced to conform to "ideal citizens" of a dominant culture.
A5) It hurts to the extent that people believe the hateful rhetoric; helps only in the sense that it's brought attention to the reality of many students' lives. #educolor
A6 we have many immigrant Ss. But sometimes I am seeing immigrants being equated with ELLs... so that has changed how Ts discuss and think about students - for good or bad. #educolor
I think it starts with making that commitment prior to a conflict and then talking with students and families about what that means. We know that systems and leadership WILL attack our students, so are we prepared to stand with the youth? #educolor
Schools perpetuate colonialist ideas everyday in the way that microagressions are tolerated. Even in the way that schools too often emphasize "grit" when kids have shown nothing but resilience when it comes to trauma. #educolor
Been reading a toooooooooon of research and impact statements with @ILAToday and SO stinking proud to be working on Children’s Right To Read. All Children. Native. Indigenous. POC. Immigrants. Refugees. All. #EduColor
Q7: Schools are made to reinforce colonialist ideas! Not celebrating all students and teaching using only one main viewpoint every day reinforces these ideas! #EduColor
Sometimes, I feel like even "colonialism" is used as a euphemism for White supremacy. They are blood brothers, certainly. For whatever reason, many still fall short of calling it what it is. #educolor
#EduColor A3: Colonialism is the root of immigration. My parents wouldn't have had to leave if settler colonialism hadn't wrecked PR economy. Colonialism in the forms of capitalism, greed, and slavery destroyed many #Latinx nations, forcing people to emigrate
A6: I think there is a growing immigrant population, but I'm not sure. With over 3,000 students in my school, I'm not certain what the numbers are. I should be more aware. My school is currently 72% white. #EduColor
Yes- if we discuss the topic & stretch our view to humanity, then we can start making better societal decisions. We all need to talk about what we can be because we're all humans on one planet. #EduColor
A6 Yes. Likewise, people make assumptions about language in the other direction. For example, anticipating Black new Americans speak English or if they here an accent it isn’t Spanish or French, minimizing the quality of instruction. #EduColor
A7: Currently, they force the winners of the school systems [even people of color] to tell others to speak English, act in a way that will reinforce dominant ideas of behavior and dialogue. #EduColor
A7: We are the gatekeeper to colonist ideas and information. We need to be more diligent I knowing when to open and close those gates, as well as, when to bring alternative perspectives, especially if we teach students of color. #EduColor
A7: In countless ways. Let's start with a core dedication to white supremacist and colonialist ideals. See nativist #PARCC Qs, "transitional" language models, etc. #EduColor
#educolor A7 The fact that instructional materials fail, marching orders from on high to refuse, & lack of substantial Teacher Ed, to address the cultural incompetency continues to reinforce the educational system
A7 The "we are here to save these kids" come from the mindset that begat colonialism and imperialism. The "do it my way" mentality is too often what we see in schools. The power dynamics...it's evident in too many schools #EduColor
Q6: on another note I don't think it impacts curriculum and instruction positively. The mindset is too often well they can't because they are immigrant. It's an excuse. #EduColor
Most schools in countries that maintain a colonial mindset (U.S. included) perpetuate false and biased historical narratives, making sincere efforts to leave young people unaware of their own oppression. #EduColor
It absolves many educators of guilt - while we take credit for student success, we blame kids for failure or put all responsibility on them to continue trying, while we fail to remove barriers to their learning #EduColor
Internal colonialism is when we start debating whose dominant language is critical to survival in a country, or whose culture makes no sense, or who gets to define the parameters of that culture. All colonialism. #EduColor
A7 I teach in a Dominican evangelical school. I think if we started stripping away layers of colonialism I don't know what we'd find at the center. (I started on the Abeka layer, at least.) #EduColor
a7 expectations for behavior, comportment, language; colonized ways of seeing students and reading data about them; placing the well-being of some students at the center, with others at the margins #educolor
I'm feeling the love we have for our students coming through in this chat! How do make sure our schools are letting us treat our students as humans? #EduColor
A7: Schools need to share the stories of all. Telling one story from the white perspective perpetuates a pervasive racism and undermines true progress. #EduColor
A8: *cracks knuckles* First of all, culturally relevant practice would be expected and inspected in teacher/principal training and evaluations #EduColor
A5: It adds an EXTREMELY undue amount of stress for our students. It emboldens hateful comments about students. It means we have to check in our students more often. It means I (a white dude) need to engage in conversations when someone says something ignorant. #educolor
A7: They broadcast them loudly. Whiteness is pervasive through most curriculum, see Christopher Columbus, most SS standards, and textbooks. 😩 #EduColor
#educolor A8 Teacher Ed will continue to educate future educators to critically examine & challenge inequities & inequalities in our education system. Cultural relevance is at the core of an anti-colonial school system. Broader view of world history, challenging status quo
We also can't ignore the ways schools have been used to purge Indigenous peoples of their cultures in order to assimilate. Are we just teaching kids to be more White, today? #educolor 7
A7: 1.gendered lines 2.fixed language separation in monolingual & bilingual dual language programs 3.classroom libraries promoting assimilation with white euro-centric texts 4. lack of hiring teachers of color (see @mdawriter Atlantic piece on hiring teachers of color) #educolor
Was waiting on my copy bcuz of this Very relevant and important image that all of my Ss like her MUST see. Themselves in a book. Sometimes the oppression and unjust systems can be obliterated thru images. TY again @mattdelapena and @lorenlong#EduColor
A4: I think that it dictates the type of support & resources that are offered. Unfortunately, what we witness is value or disdain based on heritage and culture, which feds into the nationalist view. #educolor
Bruh… and the grit nonsense… How about you get your siblings dressed and fed, cross a gang war zone or two and show up on time to work then holla at me about grit #EduColor
A8: The content and pedagogy would be anti-racist and emancipatory, as would be the hiring practices. The school would be a community center, not a silo for colonists to program and generate income. #educolor
A8: It would take a good long hard look at what ideals are being pushed. You would have dismantle the system to the roots, enrich the base with attention to the community's needs and hopes and then build from there. #educolor
Q8: To teach multiple ideologies! Build up all students and teach them using different viewpoints! Celebrate all students! All Day Every Day! #EduColor
a8 decentering whiteness as a goal, organizing structure, rule book and guide; support for students and families that allows children of color to be children and their adult guardians to be treated as adults/not condescended to #educolor
A8: Anti-racist, culturally relevant pedagogy must be taught to pre-service teachers and in PD on a multi-year basis for current practitioners. #EduColor
Yes - our assumptions really damage us. I wa recently guilty of this when co-teaching a sheltered ELL class and was expecting only beginners to English- I was prepared to “simplify” everything. Not necessary or right. #educolor
A8 Would be a school where:
- Students are at the center of all that is done
- The school community is truly honored
- Parents are TRULY partners
- Students see themselves in the curriculum.
#EduColor
A8 Yes, teacher training so that teachers can model for students. But we need more culturally sensitive admin too. Can't just be a teacher-student engagement. Admin are responsible for not only providing space for these conversations but actively facilitating as well. #educolor
#educolor Naaawww, we gotta apply the proper amount of rigor to have our students grit those teeth and apply a growth mindset and buzz words buzz words buzzzzzz Lol.
a8 teaching kids to be their whole selves, inhabiting their identities and working to interrogate and understand them, doing that curricular and not extra- #educolor
A8: 1) Curriculum co-constructed with silenced/ignored communities 2)Students supported to develop own learning profiles and ways of sharing need. 3)policy generated by strongly democratic student power 4) Direct, outspoken/acted upon dedication to fighting inequity. #educolor
For some of my kids, just showing up to school takes more grit and determination than I have EVER had. Saying otherwise robs them of their identities and downplays their experiences. #EduColor
This chat is going so quickly and the questions are so good! Taking my time answering and then seeing that we're already on the next question. #EduColor
Right, if you get kids from Costa Rica (my people’s home) they will blank stare you like “who is this idiot.” They’re well educated, and usually English speakers who sound like they’re from the Caribbean. #EduColor
A8: communities of practice where students and their families are valued, where this is reflected in the curriculum, instruction and assessment. We’d stress collaboration & partnership, critical inquiry, activism & a love of learning #EduColor
A8: For one, it means that, when America says “democracy,” it means for the people, not for administrators who want people to only speak “good” English. #EduColor
A LITTLE BIT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK. #EduColor I also think that this is fundamentally incompatible with the model of teacher training that focuses on robotic, scripted management tricks-- and acts like learning these management tricks is enough. (coughRELAYcough)
A8: Anti-racist, culturally relevant pedagogy must be taught to pre-service teachers and in PD on a multi-year basis for current practitioners. #EduColor
A7: 5. policing ways students dress 6. policing bodies of black and brown children 7. cultural practices that are celebrated vs. those ignored 8. families of students of color not welcomed 9. environmental sustainability / care for earth lacking in curriculum #EduColor
I suppose it depends on how we define "nation." Obviously the land itself was occupied first by indigenous peoples, but I hadn't thought of the problem with that "nation of immigrants" phrase. One reason I appreciate spaces like these. #educolor
A5 Hurts: because I have to reassure Ss that they are worth more when made to feel unwanted by colonial ideals. Helps: because they are no longer being shoved into a footnote of a history text. They are front and center of conversations. #EduColor
A8: An anti-colonial school would educate it’s educators about a schools history, kids before content. It would be full of social-emotional learning strategies, and during PLCs teachers would evaluate instead of regurgitate text. Question-is your school like this? #EduColor
One more for you cuz WE gotta believe it will take us and it will take Love to overcome hate injustice oppression marginalization and racial systems that work to dismantle us. #EduColor
This is critical. I've been mentoring student teachers for nearly 10 years now and some of the collaborating teachers are disproportionately white aversive racists. It's challenging to put ourselves as mentors in a racist system, but the more we can, the better. #EduColor
Good point and in addition to that culturally relevant practices would be part of the core curriculum in schools of higher education for preservice teachers and leadership programs.
A8 I dream of the day my school (and other non-US Christian schools) stop paying US dollars for prepackaged white supremacy worksheets. I mean curriculum. #EduColor
Ts need training and opportunities for authentic conversations; went to an Undoing Racism training and it changed the way I viewed my place as a white person in this country. Wish every one of my colleagues had been there #EduColor
I love y’all about social justice and the truth. I have a podcast called The Black Apple and check my instagram for real ideas on how to teach from a social justice perspective follow me on ig: blackapple4ed and my podcast is on iTunes! #EduColor
Yes! More of this please! Love that I get to engage pre-service and in-service teachers in courses on these topics across a semester but they ask why don't their friends in other teacher prep programs do the same? #educolor
A8: Anti-racist, culturally relevant pedagogy must be taught to pre-service teachers and in PD on a multi-year basis for current practitioners. #EduColor
A9: Revolutionary Pedagogy by Molefi Asante, Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire, and the classic Miseducation of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson (applicable to many colonized ppls) #educolor
A8 part b Which would mean that the US church could send experienced teachers to train Dominican teachers to develop their OWN curriculum, instead of sending recent college grads on quick "mission" stints. #EduColor
My primary podcast recently has been @thenodshow. They did an episode about a poor school that visited a rich school and the WILDLY different experiences of the students. #EduColor
A8 Would be a school where:
- Students are at the center of all that is done
- The school community is truly honored
- Parents are TRULY partners
- Students see themselves in the curriculum.
#EduColor
A9 I just got put on to this episode of Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast. It makes a great case for upending how we think about how education & the capacity of students is framed. Not about immigration, but relevant #EduColorhttps://t.co/CKVr2GbAEg
A9:I love to talk about social justice and the truth. I have a podcast called The Black Apple and check my instagram for real ideas on how to teach from a social justice perspective follow me on ig: blackapple4ed and my podcast is on iTunes! #EduColor
a9 alcoff, the problem of speaking for others; castagno, educated in whiteness; let me look for titles from indigenous authors too -- bookmark search time #educolor
A8: If we were anti-colonial, every person would have access to the same stuff we all value (health, food, water etc) and the laws would apply evenly across the board. We'd have international cultural events in schools and tons of languages being taught in all schools. #EduColor
A6: My school has Latinx and Liberian students. I wish I'd thought of this question before. I will work to make my work more inclusive of the assets in immigrant communities in my school because representation matters! #EduColor
