The Teacher As Change Agent: No More Silence

Written By Melissa Milner
“There is no magic formula for making the world a better place. It happens in the moments we break our silent complicity, embrace discomfort, and have candid conversations about what stands in the way. As educators, you and I are tasked with giving kids opportunities to show compassion, to be upstanders, and to realize the impact they have in society. It’s an awe-inspiring responsibility, but it’s something that you and I – people who believe in kids – are uniquely qualified to undertake.”
— Sara K. Ahmed

My post this week was originally planned to be a continuation of the teacher as screenwriter metaphor focused on Sara K. Ahmed’s book, Being the Change. Although very related to the hard work we need to do with our students, it will have to wait. This post organically morphed into a reflection. I am reminded of the power of strong leadership and want to share some work our district/school staff has done the past couple of years in the area of identity and understanding our own biases and privilege. I do ask that you read my mid-week post where I shared a heartfelt letter from our district’s METCO Director, Grant Hightower. This letter says it all and our school is listening. No more silence.

How can we make a difference in our classrooms/schools to stop racism and bring about equity for all? This work with students is impossible without first knowing our own biases, understanding our own identity, and realizing that we have privileges that others don’t. Last year, our district changed their yearly Blue Ribbon Conference to be all about Equity. Our principal has been doing this work with us for a couple of years now. Last year, we had an ongoing PD opportunity where we worked with a consultant who taught us protocols that we continue to use for any staff discussions. Using these different protocols, we have had some tough discussions with each other, and I feel our school is already stronger for it. At our virtual staff meeting to discuss anti racism this past week, our principal invited any staff to participate even if not contractually obligated to be there. My colleagues showed up in a big way. We are all more aware now and it is time to step up and out even further.

I have read comments on Twitter about the answer not being in professional development. I understand the feeling that there has been enough talk and it is time for action. However, I argue that there hasn’t been enough talk among white people and ignorance is a real problem. You can’t take action against something you don’t understand. Some educators don’t know what they don’t know. PD is the prerequisite for educators who may not do the work on their own to learn the facts and face their own biases. I feel lucky to work with an administration who gets it! The workshops, staff meetings, book clubs, etc. need to be centered around the hard discussions and self-reflection. They also need to be multi-faceted, ongoing, and consistent.

I want to share a couple of memorable experiences organized by our principal that may help other schools/districts start this hard work. One staff meeting on understanding privilege was particularly powerful for me (see a link to a version of this activity in the resources). Different statements about privilege were around the school library. We walked around the library silently placing a colored bead on our bracelet when the statements about privilege applied to us. The beads represented the different kinds of privilege including race, class, religion, and gender. Afterwards, we talked about how it made us feel and what we learned from it. It may sound touchy-feely, but this was a major aha moment for many of us. I realized, more than ever, that this PD was important. I was reminded that I can go about my life without stares, questions, judgments and assaults, simply because my skin is white. Other than one incident when I was teaching in CA, I have not had to deal with anti-Semitism since people may not realize that I am Jewish. BIPOC do not have that privilege.  

The other stand out in this professional development was the visit from Urban Improv (see link in resources). This amazing group based in Boston came to perform, and our students were called up to say something in the moment when unfair language or actions were happening on stage. Our principal decided that Urban Improv should visit on one of our back-to-school teacher days to train the teachers about disrupting bias in the moment. It was an unbelievable experience. We had to live in our discomfort to delve into the actionable steps we can take when we hear remarks that are racist, sexist, etc. I thank my principal for being a change agent and trusting that her staff would join her in this work.

I am seeing Twitter threads sharing concerns that white educators will make anti racism another buzzword, formulate rubrics, and do this work on a superficial level. I too fear this and have mentioned in other posts my disappointment in most of the resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, for instance. TPT should not be your resource for this work or most of the work you do with students. I can only speak for myself in saying that I am serious about this work and I am in it for the long term. I am sick that I was so oblivious to how important this work is for so many years. I always felt that teaching “kindness and respect” wasn’t enough, but I never knew how to go beyond that within a school setting. We need to transform our schools. We need to know our students and have high expectations for all. We need to empower them, not “save” them. We need to give students the history and the words to be disruptors. Cornelius Minor talks about analyzing the structures and culture in our classrooms, doing the action research, and making the changes necessary to allow all students to succeed. I will share more about Minor’s amazing book, We Got This, in another post. Below is a brief clip:

Sara K. Ahmed’s book, Being the Change, is one resource that was shared with me recently. The few lessons I did with my class were about identity and it was powerful. The discussion brought a sense of belonging for one of my students who was not feeling seen before this work. I felt this work with third graders was best in person, so these lessons were cut short, unfortunately, due to the shutdown. The full title of Ahmed’s book is Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension. Social comprehension is not a buzz word. It should be a fundamental piece of our curriculum as important as reading comprehension. Our students are going to talk about these events whether we talk about them in class or not. We can have a positive impact on that narrative and help students learn how to talk about the facts and shutdown bias talk. I am not looking for a quick fix. I value real connections with students and ideas centered around discussion and empowerment. Ahmed’s book is quite a resource for this work.

Here is an outline of the lessons in Being the Change:

Chapter 1: Exploring our Identities

  • Lesson:  Affirming our Identities – Identity Webs

  • Lesson: Placing Ourselves in the World – Stories of Our Names

  • Lesson: Journeying into Our Family Histories – “Where I’m From” poems

Chapter 2: Listening with Love

Chapter 3: Being Candid

  • Lesson: Seeing Our Own Bias – Drawing Activity

  • Lesson: Understanding Microaggressions – Poem Analysis

  • Lesson: Refusing to Let Others’ Biases Define Us – Identity Statements

Chapter 4: Becoming Better Informed

  • Lesson: Understanding How Our Identity Affects Us – Our News

  • Lesson: Moving Beyond Our Initial Thinking – Mini-Inquiries

Chapter 5: Finding Humanity in Ourselves and in Others

  • Lesson: Broadening Our Ideas About Who We Are Responsible To and For – Our Universe of Obligation

  • Lesson: Understanding Others’ Perspectives – Intent Vs. Impact

Chapter 6: Facing Crisis Together

“People have been, and historically have always met our pain with recommendations of love and taking high roads. The problem is we have been on this road waiting for you to show up and we continue to wait for those of you who say you care, but do not act. As a colleague I want you to have these introspective conversations, both personally and with other educators. As a leader I want to help show you where to start with literature, media, and other resources. But as a father, and a son, and a former student of white teachers I want to ask why haven’t you done more? Why don’t you do more? When will you do more? Does it even matter to you?”
— Grant Hightower, Reading Public Schools METCO Director
Melissa Milner
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