I am energized by the positive political engagement happening in our country and state right now. There are so many who are standing up and speaking out against injustice, a collective voice that I did not witness growing up, even though I know injustice existed. It seems we have reached the tipping point where complacency and compliance to a system are being called out daily. There will be movement toward the better as we welcome a more diverse electorate and constituents continue to use their voice to push back against systems.
And, while all this great work is happening, I wonder if we are doing enough to get to the root causes and sustainable solutions. Frankly, there is not a widespread, thoughtful interest in our education systems, the curriculum they teach, or don’t, the values and perspectives they instill, and skills to navigate this complex country that is deeply rooted in white supremacy. I believe most people are kind, want to be viewed as such and are trying to do the best they can in this world to survive and thrive. However, without an education that thoughtfully explores the foundations of this country with a critical lens, we won’t be able to harness the kindness in this world for real social justice.
Part of the problem is that our main gatekeepers, teachers, have not done the difficult, internal anti-racist work that is necessary for an equitable, just world. Most of their daily decisions are based on what they experienced as learners and what the current system tells them to do. They don’t push back on oppressive practices, such as grading, standardized assessments, bell schedules, bathroom policies, because they’ve been trained to comply, and many have been successful through compliance. Some who dare speak out are often seen as trouble-makers, uncooperative; they suppress their voices because in order to do the work they love, they have to play the game and the cycle continues. Compliance breeds compliance.
As I listen to politicians talk about supporting public education, my question is always, “What kind of education are they supporting?” Are they supporting the education that they received, that worked for them? Are they supporting the SAT as part of our accountability system, a test that literally came out of the eugenicist movement? Are they supporting an education that relies on arbitrary letter and number grades that are meaningless in conversations about learning and growth? Are they supporting schools that operate under fear and compliance and discourage teacher and student autonomy? Have they done the difficult, anti-racist work that is necessary for an equitable, just world?
For me, as a former teacher, this is a difficult criticism to make as I support public education and the teachers in it. I know most are doing the best they can under the circumstances. Many continue to quantify learning and growth with arbitrary numbers, because the post-secondary system uses those numbers in order to do their job more efficiently. They hyper-focus on improving test scores on assessments that are disconnected from their learners and what those learners truly know and can do, because that is what policy dictates. They repeat histories and stories they think to be true because those are the histories and stories that were told to them in school. They organize education into arbitrary chunks of time, treating students like products on an assembly line that need to be stuffed with information, rather than like human beings who grow, learn and process at different rates. They teach kids how to be successful in an unjust, inequitable system, as they learned how or didn’t. I know this because I was a teacher in this system, I have children in the system and I work with teachers who are in the struggle, navigating unjust waters so that they can make little dents of positive impact.
Little dents, however, are not going to move or sustain us. Consider this parable used by Saul Alinksy and retold by Stevyn Colgan:
A group of campers on a river bank are just settling down for the evening when one of them sees a baby in the water. He immediately dives in, braving the fierce current, and rescues the infant. But as he climbs ashore, one of the other campers spots another baby in the river in need of help. Then another. And another. Overwhelmed by the sheer number of babies, the campers grab any passer-by they can to help them.
Before long, the river is filled with desperate babies, and more and more rescuers are required to assist the campers. Unfortunately, not all the babies can be saved. And, tragically, some of the brave rescuers occasionally drown. But they manage to mold themselves into an efficient life-saving organisation and, over time, an entire infrastructure develops to support their efforts; hospitals, schools, foster carers, social services, trauma and victim support services, life saving trainers, swimming schools etc.
At this point one of the rescuers starts walking upstream.
‘Where are you going?’ the others ask, disconcerted, ‘We need you here! Look how busy we are!’
The rescuer replies: ‘You carry on here … I’m going upstream to find the bugger who keeps chucking all these babies in the river.’
Of course, the parable ends there as the point is proven; we need to find the root causes of our problems for there to be real change. But, I’d like to apply the story to education; the rescuers are the teachers. They want to help, but in their help, they are also exacerbating the problem. As babies come down the river and are saved, they learn how the world works from their rescuers. They learn to be part of the infrastructure, to continue the urgent work of saving life after life. Those first rescued save babies coming down the river and the cycle is repeated. Since its birth, the American school system has been made up of educators who want to do the right thing, but are navigating rough waters while doing their work. They don’t have the time, energy, money or in some cases the moral courage to go upstream. They are products of the problem and the problem itself.
In fact, most in the American public school system are all babies, saved by babies now grown that were thrown in the rushing river of white supremacy, greed and unchecked capitalism. So how do we change the system? How far upstream do we have to go? Going to protests, getting out the vote, talking with lawmakers, writing letters to the editor are all helpful, but not far enough upstream. The collective we, needs to figure out how we can do that work AND how we can help support each other, our education leaders and our teachers in the unlearning of how we do school. I love teachers, it is noble work, but there is not enough work being done in New Hampshire to help educators understand the oppressive practices in which they are engaged, where those practices originated and why our systems fight so hard to keep those systems in place.
Here are some focusing questions for all our unlearning:
How are students being assessed daily? How do teachers know what learners know and can do? Are the assessments fair and take into account implicit bias of assessors and task designers? Are they relevant? Do these assessments create a sense of belonging or do they other?
How many assessments are learners taking that are used to measure a school’s quality? Are these measures meaningful to you? Why? Are there other measures of success that are more meaningful?
What is the culture around letter grades, learning and success? What does an A really mean? How is an A earned? What is the stigma attached to earning C’s? How do parents view letter grades? How does capitalism support letter grades?
Is your school still tracking? Are there different levels for the same subjects? What language is used by staff, students and parents when talking about the learners in different leveled classes?
Is your school narrowing the scope and sequence to ensure learners do well on standardized tests like the SAT? Do you know the racist origins of the SAT and all standardized tests? Do you know what the SAT tells us about a learner’s skills and knowledge? What other standardized tests are learners taking?
What cultures are celebrated and recognized at your school? When your learners study the Abenaki are they learning from the Abenaki perspective? When they learn about Columbus, are they learning about how media was used to distort Washington Irving’s Columbus? Are they looking at other first-hand accounts? Are they learning about Columbus’ legacy for status?
Is Black history only discussed in February? Do your learners know NH’s Black history? Did you know the first African American woman writer, Harriet Wilson, called NH home? Is her book studied in your schools? Do your learners study the structure of NH’s systems so they can identify how systemic racism is supported by those systems?
Do we allow all learners to truly practice democracy in schools or is it pseudo-democracy, only giving them opportunities in controlled settings? Are all students given an opportunity to be activists for causes that align with their moral centers? Or is it pseudo-activism, only giving them opportunities in controlled settings?
I think many outside of education who support our public schools are afraid to make what appears to be a combative critique of educators who already feel criticized on other fronts. They don’t want to make teachers feel worse, because they recognize the struggle- but, that’s where we are. Teachers are the gatekeepers. They can teach our learners how to navigate an unjust world OR help our learners develop skills to challenge an unjust world. First, they need our help and that starts with some unlearning. So, organizers, unions, legislators, school board members, principals, superintendents, parents, community members, and teachers, if you are comfortable with the injustices in our state including systemic poverty and racism, do nothing. If you would like some sustainable change, go upstream, and support our public schools in unlearning so that they can create policies and structures that are truly just and equitable AND ensure they are funded properly.