Have you seen “When They See Us”? After several sessions that were interrupted by tears and anxiety, I have finally watched Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us” in its entirety. If you have not watched the Netflix drama, it’s a must see. Ava tells the story of the Central Park 5, five men that were convicted as teenagers of a crime they didn’t commit. In our current political climate, I’m not sure that educators understand the potential impact on the classroom or the anxiety levels of our students. This leads me to ask the question, how do your perceptions influence your classroom? What happens when you see them?
We’re currently on the cusp of a new school year, with new students, and the task of forming new relationships is imperative. This is a great time to review your own biases. We all are most familiar with our own cultures and often times that becomes the standard for our lives. However, your standard isn’t everyone else’s. If every teacher would pick up their own mirror, we can all recall a time that our perceptions steered us wrong. Sometimes that perception resulted in discipline or some other unfair consequences.
This school year I challenge you to offer a clean slate to every child. As of this moment, every child is exonerated, no reference to past infractions and referrals. The only effective way to eliminate bias is to confront fears and seek truth for things unknown. If you’re not familiar with where your students “come from”, take a drive to eradicate the fake news you’ve allowed to cloud your judgement. Seek out those teachers that have had past success with challenging students, make those partnerships.
Change starts with desire. The same way you’ve desired to exercise, eat better, or read more it’s intentional desire that’s needed to shift mindsets. As we all begin to prepare for another school year, take a moment to reflect on what thoughts we can abandon along with renewed thoughts that can be adopted.
