This morning, I was pleased to see The New York Times run an article headlined Does Teacher Diversity Matter for Students’ Learning?
It’s a good overview of research, along with offering some practical suggestions for how those of us who are white educators can deal with our implicit biases.
I’m adding it to New & Revised: The Best Resources For Understanding Why We Need More Teachers Of Color.
I’m also adding it to We Should Be Obsessed With Racial Equity, which is a post I wrote that includes many links related to teacher implicit bias.
I take offense to this article in two ways. First, because I am a teacher who is a woman of color-a Latina- I feel I can reach my students beyond color. Whatever happened to, “diversity is our strength?” I know for a fact that I have benefited my white and black students more than some of their white and black teachers did. And I know that I am not an anomaly. I’ve seen black teachers better teach non-black students with tremendous success as I have also seen white teachers teach non-white students better than teachers of the same color. Second, some of my own favorite teachers, as well as my own Mexican-American children’s’ favorite teachers were non-Hispanic. Quit pushing this false narrative. If a student knows that his/her teacher truly cares for them, then he/she will do anything for that teacher beyond color.That student will try harder because he/she knows that teacher will not give up on hi/her. We need to promote lasting relationships with our students. Let me know when you’re ready to promote this. I’ll gladly share my experiences on your blog.