Okay, disclaimer. The tears to which I refer are nothing but happy because our students have absolutely mind-blowing discussions about equity, equality, race, and racism. Double disclaimer, I may or may not have used this title to selfishly gain more readers. But I promise I have good intentions: 15-18 year olds are looking each other in the eyes, discussing personal prejudice, debating the impacts of racism, and questioning our history books and their lack of equity in recapping the past. The world must know one way or another! I am telling you, this is the stuff of magic.
We first began our week of happy tear-inducing discussions with our MPX Paideia on the presidential debate last week. Students watched the debate and then consulted the NPR Fact Checker for 5 different facts/issues they wanted to learn more about. They came to class prepared to dissect our presidential candidates' hopes, plans, and inaccuracies. The students did an incredible job rooting their opinions in research. They also seamlessly debated the integrity of both candidates while discovering the strengths that each candidate could bring to the White House. We had students on both sides of this election having mature conversations in which they challenged each others thinking using evidence from a multitude of sources. After the discussion was over I had to look at all of them and explain to them that I spend time, lots of time, talking to adults about this election. Not one time have I witnessed or seen a discussion (including the debate) that was carried out with such understanding, maturity, and research. I pleaded with them to continue this practice as they need to teach US how to have mature conversations that respect different opinions. If you have not embarked on a conversation with your student about the election, I challenge you to do so. It may just blow your mind.
Our week continued with a Historical Preservation Paideia about an article detailing the kneeling of an 11-12 year old football team during the National Anthem. Our students debated the presence and roots of racism, they deciphered whether or not this movement of kneeling was the right way to protest, and they drew upon our country's history of segregation by using Little Rock Nine and Plessy vs. Ferguson as starting points. This conversation was so powerful that, instead of taking the regular 25 (ish) minutes, it took the entire class period! Our students really started to understand what it means to "preserve history." It is not just a set of scans of sacred places and objects, although that is very important. It is also this idea that history is preserved and kept differently by different people. How do we know the truth? Why has history been preserved differently? Why are some people's stories told more often than others? Why didn't we learn all sides of the stories in school? As a class, we hit an educational nerve and have decided to spend the rest of Quarter 1 and most of Quarter 2 dissecting the issues of race and history in between scan projects.
Teaching is a hard job. Sometimes I feel like a punching bag, a weirdo, and a lost puppy all at once. Some days I sit down and wonder if what we are doing, if what I am teaching, is really registering with the kids. Then moments like these happen, and I realize that my hours spent trying to concoct a meaningful lesson plan or a unit are not spent in vain. I realize that I am not only a punching bag, a weirdo, and a lost puppy, but also a guide, a mentor, an investigator, a pot-stirrer, a challenger, and a safe space enforcer. These moments remind me why there is no other job in the universe that can give me the gifts that teaching does. These moments teach me that I have been given precious minds that are absolutely next in line to transform our world. And while I must be careful with them, I must also open up all of the "cans of worms" so that our kids are prepared to destroy racism, inequality, and bigotry.
Side Note: We are beginning our MPX unit on slavery, racism, civil rights, etc. If you are interested in some reading to see what we may be talking and learning about in class, I recommend these titles:
Between The World And Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson
White Like Me, by Tim Wise
The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander
The People's History of The United States, by Howard Zinn
