6 Strategies to Engage Families of Digitally Limited Learners

By Erin L. Harden, Jimmeka Anderson, and Keith Burgess

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers, administrators, and school personnel from across the United States came together to ensure that students were able to continue their education. Although many schools and districts took actions like sending home digital devices, they were often unable to prevent other learning disruptions, such as students having limited experience with digital learning at home and school due to a lack of technology or not having adequate access to the Internet (Burgess & Anderson, 2020).

Failure to recognize the needs of digitally limited learners and their families may lead teachers to misinterpret students’ lack of engagement online as a motivation issue, when it’s actually due to inability. Teachers and administrators need to equip families with the skills and resources to increase their digital competence and confidence to serve as co-educators with remote or hybrid learning.

1. Partner with businesses and organizations.

Be proactive and assess the technology needs of the students you teach. If you require technology devices for some of your under-resourced students, research community partnerships with companies and businesses that may have resources available for the families you serve. Additionally, establish relationships with local organizations, nonprofits, and corporations that had donated technology devices to students’ families who needed them before and during the pandemic.

2. Implement onsite tutorials.

Schedule families to arrive for device pick-up with enough time to give them a brief orientation on the technology and its use. Offer guidance on the main features of the devices that their students will use throughout the semester. Teachers who are not bilingual may want to have a translator available in case you have non-English-speaking family members. Be sure to provide a printed copy of the information in English and Spanish for families to reference later.

3. Bookmark digital resources on devices.

Make sure that information and resources for families are easily accessible or just a click away. Bookmark resources on students’ devices prior to distributing them to support families’ digital literacy. Websites such as the Northstar Digital Literacy project will help families improve their digital competency by providing free online basic digital literacy training and skills tests.

4. Develop a list of digital terminology for families.

Teachers should comprise a list of basic digital terminology and meanings to serve as a guide for families to navigate in the online environment. Understanding the affordances of language use in different spaces is important when developing your digital terminology list. Dividing the list categorically by social media, online browsing, and email correspondence may contextualize the relevance of certain terms.

5. Upload how-to videos on YouTube.

Support families of digitally foreign learners by incorporating familiar apps like YouTube. Teachers should create a playlist of how-to videos for families and students on how to use digital technology. You can email links to these videos and put them in a document. This platform is beneficial to non-English-speaking family members, as YouTube allows videos to be translated into multiple languages (Almurashi, 2016). Be sure to include captions on videos so your content is accessible to all students.

6. Create hard-copy back-ups.

When in doubt, print it out. Leave a number of these copies in the front office for families to pick up as they need them. Make sure you let families know to exhaust all provided resources and use hard copies only as a last resort.

Concluding Thoughts

We did the very best that we could amidst a global emergency. This year, it’s time to be better. As an educator, administrator, or school staff member, you have an opportunity to ensure more a successful school year. Let’s support families as co-educators of digitally limited learners as part of our new normal.

• For devices that will have to be delivered to homes for families with limited transportation, offer an on-site tutorial.
• Northstar Digital Literacy Project
• Keep YouTube video segments 2–4 minutes long.

Erin L. Harden is a doctoral candidate in the Curriculum and Instruction program at UNC Charlotte. She also serves as an adjunct instructor at UNC Charlotte and supports national educational organizations with professional development facilitation and instructional design. Erin completed her B.A. in English and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina and went on to teach Language Arts in high needs Middle Schools, while pursuing her M.A. in English at UNC Charlotte. Her research interests include College and Career Readiness, Multicultural Education, and Gifted/Advanced Education for Students of Color.

Jimmeka Anderson is a doctoral candidate at UNC Charlotte. She is the Founder of I AM not the Media, Inc. Her research interests include Critical Digital Media Literacy and technology inequity among historically marginalized students.

Keith Burgess teaches science at a Title1, K-8 school in Charlotte, NC. He is also a Kenan Fellow for teacher leadership through North Carolina State University. In Spring 2021 Mr. Burgess won the Burroughs-Wellcome Career Award for Science and Math Teachers (CASMT) for his distinguished service as a science teacher in North Carolina. Mr. Burgess was voted 2019-2020 teacher of the year by his colleagues.

References

Almurashi, W. A. (2016). The effective use of YouTube videos for teaching English language in classrooms as supplementary material at Taibah University in Alula. International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research, 4(3), 32–47.

Burgess, W. K., & Anderson, J. L. (2020). Leveraging community partnerships to engage digitally foreign learners in response to COVID-19. Middle Grades Review, 6(2). https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/mgreview/vol6/iss2/10

Joining the Work of Sustaining Our Futures

By Django Paris

Dr. Paris is the inaugural James A. and Cherry A. Banks Professor of Multicultural Education and director of the Banks Center for Educational Justice  in the College of Education at the University of Washington on Coast Salish homelands. His most recent collaborative books are Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World and Education in Movement Spaces: Standing Rock to Chicago Freedom Square. He is also the editor of the new Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies series with Teachers College Press.

His article in the current KDP Educational Forum, “Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies and Our Futures,” is available for free in the month of November.

I write this as climate-crisis disasters wreak havoc on two places dear to my family.  Hurricane Ida has barreled over New Orleans, leaving the city without power and water. Raging wildfires have scorched the Lake Tahoe region and large areas of forest in Northern California. As is always the case, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, and other global majority communities are disproportionately affected by such disasters.

It can sometimes be hard to make necessary connections between this continued violence against the Earth, ongoing movements for racial justice and decolonization, the global pandemic, emboldened white supremacy, and our role as educators in working with young people and families toward more just and sustainable futures. And yet, here we are: the world on fire, a virus variant tearing through communities, just as children, families, and educators are being required to return to in-person instruction, all in the midst of a continued movement to ban the teaching and learning of past and present truths about race, colonialism, gender and sexuality, disability, migration, and more.  

In my own ongoing journey as an educator seeking to join the work of sustaining our futures across this heavy time, I have found inspiration and community in contemporary movements for Black Lives and Indigenous Sovereignty that center and love and fight for communities, lifeways, and lands that will ultimately benefit all people, all beings, and a possible future for us together on this Earth. Although this has meant learning alongside the leadership of elders, young people, families, and the land on the frontlines of social movements, I have also learned to internalize the frontlines in the classroom. I have learned that, indeed, our P-K through university classrooms, community organizations, and other education spaces must be understood as part of, not apart from, social movements. The students with whom I currently have the honor of learning, in the culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) courses I teach and across the communities and university where I work, have powerfully brought this truth home. The questions they are asking, the projects they are embarking on, and the organizing they are doing seek a way out of a system that is fundamentally unsustainable.  

Foundational to my learning within social movements and from students has been understanding that, for educators to invest in centering and sustaining communities, we must divest from whiteness (and the ways whiteness casts White-normed practices and bodies as superior­­) and settler logics (and the way dispossession, extraction of the Earth, and damaging logics of competition and individuality are normed as the right and only ways to be). Whiteness and settler logics are, indeed, baked into nation-state education systems, across state-sanctioned institutions (from health to law) and are foundationally linked to racial settler capitalism (most commonly called “capitalism”), the violent system of economic, social, and cultural exploitation and dispossession that emerged from and perpetuates the colonial legacies of land theft, genocide, and enslavement.

As more of us argue not for the return of nation-state education to what it was before the pandemic, but rather for reclaiming and reimagining a radically different vision of education, it is time to double down on joining the leadership of the students, families, and communities we learn with. The current moment, full of so much pain and loss, but also brimming with possibility for a more loving and just future, has invited us to better understand what we must divest from and invest in to more completely embrace such needed reclamation, transformation. In my article in the current issue of The Educational Forum, I more fully share and cite the confluence of research, theory, and practice that undergirds the ways CSP and other strength-centered approaches to teaching and learning can and must be part of such divestments and investments. I remain thankful to all the families, communities, elders, and young people who are leading the way, to the lands, and to our CSP collective. May we be part of building the world we need.

We Care: Culturally Relevant New Teachers

By Al R. Schleicher, Valerie Ooka Pang, and Jose Luis Alvarado

Caring teachers believe in their students and wrap them in blankets of affirmation that nurture, guide, teach, and motivate. Teachers also are warm demanders (Alexander, 2016): They require excellence in student’s academic work. Not only in what teachers say, but their actions also convey, “We care for our students.”

Many classrooms today are culturally diverse. Culture is more than ethnic or racial groupings. Culture includes other human aspects such as class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, language, and disabilities. To create meaningful instruction, educators get to know their students and see their multicultural richness.

If teachers build on the knowledge that culturally diverse students bring to school, schools are less likely to perpetuate stereotypes. Overgeneralizations come from a lack of knowledge about members of other cultural groups.

New culturally relevant teachers can create trusting–caring relationships with their students by using these six strategies:

1. 3-2-1 contact!

On the first day of school, dress up and appear as the namesake of your school, class, or town. Maybe your high school is Albert Einstein High; wear a grey curly-haired wig and lab coat. If your school is Harriet Tubman Elementary, can you find a long dress with a hoop skirt and a scarf to wrap around your hair? Add a necklace with a silver locket and a picture of Harriet Tubman in it. Perform a rap with clues for a treasure hunt. Students can search for the prize that symbolizes the namesake. Students use listening, interpreting, and analyzing skills in reviewing your rap. Whoever finds the treasure gets a coupon for a pizza or a new book from the library or an extra recess/break for the whole class. Engage your students!

2. Welcome back!

Say students’ names correctly in a “great to see you” tone. If you cannot say their name, ask students to help you hear the correct sounds. Most students want you to say their name properly, so they will be glad to help you improve your pronunciations. Your effort will show that they matter, and you respect them. If you don’t make the effort to pronounce their names correctly, the words you say may not mean “honored daughter” or “strong son.”

3. Super work!

Learn positive affirmations in multiple languages. Students feel affirmed when teachers tell them they make good decisions and are working hard. If your students are bilingual, whether they speak Spanish, Vietnamese, or Somali, saying “great work” in a student’s heritage language can be an encouraging surprise and sends the message that bilingualism is an asset that you value, not something that makes them different.

4. Lights, camera, smile!

Take pictures of students and put them up on your bulletin board. The title can be “We believe in each other.” If you have 30 students in your class, you might put two or three individuals together in a photo. If you have 200 students, group students with 10 or 15 others. Ask students to show crazy faces. Laugh. Most classrooms today include diverse groups of students, so this again naturally reinforces cultural diversity.

5. VIP Survey.

Create VIP student surveys to give out on the first day of school. Questions you might want to ask:
Does your family speak a language other than English at home? What language is it?
How can I as the teacher make learning more meaningful for you?
What is your favorite subject and why?

Parent surveys can also provide excellent feedback:
What technology does your child have available at home? Laptop? Tablet? Smartphone?
Do you have an Internet connection?
Or none of the above?
How safe does your child feel while getting to school?

6. Keep your ears open.

Learn about the views of your students by listening. One teacher heard two first graders talk about evolution. One said, “How do you think we came from apes?” The other classmate looked at him and shook his head, “I don’t know. Do you think it’s real?” They began to giggle. Young people are thinkers.

Learning about and caring for your students is a year-round job. As new teachers, you need to know that students bring cultural assets that can be built upon in the classroom (Pang, Alvarado, Preciado, & Schleicher, 2021).

How to be a Cultural Mediator
(Pang, 2018)

• Listen and observe. To understand students’ cultural backgrounds, teachers need to listen and observe them in class, at lunch, on the playground, and in the community.
• Learn. Find out additional information about cultural groups by going to local community functions, reading community newspapers, and asking community folks to be guest speakers.
• Be open. Have a parent night and ask them for ideas of how to make schooling more culturally inclusive.
• Clarify. In a clear and objective way, identify areas of conflict to discuss with parents and students.
• Collaborate. Bring people together. Establish common goals. Discuss solutions. Be a community bridge.

Resources

National Education Association – Culturally Responsive Teaching

Leading Equity Podcast

Mr. Schleicher is a credentialed educator working in secondary schools in Southern California. He teaches preservice teachers in the School of Teacher Education at San Diego State University. His specializations include literacy, social studies education, and debate skills.

Dr. Pang is a Professor at San Diego State University. She is author of the textbook Diversity and Equity in the Classroom (Cengage Learning). Her specializations include teacher education, social studies, culturally relevant education, and virtual teaching.

Dr. Alvarado is Dean of the Graduate School in Education at Fordham University, New York City. He is a former special education classroom teacher who specializes in educational policy, bilingual teacher education, educational equity, and partnerships with local school districts and community colleges.

References

Alexander, M. (2016, April 13). The warm demander: An equity approach. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/warm-demander-equity-approach-matt-alexander

Pang, V. O. (2018). Diversity and equity in the classroom. Cengage Learning. Pang, V. O., Alvarado, J. L., Preciado, J. R.  & Schleicher, A. R. (2021). Culturally relevant education: Think local within a holistic orientation.Multicultural Perspectives, 23(1), 3-16.

Socially Just Technology Access in the Post-COVID Era

By Rebecca J. Blankenship
SPRING 2021

Since its inception in the 1960s and 1970s among radical criminologists, social-justice research has certainly evolved from the initial focus on injustices and inequities within the criminal-justice system to become a peripheral research interest among other disciplines. Within the field of education, social justice through equal access to technology has become a research area of particular focus as existing and emerging technologies have significantly changed teaching and learning in the 21st century.

Although the increase in technology use has, for the most part, significantly impacted pedagogy and instructional practice in a positive way, issues of equitable access frequently overshadow the anticipated benefits of providing students with alternative ways to engage with instructors while enhancing deeper cognitive development. This is particularly the case when engaging with vulnerable (marginalized) student populations, which has certainly changed the focus of the instructional technology and pedagogic narrative among educators and educational researchers.

These inequities in technology access require the redefinition of equitable engagement, understanding the current state of technology access among vulnerable populations and persistent barriers to access including hidden curricula, and proffer a change in the narrative towards more sustainable and equitable practices as educational theory and technologies continue to evolve in the new decade. Accordingly, the conversation among teacher preparation programs, especially in light of the COVID-19 outbreak and transition to complete remote instruction in the spring of 2020, has shifted from preparing future educators to implement best face-to-face practices to how teachers can translate those practices into a virtual classroom setting.

Additional considerations in terms of online best teaching practices parallel the narrative of equal technology access from the standpoint that many students transitioning to online learning did not have a computer or Internet access in their home. Further, for a large percentage of marginalized students, their only opportunity to interact with computers and mobile technologies is in the face-to-face school setting, which results in an imbalanced technical skill set for them compared to their non-marginalized counterparts.

Thus, the transfer to remote instruction created three imbalances in teaching and learning:

1. Classroom teachers must now teach traditional face-to-face content in a virtual setting,
2. Classroom teachers must now teach digital-literacy skills so that all students can actively engage with content, and
3. Classroom teachers/school administrators must now ensure that marginalized students have equitable access to technology in addition to enhanced support services in order to actively and positively participate in the virtual classroom setting.
4. Classroom teachers/school administrators cannot work in isolation.  In order to move forward, it is imperative that all stakeholders work in tandem with local, state, and federal agencies to secure funding and support services through specialized grants and programs that direct funds specifically to address the ongoing educational and technology access among historically underserved populations.  

Thus, teacher preparation programs moving forward in the new post-COVID era of virtual instruction are now charged not only with helping pre-service and beginning educators implement best online teaching practices, but also to do so in such a way as to ensure their practices are equitable for all students, especially those most vulnerable among marginalized students. Suggestions for program changes moving forward include:

• Provide additional field clinical experiences that include working with sociocultural and socioeconomically diverse student populations,
• Provide enhanced field clinical experiences that include working in more Title I and similar schools with large marginalized populations,
• Redesign existing technology—key assignments to include more assistive technologies for marginalized students, and
• Provide ongoing support especially for beginning teachers navigating the uncertainties of teaching marginalized populations face-to-face and virtually in the post-COVID era.

Additional Reading

Bridging an engagement gap: towards equitable, community-based technology leadership practice. International Journal of Leadership in Education, by E. Chang. (2019)

Cruel optimism in edtech: When the digital data practices of educational technology providers inadvertently hinder educational equity. Learning, Media and Technology, by F. Macgilchrist. (2019) 

Equitable access to education and development in a knowledgeable society as advocated by UNESCO. Educational Research and Reviews, by C. M. Jemeli and A. M. Fakandu. (2019) 

“Just access”? Questions of equity in access and funding for assistive technology. Ethics & Behavior, by E. Durocher, R. H. Wang, J. Bickenbach, D. Schreiber and M. G. Wilson. (2019)

Technology for equity and social justice in education: Introduction to the special issue. International Journal of Multicultural Education, by S. Marx and Y. Kim. (2019)

Working toward equitable access and affordability: “How private schools and microschools seek to serve middle-and low-income students.” Bellwether Education Partners, by J. Squire, M. S. King, and J. Trinidad. (2019)

Dr. Blankenship is an Associate Professor and TESOL Program Director in the College of Education at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida. Dr. Blankenship teaches ESOL Endorsement and Compliance courses required by the state for professional certification. Dr. Blankenship’s research interests include the development of virtual training environments for pre-service teacher candidates, the digital agency and literacy development of pre-service teachers and university faculty, and the effects of politics and social media on the teaching profession.

Telling Stories: The Need for Strong Leadership and Qualified Teachers

By Carlos J. Minor

Dr. Minor is currently an educator with the Clayton County School System in Metro Atlanta. He has served as an elementary, middle, and high school educator. Additionally, he has served as both an adjunct and full-time professor of education.

I am currently ending my 20^th year in education and will be back next year for my 21^st. I am a career educator, highly qualified, and have served at every level of the P-20 continuum in more than one state. The studies always tout what is wrong with K-12, but this educator thinks he has at least a partial solution: Highly qualified (and dedicated) teachers and strong, school-based leadership.

At one point I was a K-12 educator in Middle America. The pay for teachers was very low compared to other jobs in the area. One could become a firefighter, a police officer, or literally a manager at a convenience store and make 10-15K more than a beginning teacher. Thus, the urban district I worked in struggled to staff, and they literally took anyone off the street with a degree and plugged them into a classroom. There was no training, no regard for GPA or work history, and some people bounced from school to school and district to district after being repeatedly fired. For most of them, teaching was not a calling or a sense of duty; it was merely a job.

The elementary school where I worked (since closed) was one of the worst in the state. Of the 16 classroom teachers, only four were actually certified educators. Three of those were Pre-K and Kindergarten teachers, so it was entirely possible for a student to go through that school and never have an actual teacher. Adding to this, the school served a high-poverty area, where the need for highly qualified teachers is the greatest.

To say that the school administration was weak would be an understatement. The “teachers” were allowed to come and go as they pleased with no repercussions. The “teachers” were allowed to stand in front of a classroom dressed in wrinkled t-shirts and sweatpants, jeans full of holes, hoodies and leggings—you get the point. Additionally, one “teacher” would come in 45-60 minutes late daily while his students sat idle in the hallway…and this was never addressed. Another “teacher” was allowed to spend the day walking the halls talking on her cell phone while her students sat idle with a paraprofessional…and this was never addressed. A third “teacher” went off on an administrator in front of students because he did not feel that he should have to come to work on time. In fact, this third “teacher” went around the building telling all who would listen that the administration was “tripping” by expecting folks to come to work on time…and he kept his job.

These behaviors (and others) would not have been tolerated from teenagers working at the mall or at a big box store, but this went on with the full sanction of both the building administration and the Central Office. As the student body was overwhelmingly Black, Brown, and indigent, the message was clear: The Powers That Be could care less if poor minority students learned.

This school was for years an F school and eventually the Central Office made the decision to close it and lease the building to KIPP. However, most of the “teachers” at the school, many of whom could not pass the Basic Skills Test for Teacher Certification and who did nothing but give worksheets, were given good teaching evaluations and positive recommendations to move on to other schools.

This stands in stark contrast to the school district where I am currently employed. I am at a middle school in Metro Atlanta that also serves a high-poverty area, and the student body is also overwhelmingly Black and Brown. However, the educational outcomes are completely different, for several reasons.

First, the pay in this district far exceeds that of the district I worked for in Middle America. A first-year teacher here starts off making about 20K more than a first-year teacher in the other district, and this is not the highest paid district in the area. This means that this district is able to both attract and retain actual, trained teachers, and not have a staff of what can best be described as long-term subs.

Second, there are multiple Instructional Coaches working full time in the building. They are there to help that new teacher improve, to help that good teacher become great, and help that great teacher become excellent. This is reflected in the educational outcomes, as our students perform well academically given their circumstances. At the school I wrote about earlier, the administration refused to allow the hiring of an Instructional Coach, likely because they knew that the school was a veritable zoo and did not want those aforementioned staff behaviors to come to light.

Third, four strong administrators work in the building: Three Grade Level Administrators and a Building Principal. These administrators have a presence in the building, coming into classrooms and offices. They keep constant tabs on their grade levels and the other personnel in the building they are tasked to supervise. The teachers and staff under their purview are held accountable: The standards must be taught. Teachers and staff must adhere to district policy in terms of attendance, dress, conduct, and phone usage. This stands in stark contrast to the situation at the school in Middle America, as previously stated. If one were to walk into 10 classrooms at the Middle America school, 8 teachers would be seated, on their phones, while the students had busywork. Additionally, the principal was caught sleeping in the teacher’s lounge and spent a good bit of time every day playing games on her phone. Departing teachers would state in their Exit Surveys how the administration never came into their classrooms.

Fourth, my school places a premium on educational attainment. Diplomas are up on walls. College alumni status is displayed both in attire and material placed in classrooms. Teachers come to work in professional attire and present themselves in a professional manner. Instruction incorporates minority achievement and students are taught that education is The Great Equalizer.

Educational attainment was maligned in the previous district. I was considered “uppity” (among other things) for wanting to be addressed by my proper honorific of Doctor. I actually had a human resources official tell me that I (an Afro-Latino) should have hidden the fact that I have an earned doctorate. I was criticized throughout the district for having my degrees on the wall in my office. I became a target, and the message was clear: They did not want a highly educated, experienced, certified male educator of color, ostensibly because the presence of such might inspire students of color to want to be the same. Instead, the district sought to employ those who would miseducate indigent, minority students, likely to create and perpetuate a permanent underclass comprised solely of people of color.

Studies show that we educators cannot control the neighborhoods our students come from or what goes on in their homes. We can, however, control what goes on at school. When students have a highly qualified and highly dedicated teacher who comes in prepared, can relate to the students, and holds the academic bar high, the result is improved academic outcomes. When students have a well-dressed, erudite professional in front them, holding them to high standards, the students tend to reach higher. No profession is possible without a teacher. Speak with anyone who is doing something positive, and they will tell you that, at some point in their educational career, a teacher inspired them. I myself was greatly influenced by the Dean of Students at my undergraduate institution. This gentleman was always nattily attired, spoke and carried himself well, and was the consummate professional. I wanted to be like him: A nice home, a nice office, and being a positive influence the same way he was. Again: Not one professional can honestly say that they were not influenced by at least one strong teacher.

This is why we need highly qualified, dedicated teachers supervised by strong educational leaders, particularly in the urban setting. With this we will produce more people of color doing positive things who will hopefully reach a hand back. Without a doubt, teaching is the foundation of all professional work. We have a duty to prepare our students not only academically but socially as well.

Bringing the 21st Century to an Academy in Ghana

By Brittney Caldwell

Brittney Caldwell is a high school social studies teacher in Atlanta, Georgia. She is currently pursuing her EdD in Curriculum and Education. Brittney has spent her career advocating for teachers and students. Brittney is passionate about Social Studies being taught through culturally relevant, inclusive, and authentic strategies. She spends her summers traveling and observing school cultures in various countries. Her ultimate goal is to develop a program that allows her to bring other teachers along. She is currently serving KDP on the national level as a member of the Knowledge Development Advisory Council. 

As a public-school teacher at a Title I school in inner-city Atlanta, I am accustomed to complaining about the resources that I do not have.

I have complained to my administration and academic coaches about the lack of software that would assist me in raising test scores, or the old textbooks that were not updated with content required in the standards/objectives. I look at my old-fashioned desk with disdain sometimes, when I compare my classroom to the 21st-century learning environments that I see on Pinterest and Instagram. I even had the nerve to get upset that my county was not yet 1:1, and we had to share a Chromebook cart with my entire department if the computer lab was booked for the day.

As a teacher, I could sometimes only focus on the resources that I was lacking. Poor American public-school teacher, spending her own money on classroom supplies and only being handed the bare minimum. This attitude completely changed once I visited Press On Academy in Accra, Ghana.

I did not arrive in Accra with the intention of coming across this local community school. My boyfriend’s aunt had passed away abruptly, and we flew to Accra. We made plans to stay for the month and, since I was working remotely, it was not a problem. I passed Press On Academy several times. I finally decided to try my luck and visit the school in hopes of a tour. Being a U.S. history teacher to a 99 percent African American school population, I was genuinely curious and wanted to speak with the local social-studies teachers about African history.

Ghanaian public schools are overcrowded, severely underfunded, and full of poverty-stricken students. The economy in Ghana has created a very wide gap between the rich and the poor, leaving a small middle-class population. Most middle-class families cannot afford private schools, but do not wish to send their students to public schools. Press On Academy is technically a private school, but the tuition and resources are much lower because the parents consist of middle-class workers (welders, maids, and merchants) who pay tuition with hard-earned money. The school does not receive money from the government, and solely relies on tuition to pay for all school expenses, including teacher salaries.

The headmaster of Press On Academy opened the school up to me immediately, welcoming me and offering me a tour. He was excited to hear that I was a teacher from America. Visiting the grounds was hard for me and I had to hold back tears.

The children were sharing used workbooks. Several of the desks in the classrooms had nails sticking out or were barely holding together. The teacher’s chair was falling apart as well. They were using chalkboards. There was no air conditioning. There were no textbooks, computers, or even anchor charts on the wall. There was no pencil sharpener.

I hid my feelings well, continuing to smile back at everyone who was smiling at me. The students were so happy and friendly. The teachers were very welcoming. The teachers urged students to go up to the chalkboard and show me the work that they had been learning. First graders were doing three-digit multiplication problems and breaking down fractions! Many of the students were very advanced and excited about learning. The teachers had taught the students so many skills with so few supplies. They were ahead of my own first grader, Brason. My heart automatically called me to help.

I spent the next month, December 2020, in Ghana crowdfunding for Press On Academy. I ultimately raised $4,500 and built a computer lab for the school. I took a vacant room in the corner of the building and dedicated my time to perfecting it. The room needed new flooring, electrical outlets, windows installation, door installation and a paint job. I was able to afford four computers and a projector, computer tables and group tables for students to use when viewing the projector. I also dedicated funds to repainting two classrooms and replacing their chalkboards with dry-erase boards. The children were so grateful and excited when the room was revealed. It was the best feeling in the world.

The teachers were very thankful as well. We all spoke about how teaching is really universal. We all face the same issues on different scales. They have fewer behavioral issues than I, but could relate to distractions in the classroom and lack of resources. In Ghana, teachers are expected to live below middle class and be content. Anyone choosing to be a teacher is dedicating their life to struggle and accepting the Lord’s blessing in return. The headmaster described it as “hand to mouth” living, and told me that teachers would never be able to own a home in Ghana. It was neither realistic nor expected.

I recorded the entire visit and renovation process for my Instagram, Caldwell’s Classroom. Teachers all over the world watched and supported me as I invested my time and energy into helping Press On Academy. Many of them donated to my crowdfunding, and in exchange I sent handwritten letters from the students. So many teachers asked how they could help or be a part of the process. Because of this, I planned a trip for July 2021 to return to Press On Academy and continue raising funds. My goal is to assist them in reaching full completion of the school and connect them to our global education network.

The school is rich in pedagogy and the teachers are talented. They have so much talent, and practices that they could share with the world, but need help connecting and entering 21st-century learning. I am continuing to raise funds for the school and sending supplies as donations are received. I and a group of five teachers, two of them Kappa Delta Pi members as well, are visiting Ghana for a week in July. I am hoping to make this an annual trip and increase participation every year.

We teachers have to take care of each other, and I will be very careful not to complain as often as I do. As a teacher in America, I already have privilege that I am not always aware of. Many teachers worldwide are making do with much less and are perfectly successful.

If you feel compelled to donate or send supplies, please visit www.brittneycaldwell.com or follow my Instagram, @CaldwellsClassroom. Here is the link to my GoFundMe.

What Do Equity and Equality Mean in a Pandemic?

By Emily Hodge

The author contributed a related article to The Educational Forum, Volume 85, Issue 1, “Conceptions of Equity in Common Core Policy Messages in a Metropolitan District,” which is currently available for free online here.

Dr. Emily M. Hodge is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at The Pennsylvania State University. Her work uses qualitative methods as well as social-network analysis to understand the changing nature of strategies for educational equity. Recent projects have explored how educational systems, schools, and teachers negotiate the tension between standardization and differentiation in the context of the Common Core State Standards, and the varied strategies state education agencies are using to support standards implementation.

While scrolling on your social-media feeds, you may have seen the side-by-side images of three children behind a fence trying to watch a baseball game with captions about equity and equality. This image represented “equality” as providing the same amount of the same resource to children of three different heights: a box of the same size for each child to stand on, resulting in only two of them being able to see over the fence. In contrast, the figure depicted “equity” as providing each child with a box of a different size, so that each was able to see the baseball game. Many viewed this image as illustrating the limitations of treating groups in the same way, arguing that groups need varying amounts of resources to achieve similar outcomes. Many have also adapted and critiqued this image, as summarized in the link above, arguing that the children’s different heights implied that inequalities were problematically located within the children themselves, signaling a deficit view. Others changed the height of the fence to signal disproportionate degrees of oppression different communities face, or removed the fence entirely to signal liberation.

My recent article in The Educational Forum, “Conceptions of Equity in Common Core Policy Messages in a Metropolitan District,” invoked similar tensions about the nature of equity and equality in children’s educational opportunities. This article is based on a research study of the messages about equity and equality in professional development (PD) that a large, metropolitan district planned for its secondary literacy teachers around the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

Much of the district PD emphasized a general rationale for the CCSS as a means of improving college readiness, but it sometimes referred to the CCSS as necessitating treating students the same way. For example, a goal of PD session on text complexity was for participants to “understand the importance of providing access to all learners, regardless of ability, to complex texts and rich instruction aligned to them.” Later, the presentation specifically referred to English learners as a group that “districts must take steps to ensure…are exposed to and taught complex texts.” Another prominent idea in PD was that text-dependent questions are more equitable to ask students because they do not draw on varying degrees of background knowledge that students may have on a topic.

Both ideas—using text-dependent questions and complex text with “all learners”—are similar to the conception of “equality” in the image described, providing the same amount of a resource to different groups of students, especially students who may not have typically received that resource.

Similar to the critiques of the equality vs. equity graphic, this definition of the CCSS as improving students’ educational experiences has many limitations. First, are complex text and text-dependent questions a resource, as we might normally consider school funding or a skilled teacher? Second, should we expect greater similarity in outcomes if the primary message in these materials is simply equal treatment, rather than providing additional resources to those who have had fewer resources in the past? Further, neither of these more limited forms of equity directly address the racialized structures and systems of oppression creating differing opportunities in access to every major societal institution in the first place.

Thinking about our current context, certain aspects of “equality,” in the sense of providing the same amount of a resource to all students, seem like the bare minimum, such as making sure that every student has a device and internet access to make learning possible. Other aspects of equity (providing more resources to those who need it) seem important: more funding to schools with greater needs or facilities upgrades prioritizing older school buildings.

The new Biden administration’s approach to reopening schools focuses on providing more financial resources, which should be distributed to provide more money to districts with greater needs. Resource distribution reflects values and priorities, but the critiques of the equality vs. equity image apply here as well. White people in particular need to be careful that we are not making assumptions about the needs and resources within particular communities, or making decisions based on deficit-based views. Further, interlocking systems of oppression reinforce each other, shaping how students and teachers interact with each other in schools and how resources are allocated—making the “fence” between the children and the ballgame higher and stronger, rather than breaking it down. Resource allocation does not solve the problem of the fence, but it is the primary policy tool the federal government has to offer to state and local levels. If this is the case, how else might we remove the fence or make it shorter?

The Pandemic Has Shown Us What Must Change

Today’s blogger is Dr. Megan P. Brock, a Lecturer and Academic Coach in the Division of Academic Enhancement at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.

The pandemic has changed our lives forever. And I am glad about it.

I remember my last day of “normal.” We were having a faculty meeting in our building, which overlooks the quad where students, faculty, and staff are often seen meeting for a little sunlight, with lunch, frisbee throwing, and more. The sun shines over the football stadium and into the room. A cracked window in the spring and summer offers a light breeze and a good waft of pollen. If the walls could talk, they would tell tales of rich discourse on supplemental success initiatives, supporting our emerging scholars. They would share the moments when we agreed to simply disagree, and tell of so many poorly delivered jokes.

On this day, the director of our unit shared updates on the protocol for maintaining sanitary standards—a bit odd for a faculty meeting. However, the coronavirus had successfully taken over the headlines and made its way onto our agenda. Hand-sanitizer dispensers appeared at multiple points on every level of our building. A colleague emphasized the severity of the coronavirus disease—they’d been personally witnessing a family member’s battle.

We left the conference room having no idea what would occur over the weekend. We were mandated to quarantine in our homes under the assumption that restrictions would be temporary and we’d be back to “normal” by summer. However, after months of empty tissue aisles, rumors of Lysol re-stocks, hit-or-miss homemade meals, coaching students (and their parents) through remote learning, a civil insurrection, and more, the global pandemic persists.

I liken this experience to a sifting of humanity.

Now, as a baker (pre-pandemic, when flour was readily available and everyone wasn’t at home making sourdough), I sift my flour to remove lumps and catch unwanted debris (such as husks or seeds). The debris that remains in the sieve gets thrown out; it hinders the baking process and compromises the final product. Sifted flour helps me to get more accurate measurements so that I have consistent, tender cakes and biscuits.

As the pandemic sifts the nation, great things remain. Dedicated educators, passionate first responders, and brilliant scholars are just a few of those for whom we’ve developed a deeper appreciation. But systemic barriers remain as the debris in America is sifted and separated by this pandemic; barriers that have plagued educators for too many generations remain inhibitors of effective teaching.

Food insecurity, a major barrier for young learners in high-poverty areas, prompted the buses to continue running, with boxed lunches replacing the students in the seats. Inequalities in technology led major companies to offer low-cost internet service, while many students had to complete coursework in the parking lots of closed restaurants with free Wi-Fi. Students who are victims of abuse were suddenly required to spend more time in toxic homes. Standardized measures could not ethically capture any learning at any level.

For years, teachers have advocated for education reform. They witness the child who sleeps in class because they go along on the nightshift with a parent who can’t afford childcare. They witness children saving lunches to share with their siblings for dinner. During recess, they help students complete the online homework they can’t do at home due to a lack of internet access. They love on the quiet, battered child and get them to safety, security, stability. They tutor students for free to help them advance to the next grade. Teachers have first-hand knowledge of the challenges facing the children who will become the leaders of tomorrow.

Some parts of society have been stunned by these new revelations of the domestic and economic challenges that today’s youth face, but the educators’ experience has been validated.

Now, change can happen. Change must happen—or, I argue, we will have to acknowledge that we are complicit in allowing these systemic inequalities, and willfully extinguishing the spark that is the potential of underserved students of America.

When we can return to that conference room for the first post-pandemic, in-person faculty meeting, we will likely still be cautious and sit far apart. We’ll welcome the breeze from open windows for ventilation and scent of blooming flowers around the building that we missed. There will be post-pandemic jokes (and they may still be bad).

However, we will be forever changed, knowing what the sieves caught. But we can bring the debris to the table, identify it, and begin having real conversations about practical solutions.

We can go from societal sift to societal shift.

A Mural That Matters

By Sara Barsaloux

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I had to move classrooms mid-year to accommodate all my students. A temporary wall had to be put up to separate my new classroom and the library. Since the wall is temporary, we could paint it!

Due to the political climate in our country, this year I wanted to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day more meaningful for students. That is why I created our Mural Project. Before beginning the project, we learned about what Martin Luther King Jr. did for our country and talked about the similarities between Dr. King’s movement and the Black Lives Matter movement. We discussed how far we need to go as a country to live out Dr. King’s dream and how we can all be activists. We learned about what it is like to go to a march and even made our own picket signs about issues we are passionate about to share with the class.

Our final project included each student painting their own section of the mural. We started the project by having students brainstorm what each of their dreams were. Then the students sketched out their mural. After this, the students created a presentation about their dreams and their mural. Finally, each student got a chance to paint their mural onto our temporary wall.

The mural provides the students a daily reminder of what they are working towards. The students love showing it off to other students and staff. This project also helped students to develop a stronger understanding of what they want to achieve as well as how they can support their peers in our classroom.

Sara Barsaloux teaches fifth grade in Glendale Heights, Illinois.

The “Othered” Experiences of Minoritized Students in Three Countries

Today’s blogger is Dr. Christopher J. Cormier (Stanford University), who was the lead author on the article “Black Teachers’ Affirmations on the Social–Emotional and Mental-Health Needs of Learners: A Transnational Examination” (co-authored by Drs. Mildred Boveda, Funké Aladejebi, and Alice Gathoni), which appears in the January 2021 issue of the Kappa Delta Pi Record. Get free access to the article through the month of February.

The “othered” experiences of Black students in schools extend beyond the United States. A common misconception is that the racialized experiences these students face is a phenomenon experienced only by Black Americans, and not only in schools but also in the ethos of the societies in which they reside. However, although challenges Black students face in schools can, and often do, vary depending on the cultural context, the reality is the same. That is, these students face systemic barriers to their academic achievement, which often stifle their ability to be fully functioning members of our classes and schools. Thus, given that students spend most of their waking hours in school, the challenges they face in school can, and will, bleed over into their home lives and interactions with other members of society.

For the article that appears in the January 2021 issue of the Kappa Delta Pi Record, I was fortunate to work with three colleagues who are also friends and great collaborators on this topic. Each brings experience as a teacher and researcher to the piece. In this transnational narrative (avoiding a U.S.-centric approach), readers will notice that Black teachers often are expected to “fix” the issues of the students who share their racial or ethnic identity; however, we suggest strategies that all teachers can use for all students, regardless of whether they share the same backgrounds.

We believe that one major challenge in schools is that certain teachers are expected to “deal” with certain students because of a shared lineage. What I, even as a co-author, found fascinating is how that manifested differently in different countries—particularly in Kenya. During a late-night Zoom call with my colleague in Kenya, I was fascinated by all the things she related about the challenges Black students face in Kenya. A major takeaway for practitioners is that shared racial or ethnic identity does not necessarily equate to shared experiences, values, or even respect.

Co-author Dr. Alice Gathoni eloquently describes how being Black in Kenya has many layers. A major challenge in Kenya is being considered a minority if you are not a part of the dominant tribe in the region. Furthermore, the same hostile treatment that students wrestle with as “outsiders within” if they are not members of the dominant tribe is mirrored in Canadian and U.S. schools. By exploring Kenyan schools, we hope that practitioners, including school leadership, recognize that just having a Black teacher for Black students does not solve issues of inequity or address the social–emotional and mental-health needs of these students.

We focus on three dominant practices as we describe the nature of the ways in which Black teachers use their shared racial identity to support Black students’ social–emotional needs in each country represented in our article. We believe these are useful to practitioners as well as the scholarly community, especially to support the unique needs of students. The practices include (a) consider insider–outsider knowledges and within-group differences, (b) nurture individualized care and cultural sensitivity, and (c) understand the value of school–community relationships.

These strategies are often used by Black teachers, but do not require a Black teacher to use them to be effective for supporting the needs of not only Black students, but all students in schools. We are hopeful this piece will open dialogue about how all teachers—not just Black teachers—can support all students and, beyond the dialogue, lead to systemic change. We suggest using our article in professional development meetings and ongoing conversations regarding everyone’s responsibility to support students and not to rely on one group because that group mirrors its students’ cultural or gendered makeup.