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Diversity, Inclusion & Equity 24/7/365: Going Beyond Heroes and Holidays

Sarah Ottow

by Sarah Ottow

More and more, our collective culture is acknowledging the untold stories and “hidden figures” of history from groups that represent identities other than the dominant culture. We can see this shift happening in schools and in society at large. In schools, I see more and more prominent celebrations this year of Black figures during February, notable women during March and celebrating Pride for LGBTQ+ folks during June—Hooray!. We are honoring those who have historically been left out of the canon of our collective history by more prominently dedicating a month to their legacy. 

However, we need to go beyond celebrating and integrating the contributions and perspectives of diverse voices during the months designated to this purpose. We need to change the discourse from simply acknowledging those who were part of making history to understanding the roots of the oppression that existed--and still exist--to prevent more inclusion and equitable access to making history in the first place. When educators see themselves as social agents who either uphold the status quo or help to change it, then we can really foster true engagement and empowerment for our students.

Unpack our Own Identities and Biases as Social Agents in Schools

Where do we start? First, as educators, we need to look inward to unpack our own biases as social agents. No matter our role--content teacher, language specialist, special education teacher, instructional aide, support staff, administration and leadership--we are all in positions of influence in a school community. This means that what we say and do matters. We each have an impact on students, on families and on each other. Both individually and collectively we shape the culture around us. If we don’t stop to reflect on that powerful role we have, we can unintentionally miss opportunities for positive change and increased equity for all of the students we support. For example, if we only integrate Black heritage during Black History Month, then we may be sending a message to our Black students and families that their identities, their history and their diverse perspectives only matter during one month of the year. Worse yet, we may even allow families to “opt out” of studying Black history at all, as if Black history doesn’t even matter or isn’t completely woven into all US history past and present. Messages we send by either including or excluding minority groups can be very damaging to our students and their families, even if we didn’t intend to. That’s why we need to be very aware and reflective of the impact we have. Good intentions are not enough. We need to align our intentions with our impact.

Changing the Status Quo

Acknowledging that we each hold biases and stereotypes of groups of people is an important step in this process of having a more equitable impact. Plus, examining why we do things because “that’s how we have always done them” is important, too. Just because we celebrate Black history in February doesn't mean we can’t also extend Black history into our “mainstream” schooling practice. In fact, we should! Our schooling practices, starting with the curriculum on out, should reflect all of our students, across all identity groups--race, ethnicity, class, language, religious affiliation, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, immigration status, national origin, not just the historically dominant culture. We also need to be aware and inclusive of the intersectionality of belonging to multiple identity groups. Students are more engaged when the curriculum taps into their experiences, their interests and, better yet, gives them a purpose for learning beyond the classroom. True learning provides students with the skills, the concepts and the discovery of their own passions and purpose in life.

As educators, we should not make assumptions about their students or reduce their identity group or groups to one month. We should center schools around our students and those who have been historically marginalized so that they can be honored and included as equal to everyone else. Centering all voices and contributions is central to an equity-based mindset and corresponding set of practices that can, and should, be adopted to dismantle racism and other forms of oppression in order to transform how we do teaching and learning. Read more about an equity-based approach for family engagement I propose here.

Below, I present two examples of teaching Black history all year round and the impact it has had on students:

Featured Teacher for Black History 24/7/365

Melissa Leverett-King, a 1st grade English Language Education Teacher at Foxborough Regional Charter School in Foxborough, Massachusetts is leading her co-teaching teams in this work. Through her Black history biography Jamboards (see Jamboard #1 and Jamboard #2), her 1st graders are prompted to respond to photos, to investigate answers to questions, to consider different inventions and to contribute their own perspectives. Ms. Leverett-King says, “I think it's important [to include Black history all year long] because all students need to see what great things black people have contributed to America and to inspire students to be innovators themselves!” Melissa plans to extend these tasks for students to learn about Black history well beyond February. One student shared, “Black Americans are very brave!” 

Thank you so much, Melissa Leverett-King, for allowing us to share your work here! Confianza is a proud partner of Foxborough Regional Charter School and its co-teaching teams, all working hard and working creatively to meet the needs of multilingual students and ALL students!

Featured Students for Black History 24/7/365

Fourth grade students working with Technology Specialist Maura Keaney in Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia learned about civil rights student activist Barbara Johns, who helped lead a strike for equal education, ultimately leading to the famous Brown vs. The Board of Education case to desegregate schools. In learning about her life and her activism, the students wondered why Barbara Johns didn’t have a historical marker since they had been studying historical markers in the state as part of a “History Hunters” project.

Thus, students successfully petitioned the governor of Virginia for a historical marker honoring Barbara Jones as part of a state-wide contest. As Ms. Keaney explained in this article in The Washington Post, “They influenced history,” Keaney said. “That marker, that iron sign, is going to outlast my lifetime and these kids’, too.”

Here is what some of the students said about this project:

Caleb Burley: “I was surprised that they didn’t make [a historical marker] for her yet, because she was a big part of making Blacks and Whites go to school together.”

Javier Rodriguez-Aragon: “Learning about [her life] gave me hope to find solutions of equal rights, racism and opportunities for everyone. I wish one day someone could say that in our time, we sacrifice ourselves to speak out for the things we believe are right.”

Serena Anmuth: “We found it unfair that we had never heard of her and neither had our parents. We felt that we should do something about it,” and that “it was definitely unjust.”

Governor Ralph Northan told the students at the Zoom celebration event of the marker, “[Stories like Barbara Johns] are a vital part of the Virginia story, and yet those stories often have gone untold. Virginia has about 2500 historical markers across the state, but currently only about 350 on are African Americans. This is a problem because Black history is Virginia history.”

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