Teacher Truth Perspectives - Educator Reflections
“Teacher Truth is anchored in the idea of humanizing research…
and honoring story and voice.” - Dr. Tameka McGlawn
In the words of Teacher Truth researcher, Dr. Britte Cheng, “We want to take leadership to help folks think about how to support those self-formed communities in educational systems so that we can actually provide successful, sustained supports for Black educators.” To that end, we’re sharing out resonant reflections from the people at the core of the work. Whether or not you were in attendance at our 3rd annual Perspectives event, and whether or not you’re a Black educator yourself, we hope you’ll find value in these reflections.
REFLECTIONS FROM LISA HARTON, First Grade TEACHER
When everybody decided, oh, racism still exists, everybody turned to the Black people to be the spokesperson for all things Black, and that's tiring. But you step up to the plate. And after exposing yourself and sharing your experience and your story, what is done? What action is taken to follow it up?
Most recently, you see the pendulum switch swinging back. We don't want to hear it anymore, and that’s making people uncomfortable. So all of the work that was done to move the needle, now no one wants to touch the needle anymore. It's like all of that exposure and all of that work, and what did you get out of it? You almost want to retreat back into your hole, but you can't do that because you have to center the children. The challenge becomes, okay, what do I do with all of this emotion that I have? I thought we were serious about doing something and now everybody's in retreat mode. So what do I do with that resentment? What do I do with those feelings?
Like people mentioned in the survey, I find community with people of like mind. I find my people. Our former director of diversity and inclusion, she says she uses the three P's in order to resist:
Know when to push. Sometimes you just got to go toe-to-toe and address the issues and take action.
Know when to pause. You have to gather and connect with your people and make a game plan and strategize, but you have to pause in order to do that.
Know when to protect your peace. When that blood pressure is getting high, when you find you're not able to sleep, or you're ready to snap, that may be time for you to protect your peace and walk away momentarily.
