IN THIS POST I AIM TO EXPLAIN WHY BLACK TEACHERS MATTER.
For the past few weeks, my heart, stomach, mind and soul have been hurting me. Due to another loss of a life based on the pigmentation of the skin.
While the media and the whole world is taking part in protesting and all kinds of fights for justice. I stood still to recollect myself from the anger I felt running through my whole body. As a teacher and a black person. `All I could see is the injustice overtaking the media and invading our schools and affect our deemed minority students. I was one of them a one point!
School is meant to be an environment or space that we perceived to be a safe place, or a second home for our future humans. For most children it is a safe place and they feel a part of that community; because, majority of the people that they see around them, have similar skin colour, similar, accents and they are from similar towns. On the other hand, black children are struggling to feel a part of that school community; because, there are hardly any teachers or student around who look like them. How can they feel at home?
For the past few weeks, my heart, stomach, mind and soul have been hurting me. Due to another loss of a life based on the pigmentation of the skin.
While the media and the whole world is taking part in protesting and all kinds of fights for justice. I stood still to recollect myself from the anger I felt running through my whole body. As a teacher and a black person. `All I could see is the injustice overtaking the media and invading our schools and affect our deemed minority students. I was one of them a one point!
School is meant to be an environment or space that we perceived to be a safe place, or a second home for our future humans. For most children it is a safe place and they feel a part of that community; because, majority of the people that they see around them, have similar skin colour, similar, accents and they are from similar towns. On the other hand, black children are struggling to feel a part of that school community; because, there are hardly any teachers or student around who look like them. How can they feel at home?
I decided to become a teacher because I wanted to make a change for the future black students in schools. Unlike me, I wanted then to be able to have the privilege of seeing black educators who represent them in a way that a white teacher is incapable of doing. (no disrespect to white teachers) Black teachers are able to understand and relate to black students at a deeper level; which can help them to feel valuable member of the school community.
Take a minute to analyse this. How can a black student who speak 3 different languages at home comes to school and is placed in the lowest group? He looks around and no one speak his languages and he have to fight to learn English just to feel apart. Then he realises that learning the languages was not enough because his colours were different. He gets confused and feel left out and this further impacted on his academic achievements, because his primary focus is not studying it is to fit in. He looks around for help and all he sees is teachers who do not looked like him. English is an additional language (EAL/ESL) for him. A white teacher will not have the tools or the level of empathy that he needs. A white teacher cannot relate to his heritage, his upbringing, his religion his culture ` and even more so his skin colour.
Now I want to ask this question where do we go from here?
Do you see why it is important to employ black Teachers?
Do you see why it is important to learn about the black culture and implement it in your curriculum?
I am a black teacher in school which is dominated by white teachers who are very privileged. To be honest, most times I do not feel a part of the school myself. I have never seen a teacher use a PowerPoint with a mixture of colour people to teacher. I have only seen one book with black people in (Handa Surprise) I have never seen black history month been celebrated passionately if at all. This is not good enough we need to ensure this change. If the teacher are adults and are not feeling safe what about the children. How can they learn under such pressure? Let us make a change together.
Please click the link below to sign the petition to Include Black British History in the national education curriculum:
https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-include-black-british-history-in-the-national-education-curriculum?recruiter=false&recruited_by_id=f0ac8ec0-a4c3-11ea-aeb5-87ea5bc4714c&pt=AVBldGl0aW9uANU1WAEAAAAAXtY2BdVH09hhZTI2YjRjNg%3D%3D
`
Take a minute to analyse this. How can a black student who speak 3 different languages at home comes to school and is placed in the lowest group? He looks around and no one speak his languages and he have to fight to learn English just to feel apart. Then he realises that learning the languages was not enough because his colours were different. He gets confused and feel left out and this further impacted on his academic achievements, because his primary focus is not studying it is to fit in. He looks around for help and all he sees is teachers who do not looked like him. English is an additional language (EAL/ESL) for him. A white teacher will not have the tools or the level of empathy that he needs. A white teacher cannot relate to his heritage, his upbringing, his religion his culture ` and even more so his skin colour.
Now I want to ask this question where do we go from here?
Do you see why it is important to employ black Teachers?
Do you see why it is important to learn about the black culture and implement it in your curriculum?
I am a black teacher in school which is dominated by white teachers who are very privileged. To be honest, most times I do not feel a part of the school myself. I have never seen a teacher use a PowerPoint with a mixture of colour people to teacher. I have only seen one book with black people in (Handa Surprise) I have never seen black history month been celebrated passionately if at all. This is not good enough we need to ensure this change. If the teacher are adults and are not feeling safe what about the children. How can they learn under such pressure? Let us make a change together.
Please click the link below to sign the petition to Include Black British History in the national education curriculum:
https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-include-black-british-history-in-the-national-education-curriculum?recruiter=false&recruited_by_id=f0ac8ec0-a4c3-11ea-aeb5-87ea5bc4714c&pt=AVBldGl0aW9uANU1WAEAAAAAXtY2BdVH09hhZTI2YjRjNg%3D%3D
`
RSS Feed