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Classroom Q&A

With Larry Ferlazzo

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to lferlazzo@epe.org. Read more from this blog.

Education Opinion

Q&A Collections: Race & Gender Challenges

By Larry Ferlazzo — June 23, 2019 8 min read
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During the summer, I will be sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past eight years. You can see all those collections from the first seven years here.

Here are the ones I’ve posted so far:

This Year’s Most Popular Q&A Posts

Today’s theme is on Race & Gender Challenges. You can see the list following this excerpt from one of them:

* Author Interview: Black Appetite. White Food.

Jamila Lyiscott answers some questions about her new book, “Black Appetite. White Food: Issues of Race, Voice, and Justice Within and Beyond the Classroom.”

* ‘We Need to Face Our Own Discomfort’ About Discussing Racism

Marian Dingle, Sydney Chaffee, Raquel Rios, Rinard Pugh, and Dr. Kimberly N. Parker talk about mistakes that are often made when trying to tackle race and racism in the classroom, and explore what we teachers can do, instead.

* Race & Racism Are Not ‘Merely Curricular Topics’

Dr. Tehia Glass, Dr. Erin Miller, Eddie Moore, Jr, Ali Michael, Marguerite Penick-Parks, Dr. Chezare A. Warren, Brian L. Wright, Ph.D., and Leah Wilson share their thoughts on the biggest mistakes made when approaching race and racism in the classroom.

* Teachers Can’t Ignore Racism Issues and Hope They ‘Will Go Away’

A three-part series approaching race and racism in schools is wrapped up by Dr. Larry J. Walker, Dr. Jaime Castellano, Dr. Mara Lee Grayson, Ashley S. Boyd, Jennifer Orr, and Kelly Wickham Hurst

* ‘Holla If You See Us': Black Girls in Spaces We Call Schools

Dr. Terri N. Watson begins guest-editing a three-part series on the discipline disparities affecting black girls. Dr. Watson and Yolanda Tomlin contribute their thoughts in this first post.

* ‘There Is Still a Lot of Work’ Schools Need to Do in Supporting Black Girls

Part two of this series will feature practices schools and districts have and/or should implement to improve the schooling experiences of black girls. Gholdy Muhammad, Shannon R. Waite, Marquitta T. Speller, and Valerie Kinloch share their commentaries.

*“What Does It Mean to Be Young, Black, and Female in America?”

This final post in a series on school discipline and black girls includes recommendations from Venus E. Evans-Winters, Zakiyah Ansari, and Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz. The entire series has been guest-edited by Dr. Terri N. Watson.

* Meeting the Needs of Native-American Students

Mandy Smoker Broaddus, Gregg Castro, and Jennifer Jilot discuss the challenges faced by Native-American students and ways educators can effectively respond to those issues.

* ‘Something Must Change’ to Address Challenges Facing Native-American Youths

Dr. Susan C. Faircloth, Kelly Sassi, and Jennifer Borgioli share their thoughts on the challenges facing Native-American youths.

* Focusing on the Assets of Native-American Students

Timothy San Pedro, Alayna Eagle Shield, and Amanda Holmes wrap up a three-part series on Native-American education.

* Author Interview With Matthew Kay: Not Light, But Fire

Matthew R. Kay agreed to answer a few questions about his new book, Not Light, But Fire: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Classroom.

* Author Interview With Rich Milner: Reimagining ‘Classroom Management’ for Equity

Rich Milner agreed to answer a few questions about his recent book, These Kids Are Out Of Control” Why We Must Re-Imagine “Classroom Management” For Equity (co-authored with Heather B. Cunningham, Lori Delale-O’Connor, and Erika Gold Kestenberg).

* Author Interview: ‘Helping Students Reclaim Cognitive Resources’ Lost to Poverty and Racism

Cia Verschelden agreed to answer a few questions about her book, Bandwidth Recovery: Helping Students Reclaim Cognitive Resources Lost to Poverty, Racism and Social Marginalization.

* Author Interview: Enhancing the ‘Mental Bandwidth’ of Students
Part Two of an interview with Cia Verschelden about her book, Bandwidth Recovery: Helping Students Reclaim Cognitive Resources Lost to Poverty, Racism and Social Marginalization.

* ‘Ethnic-Studies Courses Benefit All Students’

Tony Diaz, Ruchi Agarwal-Rangnath, and H. Richard Milner IV write about the importance of ethnic-studies classes.

* Using Social-Emotional Learning to Challenge ‘Systems of Oppression’

This post on the role of race and equity in social-emotional learning is “guest-hosted” by Mai Xi Lee, the director of social-emotional learning for the Sacramento City Unified school district. After her introduction, she brings together responses from Robert J. Jagers, Mary Hurley, Sonny Kim, Dr. Christina Arpante, Meena Srinivasan, Africa S. Fullove, and Kashia Jensen.

* Equity & Social-Emotional Learning

Carla Tantillo Philibert, DeEtta Jones, & Peggy Collings continue the discussion on the role of race and equity in social-emotional learning.

* ‘White Educators Must Sharpen Their Humility’ Before They Discuss Race

Matthew Kay, Martha Caldwell, Oman Frame, Debbie Silver, Sonja Cherry-Paul, Dana Johansen, Alice Mercer, and Amy Okimoto share their thoughts on engaging with race in schools.

* ‘Courageous Conversations’ Are Needed to Discuss Race in Schools

Karen Baptiste, Dr. Jonas Chartock, Jason Flom, Dr. Mara Lee Grayson, and Dara Naphan share their commentaries on engaging with race and implicit bias issues in the classroom.

* Approach Race & Implicit Bias by ‘Listening to Students’

Adeyemi Stembridge, Sanée Bell, Raquel Ríos, Ruchi Agarwal-Rangnath, and Lynell A. Powell share their counsel on approaching race and implicit bias in the classroom.

* Author Interview: Culturally Relevant Teaching

Megan Adams, Sanjuana Rodriguez and Kate Zimmer agreed to answer a few questions about their book, Culturally Relevant Teaching: Preparing Teachers To Include All Learners.

* Teachers Lose ‘Credibility’ If We Don’t Address ‘Controversial’ Topics

Lorena Germán, Adeyemi Stembridge, Stephen Lazar, Jen Schwanke, and Aubrie Rojee share their ideas on how to handle so-called “controversial” topics in the classroom.

* ‘Fear’ Should Not Stop Us From Exploring ‘Controversial’ Topics in School

Gabriella Corales, Tom Rademacher, Martha Caldwell, Oman Frame, Danny Woo, Paul Barnwell, and Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski share their responses to the question: “How do you handle controversial issues in the classroom?”

* Teachers Should Examine ‘Biases’ When Discussing ‘Sensitive’ Topics

Dominique Williams, Matthew Homrich-Knieling, Meg White, Kristina J. Doubet, Jessica A. Hockett, Vance Austin, and Stephanie Smith contribute to Part Three in a series on handling “controversial” issues in the classroom.

* ‘Don’t Avoid Controversial Topics’ in School

Today’s answers on dealing with controversial issues in the classroom are provided by Sara Ahmed, Jennifer Borgioli, Kevin Scott, Erik M. Francis, Phil Hunsberger, Jackie Walsh, Beth Sattes, and Dave Stuart Jr.

* It’s ‘Vital’ for Teachers to ‘Integrate Controversial Topics Into Lessons’

A five-part series on handling “controversial” topics in the classroom series is wrapped up with commentaries by Meg Riordan, Lymaris Santana, Sarah Thomas, and Thomas Armstrong, along with many comments from readers.

* Author Interview: Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies

Django Paris and H. Samy Alim agreed to answer a few questions about their new book, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World.

* Author Interview: Growing Critically Conscious Teachers

Angela Valenzuela agreed to answer a few questions about the new book she has edited, Growing Critically Conscious Teachers: A Social Justice Curriculum for Educators of Latino/a Youth.

* Author Interview: More Mirrors in the Classroom

Jane Fleming, Susan Catapano, Candace M. Thompson, and Sandy Ruvalcaba Carrillo agreed to answer a few questions about their book, More Mirrors In The Classroom.

* For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood...: An Interview With Chris Emdin

I interview Chris Emdin about his new book.

* ‘It Is Long Past Time to Meet the Needs of Students of Color’

This post is Part One of a two-part special project guest-hosted by Django Paris, Ph.D. & Travis J. Bristol, Ph.D. It has an introduction by Django Paris and contributions from Charlene Mendoza, Lorena German, David Flores, Matt Knielling, and Gabriella Corales.

* Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy ‘Increases Student Engagement & Learning’

Part Two consists of a short introduction by Travis Bristol and commentaries from Linda Bauld, Brian Pew, Lakisha Odlum, and Cyrene Crooms.

* Strategies for Recruiting Teachers of Color

This is the first post in a three-part series “guest-hosted” by Travis Bristol, Ph.D. & Terrenda White, Ph.D. Part One “features examples from school districts that have implemented innovative strategies to recruit and retain teachers of color.”

* How Universities Are Recruiting More Teachers of Color

Part Two in the series “features the work of universities, schools of education, and teacher-preparation programs.”

Increasing the Diversity of America’s Teachers

Part Three “spotlights the work of alternative teacher-preparation programs and charter schools, as well as community-based efforts on the part of parents.”

* Book Review: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World & Me

Educators Cornelius Minor and Bridget Wilhelm co-author a guest review of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ book, Between the World and Me.

* The Teachers of Color ‘Disappearance Crisis’

Gloria Ladson-Billings, Travis J. Bristol, and Terrenda Corisa White contribute their responses here.

* ‘Education Suffers’ Without More Teachers Of Color

This post highlights contributions from teachers Antoine Germany, James Pale, Dominique Williams, and Evelyn Ramos and from student Jacquelin Estrada.

* Teachers of Color Can ‘Broaden Student Perspectives’

Teacher Ya Po Cha, teacher Elizabeth Villanueva, student-teacher Billy William Ivy, biligual aide Alma Avalos, and student Amanda Martinez provide their thoughts on the topic.

* Culturally Responsive Teaching: An Interview With Zaretta Hammond

I interview Zaretta Hammond about her book.

* Engaging With Class & Race in the Classroom

Three educators—Ashanti Foster, Melissa Bollow Tempel, and P.L. Thomas—and a number of readers share their thoughts.

* Challenges Faced by Women Teachers & Ways to Respond to Them

Educators Megan M. Allen, Rusul Alrubail, Pernille Ripp, Amy Williams, and Patricia (Tish) Jennings contribute commentaries in this post.

* Wondering ‘How Gender Influences a Teacher’s Struggles & Successes’

This post features educator Ray Salazar, who, in addition to sharing his personal experiences and thoughts, interviewed other teachers.

* Male Teachers ‘Walking a Tight Rope’

New York City teacher José Vilson and Sacramento, Calif., educator Alice Mercer share their ideas. In addition, I’ve included many reader comments

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.