The Intersection: Culture and Race in Schools
Christina Torres is an 8th Grade English Teacher at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii. She has worked with Teach For America, Hope Street Group, the Center for Teacher Quality, and Teaching Tolerance. Find her online: Teach. Run. Write. This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
The End of This Story
This is the end of this story, but our students are already writing new ones. I can't wait to read what's next.
Education
Opinion
On Shame and 'Daring Classrooms': We Need to Fix Systems, Not Kids
A new set of lesson plans from the popular researcher Brené Brown has caused some online debate, with many educators now thinking about the shame and trauma students carry with them.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Toward Love: Honoring Indigenous Land in Our Classrooms
We must actively combat the stereotype of the "aloha spirit" and not ignore the very real issues these communities face.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Silence Will Not Save Us: Why We Cannot Ignore Students' Experiences
No space is truly safe if it does not reckon with the complete and total experience and existence our kids face each day.
Education
Opinion
The World in Words: Summer Reading Recommendations
By allowing ourselves to dive into someone else's story and voice, we're able to not just gain perspective on our work but also on our own identities.
Education
Opinion
The Voices We Need
All countries must be included in the conversation about "global education" because all countries bring different things to the table.
Student Well-Being
Opinion
No One Sings the Blues Like Charlie Patton's Sister
We must give students the power to explore and share their stories and broadcast them, record them, so we don't unfairly distort the truth of who they or we are.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
The Hate We Create; The Hate We Ignore
It's on educators to consciously choose to work on our implicit and explicit biases to start undoing the systemic oppression that has led us here. In doing so, we can help our students hopefully create a world much more loving, inclusive, and safe than the one we've created for them now.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Why You Really, Absolutely Shouldn't Change the English Curriculum
We study literature in order to help our students, the future generations, develop their values and morals and better understand the world.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
The Power of Words: On "Classics" and "Canon"
This work must be led by those who have been historically oppressed, and if I want to support them, that means I must work to explore their writing and show my students just how powerful those voices are.
Education
Opinion
The Edupreneur: An Interview With Dr. Will
The field of education is missing a critical voice in how we can go about creating substantial and lasting change within public education and beyond.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
3 Small(er) Changes for a More Socially Conscious Classroom
Teaching with a socially conscious lens is not easy, nor does it happen overnight. There are some small steps you can take, though, to move you in the right direction.
Student Well-Being
Opinion
Student Perspective: The True Meaning of Aloha
"Aloha" isn't just a greeting; in a way it is their way of life, and when you distort that sacred word, you distort their way of life.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Social-Emotional Learning Won't Happen Without a Culturally Relevant Start
Educators engaging in emotion-talk with students can encounter obvious barriers when not taking the individual's cultural background into account.