Equity & Diversity Video

A Black Male Educator From Virginia on What He’s Faced in the School Building

By Jaclyn Borowski — June 25, 2021 4:50
A student at Crosby High School works in class in Waterbury, Conn. on Nov. 2, 2019. While students in the Waterbury public school district are predominantly black and Hispanic, the vast majority of its educators, as in school districts across the country, are white.

For Gemayel Hazard, a black male teacher in Alexandria, Va., his early interactions teaching in a school that lacked a diverse faculty led him to seek out a school with a principal who looked like him and could understand what his experiences were like in the classroom. Here, he discusses the many challenges that remain in the education system, and the importance of diversity in everything from hiring practices to school leadership.

Jaclyn Borowski is the director of photography and videography for Education Week.

Video

Classroom Technology Video Teachers, Try This: Digital Literacy Lessons for Elementary Students
Students are encountering technology at an early age. It's important they know how to interact safely with a digital world.
3:07
Photo of teacher helping students with their tablet computers.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
Student Well-Being Video How Urban Schools Bring Lessons to Life Through Gardening
School gardens can connect classroom lessons with the wider world while offering lifelong learnings for students.
3:55
Student Well-Being Video What’s Behind the Political Criticisms of Social-Emotional Learning?
The Trump administration says SEL is being used to veil discrimination. What does that mean for schools?
Students from Suelllen Vesperman’s first grade class dance to the Macarena as they participate in an exercise through the InPACT program at North Elementary School in Birch Run, Mich., on March 2, 2023.
Students from Suelllen Vesperman’s first grade class dance to the Macarena as they participate in an exercise through the InPACT program at North Elementary School in Birch Run, Mich., on March 2, 2023.
Emily Elconin for Education Week
Student Well-Being Video The First Rule of SEL for Older Students? Don’t Be Boring
Middle and high schoolers are a much tougher audience for social-emotional-learning lessons.
2 min read
A high school student introduces herself to her classmates and guests in an AP research class.
A high school student introduces herself to her classmates and guests in an AP research class.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed