#BARWE215
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Inquiry Series 3 (2020-21 SY)
    • September: How can we identify and challenge white supremacy culture in ourselves and our institutions?
    • October: How can we as white educators center Black joy in our classrooms and schools?
    • November: How can we more deeply reflect and/or apply what we learned about white supremacy culture and Black Joy?
    • December: How can we identify and challenge white supremacy culture in our curriculum?
    • January: How can we identify and challenge white supremacy culture in our curriculum?
  • Inquiry Resources
    • How to Start a BARWE Group
    • Norms
    • Discussion Protocols
    • Bringing in Coconspirators
    • Facilitators Troubleshooting Guide
  • Summer 2020 Reading Series
    • Summer Reading 2020: Purpose
    • Zoom Meeting 1: Stamped
    • Zoom Meeting 2: Stamped
    • Zoom Meeting 3: We Want to Do More Than Survive
    • Zoom Meeting 4: We Want to Do More Than Survive
  • Inquiry Series 2 (2019-20 SY)
    • September: What does it mean to develop an anti-racist identity as a white educator?
    • October: How do our implicit biases affect our students?
    • November: How could incorporating ethnic studies in our classrooms and schools help make our curriculum more antiracist?
    • December: How can we ensure that our school discipline policies are equitable and do not push girls of color out of school spaces?
    • January: How can we ensure that our schools value Black lives?
    • February: How can we recruit and retain more Black teachers in our schools?
    • March: How can White educators be accountable to their colleagues of color?
    • April: How can we interrupt anti-AAPI and xenophobic narratives in our classrooms and school communities?
    • May: How do we support our students during this crisis and connect to the larger fight to dismantle race and class oppression in our communities?
  • Summer 2019 "Seeing White" Discussion
  • Inquiry Series 1 (2018-19 SY)
    • August 2018: Why do white teachers need to talk about race?
    • September 2018: How can our curriculum challenge dominant and oppressive ideologies?
    • October 2018: How can we identify and challenge implicit bias in our own practice?
    • November 2018: How does whiteness affect our practices, relationships, and expectations in the classroom and the school community?
    • December 2018: How do we disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline?
    • January 2019: How can we ensure that our schools value Black lives?
    • February 2019: Why are teachers of color so important for our schools and how can we increase their numbers?
    • March 2019: How can we support colleagues of color and build anti-racist work environments?
    • April 2019: How can we implement culturally relevant teaching to challenge the culture of power that exists in schools?
    • May 2019: How do we push our schools, classrooms, and communities to incorporate more equitable disciplinary practices?
    • June 2019: How do we move this conversation forward and include more educators?
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Inquiry Series 3 (2020-21 SY)
    • September: How can we identify and challenge white supremacy culture in ourselves and our institutions?
    • October: How can we as white educators center Black joy in our classrooms and schools?
    • November: How can we more deeply reflect and/or apply what we learned about white supremacy culture and Black Joy?
    • December: How can we identify and challenge white supremacy culture in our curriculum?
    • January: How can we identify and challenge white supremacy culture in our curriculum?
  • Inquiry Resources
    • How to Start a BARWE Group
    • Norms
    • Discussion Protocols
    • Bringing in Coconspirators
    • Facilitators Troubleshooting Guide
  • Summer 2020 Reading Series
    • Summer Reading 2020: Purpose
    • Zoom Meeting 1: Stamped
    • Zoom Meeting 2: Stamped
    • Zoom Meeting 3: We Want to Do More Than Survive
    • Zoom Meeting 4: We Want to Do More Than Survive
  • Inquiry Series 2 (2019-20 SY)
    • September: What does it mean to develop an anti-racist identity as a white educator?
    • October: How do our implicit biases affect our students?
    • November: How could incorporating ethnic studies in our classrooms and schools help make our curriculum more antiracist?
    • December: How can we ensure that our school discipline policies are equitable and do not push girls of color out of school spaces?
    • January: How can we ensure that our schools value Black lives?
    • February: How can we recruit and retain more Black teachers in our schools?
    • March: How can White educators be accountable to their colleagues of color?
    • April: How can we interrupt anti-AAPI and xenophobic narratives in our classrooms and school communities?
    • May: How do we support our students during this crisis and connect to the larger fight to dismantle race and class oppression in our communities?
  • Summer 2019 "Seeing White" Discussion
  • Inquiry Series 1 (2018-19 SY)
    • August 2018: Why do white teachers need to talk about race?
    • September 2018: How can our curriculum challenge dominant and oppressive ideologies?
    • October 2018: How can we identify and challenge implicit bias in our own practice?
    • November 2018: How does whiteness affect our practices, relationships, and expectations in the classroom and the school community?
    • December 2018: How do we disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline?
    • January 2019: How can we ensure that our schools value Black lives?
    • February 2019: Why are teachers of color so important for our schools and how can we increase their numbers?
    • March 2019: How can we support colleagues of color and build anti-racist work environments?
    • April 2019: How can we implement culturally relevant teaching to challenge the culture of power that exists in schools?
    • May 2019: How do we push our schools, classrooms, and communities to incorporate more equitable disciplinary practices?
    • June 2019: How do we move this conversation forward and include more educators?
#BARWE215

February: How can we recruit and retain more Black teachers in our schools?​

If this is your first year doing this series, we recommend starting with the August 2018 materials and following the 2018-19 Inquiry Series 1 Discussion Guides. Here is a link to the February 2019 guide.
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Don't forget to give us feedback!

Overview

We are focusing this month on one of the demands of the Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools: Hire and Retain More Black Teachers. This is our second month of collaboration with the Racial Justice Organizing Committee of the Caucus of Working Educators in Philadelphia. 

Racism affects our colleagues and friends as much as it affects the young people we teach. Moreover, the racism BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) educators experience has a ripple effect - as more of them are pushed out of or discouraged from joining the profession, more students are denied the opportunity of having BIPOC as teachers, role models, and mentors. Our primary article this month comes from Professor Michele Foster at the University of Louisville. It outlines the reasons for the lack of black educators in the United States and offers ideas for what to do about it. 

As we said last month, we encourage you to reach out to BIPOC colleagues and begin to foster interracial conversation around antiracist work in your school or organization (if you have not already). As you work to expand the work in this way, be sure you keep in mind our norms - especially the need to maintain humility and work towards being a productive ally, rather than dominating the work. ​

Primary Article

  • Why America Needs More African American Teachers - And How to Recruit and Retain Them

​Guiding Questions

  • Why is recruiting and retaining black educators a priority for anti-racist education activists?
  • What did having BIPOC teachers in school mean to you? If you never had a BIPOC teacher, how did that impact you?
  • What are the factors that help keep BIPOC educators in the profession?
  • What can you do in your setting to hire and retain more BIPOC educators?

Additional Resources

  • Through Our Eyes: Perspectives and Reflections from Black Teachers
  • Black Parents, Teachers, and Students See a Need for More Black Teachers (video)
  • In Isolation: Uniting Male Teachers of Color (video)

Facilitation Information

  • Set a day and time for your group to meet - during lunch, before school, after school, whatever works best for participants. Make sure to send reminders. Also, snacks are always a good idea!​
  • Send this month’s Primary Article to your group. Look through the additional readings to see if there is another reading that might be better suited to your group and its interests.
  • Prepare yourself to facilitate by reading through our Norms and Discussion Protocol.
  • Pass the Hat and collect donations for The Melanated Educators Collective this month. The Melanated Educators Collective is a Philadelphia-based group of BIPOC educators working to support each other and recruit and retain more educators of color in Philadelphia.
  • Complete the Feedback Form.
  • Prepare yourself for March by setting a date and time, inviting colleagues, and looking out for our next Discussion Guide on March 1st.

Pass the Hat

In addition to being accountable to our colleagues and students of color, we believe it is important to be financially accountable to people of color who are doing this work on a daily basis. Each month, we will recommend an organization led by people of color, in education and beyond, doing the work of pushing for justice.

At the end of each monthly discussion, pass a hat (or a box) and collect donations for the designated organization. You can then have one group member go online and donate in the name of your school. If you want, you can add “Building Anti-Racist White Educators” after your school name.

This month, we encourage you to donate to The Melanated Educators Collective (MEC) this month. The Melanated Educators Collective is a Philadelphia-based group of BIPOC educators working to support each other and recruit and retain more educators of color in Philadelphia. MEC has partnered with Black Lives Matter Philly to launch the Philly Black Educators Fellowship starting in March 2020.
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If you are looking to buy refreshments for your session, we recommend supporting businesses owned by people of color, especially Black-owned businesses, if at all possible. In Philly, we recommend Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse, Franny Lou’s Porch, and Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books.
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