Black Teachers Matter

As I impose the 39th week of school- aka Summer Home School, I am thinking a lot about remote learning.  As the school chancellor and his minions said last night in a technically challenged info session, no one knows what fall will really look like. Parents are being asked to make decisions about remote learning versus hybrid instruction without having any information to make these decisions.

But I solder on and force my kid to stay engaged with some type of instruction and other kids while we shelter in place before embarking on our next camping trip.  So far in addition to his regularly scheduled violin lessons (which sadly replaced the Suzuki institute in the woods) he has:

• History of Composers (taught by his private violin teacher through BkCM)
• Vote For Me! A free course on the workings of our political system through Varsity Tutors
• Puzzling With Pythagoras- A 2 day fun math class  through Outschool
• STEAM: Activism and Wireframing and Coding course sponsored by MoCADA.
• SCAMP! = SCHOOL AND CAMP ROLLED INTO ONE: taught by an artist friend

Am I a tiger mom?  Probably...Well actually I'm making him take these courses so I can get my own work done, preparing to teach remotely this fall.  I don't lurk while he is "in class", but what I've noticed in passing is the stark difference of instruction between face to face school instruction and these new Zoom classrooms.  

The biggest difference is that there are black teachers and a diverse student make-up.  Of the five classes, he has three black instructors, and in one class, not only is he the only Asian student, he is the only non-black student.  He has NEVER had a black teacher in his 6 years of public school, which if you think about it, is disgraceful really.  Thinking back, the only teacher of color he's had were Asian ELA and Math teachers, and a black interim social worker who he never saw. We have a pretty segregated school system in New York City.  It took Zoom to create parity.  

Looking further back at my own K-12 education, my hazy memory can only name one black teacher- and she wasn't even a subject teacher, but my cheerleading squad coach.  WTF!.....oh and there is my fifth grade teacher Mrs. Jaworski, who I didn't regard as a teacher of color but see her only as the best teacher ever.  This is back when St. Louis decided to desegregate schools by bussing  black kids from the city to the white suburbs;  just the kids, not any teachers.  No white kids and teachers were bussed into the city, thereby making it a half-assed desegregation theory...

It is so important to have teachers of color, especially in the current awakening of the Black Lives Matter movement.  Yes, Black lives have mattered, and have since... always, but how can we teach our kids this, if they don't know any black teachers to look up to? I see my kid being exposed to different styles of teaching through these online classes and I'm also reminded of the inequity of the school system.

I've been preparing for my fall classes, and soon I'll be facilitating Remote teaching workshops to Faculty.  The scramble to remote teaching and learning back in March was a reality-check for those who have been using the old methods of Lecture based teaching.  Because faculty were so freaked out and needing new methods to use in an online platform, remote teaching started a much needed conversation about Equity, Inclusion, Diversity and Universal Design when it comes to student/teacher interaction.  We are now discussing trauma based instruction- a concept that would have been laughed out of the room if it came up 10 years ago.  Some, if not most, faculty who have been teaching for decades never had to think about these issues but now is forefront in every conversation. We are starting from ground zero through Zoom teaching.

 

This is why remote learning is a valuable instruction method, as we reflect on what we have been doing wrong and how to do it better.  I'm not saying we should all be remote 100% in the fall, but just saying that we should be using this technology to even the educational playing field.

Remote-Hybrid-Outdoor-with stadium seating.

We just returned from our "workcation", where we spent a week digging ditches, weeding, and roughing it in a tent with no plumbing.  We returned to discussions of will NYC Public  Schools open?  And it's not looking good....

I also went on my first bike ride since our return, and rode first, past lots of bars and restaurants creating outdoor spaces, some makeshift lots consisting of random pallets and traffic cones, and others much more elaborate with plants and matching decor.    

Then I continued on my Western bike loop around Flushing Meadows and Laguardia Airport and thought of an "outside the box"  idea about school...  Since Covid is transmitted primarily indoors in crowded spaces for prolonged amounts of time, why not take schools outdoors? As I rode past Citi Field, I wondered what is the seating capacity of that huge empty space? 

Answer: Citi Field capacity= 41,922

And that's just the seats in the bleachers, so if you set up seats on the field, a few schools could occupy a huge outdoor space like that until at least mid October when it starts getting cold.

Here are the numbers for other outdoor spaces which are currently not being used at least until the end of the year as most sporting events have been canceled: 

Arthur Ashe capacity = 23,771

Yankee Stadium capacity = 54,251

Icahn Stadium capacity = 5000

Forest Hills Stadium capacity = 14,000

MCU Stadium (Coney Island) capacity= 7,000

New York City is also a place full of parks and green spaces.  Here are the list of the largest public parks by size:

Pelham Bay Park, Bronx= 2,772 acres

Greenbelt, Staten Island = 2,316 acres

Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx= 1,146 acres

Flushing Meadows Park, Queens= 897 acres

Central Park, Manhattan = 843 acres

Freshkills Park, Staten Island = 813 acres

Marine Park, Brooklyn = 798 acres

Bronx Park, Bronx = 718 acres

Alley Pond Park, Queens = 655 acres

Forest Park, Queens = 544 acres.

and in addition to all these parks, every neighborhood has playgrounds and public parks that could easily be utilized- all with water fountains and bathrooms (probably cleaner than most middle school bathrooms according to Hiro).  If restaurants and bars can construct outdoor seating for 10-20 people within a matter of days, I don't see why the DOE couldn't do the same. 

There was a movement for creating schools in the great outdoors that began in Wisconsin in the 1920's and never really took off.  The children in younger grades can really benefit from learning outdoors, and as we dive more and more into technology, something this radical could be a refreshing change.  Perhaps we can rethink what education is and instead of adding more technology and hand sanitizers to the mix, retreating back to washing our hands with soap and water and engaging with nature could get our kids back to learning about what really matters.