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Even though diversity and inclusion were not stated in the curriculum when I was in the program more than 10 years ago (South Korea became quite diverse now but it was hard to see a single non-Korean around me back then), we did have a multicultural curriculum. However, it was more like for widening perspective on other cultures as global citizens, not for building understanding for other cultures to live harmonious in the same country. It was more like "It is fun to know about other cultures. This might be helpful for me when I go to the countries with those cultures. But, for now, I can forget about that because I live here and they live there."
Since my home country is mostly comprised of Koreans, last week's article and video clips seemed to cast me new challenges I didn't have to consider in the past in my home country. However, I think I can connect my thoughts on students needing role-models they can relate to from teachers from the same socioeconomic status, not only from the same race.

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In both of the videos, there is a focus on the need to recruit and retain teachers of color.  The Recruiting Teachers of Color video focuses on the Increase Teachers of Color Act and goes more into detail about how to increase the recruitment and retention of teachers of color through addressing the systematic and structural problems present in education.  This bill was guided by community input and hopes to clear a track to help candidates of color complete their programs through marketing grants, scholarships and other supports.  The bill dedicates funds to expand existing underfunded programs, increase awareness, as well as provide mentorship to lessen attrition.  These areas of focus aim to address how “mainstream teacher education programs are defined by Whiteness…the power it has to frame how preservice teachers of color are recognized and ultimately treated in teacher education programs” (Brown, 2014, p. 336-337).  Both videos emphasize the need for teachers’ diversity to reflect that of the students to address achievement and opportunity gaps.  They share the power of having people in positions of authority that students of color can relate to and who look like them.  Senator Patricia Torres Ray and Brown (2014) also speak to the “essentializing racial tokenism discourse…of teachers of color as primarily role models for students of color… helps to mask the actual ways that they might make a pedagogic difference for both K-12 students of color, as well for their White counterparts (p. 338).  Given this, the videos and article share that it is important to take seriously this call for recruiting and retaining more teachers of color through “first recognizing that teacher training does not occur in a race-neutral context…Second, teachers of color must be recognized as both individuals and members of historic groups that likely possess knowledge and experiences that are different from but complementary to those found in the dominant society. And third, programs must take care not to essentialize preservice teachers of color but recognize that all teachers – regardless of their background or race – require appropriate and relevant teacher training” (Brown, 2014, p. 340-341).

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My experience in my teacher education program aligns relatively closely to what Sleeter (2017) shares in Critical Race Theory and the Whiteness of Teacher Education.  “In general, teacher education programs attempt to prepare their predominantly White cohorts to teach racially and ethnically diverse students through a course or two (often a foundation course) on multicultural education, culturally responsive pedagogy, teaching English language learners, or social justice teaching” (Sleeter, 2017, p. 156).  My program prided itself on focusing on social justice; however, diversity, inclusion and multicultural curriculum were only addressed in certain courses and in certain situations.  The majority of my education with diversity, inclusion and multicultural curriculum occurred in my field experiences and in my first years of teaching.  One area that my program was strong in was understanding the communities that we were working in.  Each year, my program tasked pre-service teachers with engaging in the community that they would completing their field placement in.  This engagement included volunteering at the local YMCA or Boys and Girls Club, helping out in after school programs, as well as completing a community analysis where you would explore the community and its history.

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"The dominant, (dis)embodied and normalized culture of Whiteness that pervades contemporary teacher education, challenges the goal of of preparing teachers (of color) to teach in a way that is relevant, critical and humanizing, while also socially and individually transformative" (Brown, 2014, p. 327).

Both videos highlight the need to recruit teachers of color, highlighting the impact that having teachers of color can have on students' social, emotional, and academic well-being, but only the Minnesota video begins to address some of the underlying reasons that these underrepresentation of teachers exists. There are prevailing structural reasons why more teachers of color are not going into the field, key among them is the prevailing culture of Whiteness in the teaching profession. Teachers of color can feel alienated/disconnected from teacher preparation programs that often do not connect to their cultural values (Brown, 2014). In addition, they often face racism in their programs and as they move into the field which, as stated in the Minnesota video, contributes to teachers of color leaving the profession at a high rate (Brown, 2014). Systematic, structural changes are needed to really begin to solve these issues.

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Going through the BBE program at UT, I felt like social justice, diversity, inclusion, and critical multicultural teaching strategies were at the forefront of our classes. From discussing policy that either protected/ harmed our bilingual students, to having strong Latinx professors and cooperative teachers as role models, to having multiple projects that required connecting with the Austin community (writing non-fiction books about the community about quinceñeras, graffiti, música, etc.; interviewing parents to incorporate students' funds of knowledge in our placements; designing culturally relevant thematic units; a class specifically on Latino Children's literature; discussing our own biliteracy journeys; etc.),these classes made me reflect on my own privileges and helped me form new connections/passion for helping my community. Classes were taught in both Spanish and English, with a strong emphasis of "leading by example", where critical, culturally relevant practices were the norm. While there is always room for improvement (some classes could have taken a more critical standpoint, greater connection between classes/placement, who has access to these classes, etc.) I am really grateful for the experiences, teachers, and cohort that made me into the teacher I am today! <3

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I am old, so there were no focus courses on diversity, multicultural curriculum. My learning came directly from my student teaching & unfortunately the 1st years of teaching experiences.

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Recruiting and retaining quality teachers of color in Baltimore City

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Recruiting and retaining quality teachers of color in Baltimore City

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Recruiting and retaining quality teachers of color in Baltimore City