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DIVERSITY MATTERS
February 2020
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New podcast from MIT highlights METCO as a national example
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Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum. Jos
é
Luis Vilson. Geoffrey Canada.
These are a few of the inspiring experts interviewed on a new podcast about the art and craft of teaching called
TeachLab
.
Host
Justin Reich
of
MIT Teaching Systems Lab
interviews influential educators about how teachers can become better at what they do, and new episodes are posted every Thursday. All the conversations are incredible, but we are particularly excited about
episode 4,
which features METCO President & CEO
Milly Arbaje-Thomas.
Listen and get an overview of our vision for METCO Headquarters as a resource center for administrators, educators, and families from Boston and the suburbs. She mentions a great meeting with the
Hingham
School Committee last fall, and praises superintendents for committing to the hard work of inclusion. She urges the METCO community to appreciate how special our partnership is. "While the world tries to get everything together around racism in this country," she says, "we have a little bit of a solution happening right now."
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Second annual "Living the Legacy of METCO" conference available now!
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Registration is open for METCO, Inc.'s professional development event for educators and administrators in METCO districts. Sign up for only $50 per person (or $400 for a group of 10) and connect today's classroom practice with the inspiring vision of METCO's founding. Participants will:
- Rediscover the grassroots movement that brought students of color from Boston to suburban schools in the peak of the Civil Rights Movement
- Build skills to counter implicit bias, blind spots, and stereotypes in order to cultivate culturally responsive classrooms and schools
- Identify strategies to ensure a welcoming community for students of color and a richly diverse educational environment for all students
Featuring Keynote Speaker Adolph Brown, Jr.
(top right),
whose energetic and thought-provoking presentations on bias and equity have gotten raves around the world.
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LIVING THE LEGACY OF METCO
Monday, June 1, 2020, 8AM-12:30PM
Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center
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Teaching Black history
: slavery, and beyond
Last year's 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved African to North America inspired a monumental piece of historical journalism: the New York Times'
1619 Project
. Anyone teaching social studies should spend time exploring its articles and teaching guides. Some districts, such as
Buffalo, NY,
have begun including it in the formal
high school curriculum. For black students, the approach has
been revelatory.
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Of course, all students need to understand slavery's role in our nation's story
—
a learning process that is painful for students and teachers alike. The
Southern Policy Law Center's Teaching Tolerance
project developed an amazing resource called
Teaching Hard History: American Slavery
to help educators navigate the complex, emotional, and essential work of helping students connect the reality of African bondage to the many ways it has shaped our world today.
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And don't forget that Black History is so much more than slavery. The African American experience is rich and profound, and spans every subject—math, science, the arts, architecture, engineering, politics, philosophy—and every month of the year. The
Boston Public Library
has compiled a
great book list
of recent memoirs, poetry collections, essays, novels, non-fiction works, and children's books to help every teacher in your town get an inclusive reading list. And
KIPP
created one just for
children's books
.
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White communities' ambivalence about integration
The lead editor of The 1619 Project,
Nikole Hannah-Jones,
had previously won a MacArthur "Genius Grant" for her writing on school desegregation, drawing on her own experience as a parent in New York faced with pressure to choose "high-performing schools" for her children. She is a must-read expert for anyone hoping to understand the forces that enable, and block, racial integration. "
Schools are where civil rights become intimate," she says in a
recent interview.
Evidence is mounting that white parents have a lot of work to do to uncover biases that exacerbate inequity. The
Harvard Graduate School of Education
released a
report
this month highlighting the ways that white parents' choices undermine their stated preference for integrated classrooms. Grappling with this difficult reality is essential if we want to make the most of METCO.
You can explore how your own district's demographics have changed over the decades with
this amazing tool
. You might be surprised at the evolution of your community!
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The challenges of being an anti-racist teacher
The bottom line is that if we want to teach children how to build a more equitable world, we have to deliberately build our skills. An "anti-racist" orientation can be a challenge if that hasn't been an orientation you've had to develop. Fortunately there are many resources available. Members of the
National Council of Teachers of English
boiled down three "must-do"s in their piece called
"Being an Anti-Racist Educator Is a Verb
"
(complete with a video,
left
).
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The University of Georgia's
Bettina Love
reminds us that this work is much more than intellectual in
this essay for Education Week
(free registration required); if we don't care for our emotional health, we will fail our students. "Teachers need more professional development for understanding inequality in order to confront it," Love writes. "But teachers of all backgrounds also need healing because they are trying to fight the biggest problems in this country one student at a time, with little to no emotional support."
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METCO Presents:
Mr. Joy
by Daniel Beaty
WED., MARCH 4:
Concord
TUES., MARCH 10:
Natick
THURS. MARCH 12:
Hingham
MON., MARCH 16:
Westwood
METCO and
ArtsEmerson
are sponsoring free performances of this funny, touching, and thought-provoking one-woman show about t
he different perspectives and prejudices of the diverse people who live in a Brooklyn city block. Appropriate for ages 14 and up.
RSVP
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THURS., MARCH 19:
Advocacy Day
Boston.
J
oin constituents from 33 suburbs and Boston to advocate for METCO funding. Speakers share stories of impact, friendships, academic success, and the benefits of integrated communities, and families and neighbors meet with elected representatives to make the case.
LEARN MORE
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THURS.-FRI., MARCH 26 & 27:
National Conference on School Integration
Washington, DC. The
National Coalition on School Diversity
convenes more than 400 people from across the country to discuss and strengthen strategies for promoting racial and socioeconomic school integration.
LEARN MORE
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FRI., MARCH 28:
METCO Presents:
The Parable of the Sower
Boston.
ArtsEmerson
hosts a
n Afro-futurist musical performance adapted from pioneering sci-fi author
Octavia Butler
by civil rights icon
Bernice Johnson Reagon
and her daughter
Toshi Reagon.
$10 includes exclusive pre-show reception for the METCO community.
GET TICKETS
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MON.-TUES., APRIL 27 & 28:
RIDES Conference
Cambridge. This year's theme is "Beyond Desegregation: Promising Practices for Diverse and Equitable Schools."
LEARN MORE
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REGISTER NOW FOR MAY 2:
IDEAS Conference
Waltham.
This year's theme is "De
colonizing Our Minds: Challenging Dominant Narratives," and sessions will explore the impact of race, culture, and equity on student engagement, learning, and achievement.
LEARN MORE
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Nikole Hannah-Jones has written many profound stories about school segregation at the New York Times. Here is one unforgettable example, from Longreads Story Night in 2015.
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Diversity Matters
is a monthly newsletter from
METCO Headquarters that
shares stories, resources, and announcements to help suburban school districts make the most of racial integration.
Click here to subscribe
!
If you have information you would like to share in next month's newsletter,
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