A Commitment to Justice: Educator to Educator

I am holding you accountable for making students feel safe and supported. Honor you students' experiences by listening and learning with them. Talk to students about issues that are going on in the world around them. Support them in thinking deeper and more reflectively about a variety of issues while helping them to recognize their role and responsibility in creating a more equitable society.  I am holding you accountable for your own learning. Read, research, engage with different media sources, observe with an open mind, and then ask questions. Conversations and experiences with diverse groups of people are very important and can be very impactful, but they can fall flat if you have not done your due diligence by taking responsibility for your own learning outside of those conversations and experiences. Do your homework. It shows that you are truly investing in learning.  I am holding you accountable for calling out injustice. Silence is communication. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, " In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."  Name the injustices you see and make CLEAR that you do not support them, often. Use your voice wherever it can be heard.  I am holding you accountable for "calling-in" your colleagues who exhibit or embody racist, sexist, classist, xenophobic, heterosexist, ableistic, and otherwise intolerant ideas or behavior.  When your colleague shows prejudice, discriminatory, or stereotypical behavior, talk to them about it. Question it. Ask for clarification. Reflect back to them exactly what they are portraying. Remember that they might feel defensive because being called on your biases or bigotry can be tough. Do this in caring and thoughtful ways. And on the flip side, if you are being called in, check your ego. It's not about you. It's about the work of creating a more just society.