Читать книгу Five Practices for Equity-Focused School Leadership - Sharon I. Radd - Страница 16

For many, the default way of defining racism and other forms of discrimination involves overt, intentional acts of individual meanness, exclusion, and unfair treatment. You might even think of organized white supremacists and people who commit hate crimes. It is easy to think that only bad people who carry bad attitudes are the ones who perpetuate racism, sexism, class discrimination, ableism, and other forms of inequity.

Thinking about inequity this way allows you to think that you are not a part of it, and although you might take a role in fixing it, you can continue to think that you are doing nothing to contribute to it. Still, science has concluded inarguably that everyone carries unconscious biases; these kinds of unconscious biases contribute to negative judgment, exclusion, and discrimination.

This happens in many ways. In Meadowbrook, teachers often assume that families who live in low-income housing are "not educated" and do not have the intellectual capacity to help their children learn to read. And conversely, they assume that families in higher-income households are fully engaged in supporting their children's education. They also direct these perceptions to the children. It's not uncommon for the same teacher to say in a professional learning session, "I believe all kids can learn" and then later say to his teaching peer, "I have tried so hard to teach him, but honestly, Jamal is never going to make it past multiplication and division." Other educators say things like, "You can tell in 1st grade which kids aren't going to make it." Or "I'm not being racist, but it sure seems like the kids from the apartments just aren't very motivated, so they don't work very hard." These judgments and opinions can come from a mean-spirited and judgmental place, or they can be benevolent and concerned. Either way, they limit some students' possibilities while giving others the benefit of the doubt.