My Advocacy and Activism

Problem: Teaching is an apolitical act and unbiased, as such there is no need for advocacy about it... just do your job.

As outlined in the justification section, problems in society are reflected within the system that is school unless we actively work against that outcome. Palmer eloquently expressed how I feel about this fact, "if I care about teaching, I must care not only for my students and my subject but also for the conditions, inner and outer, that bear on the work teachers do." (p.182)
This section outlines three areas of advocacy and activism that I must engage for the success of my students:
1) Activism in my school:

• Facilitate parent access to school and conferences
• Encourage 'care' of students and their cultures throughout school
• Analyze school structure for racism and bias (in tracking, in discipline, in achievement)
• Work to change areas that racism and bias exist
• Argue for bilingual education

2) Activism outside of my school:

• Fight the deficit theory where ever it is found (deficit theory blames student's 'lower cultures' for their failure instead of working to change a system that fails them)
• Argue for a more socially just society in all its forms (fight oppression)

3) Activism within myself:

• Reflect on my attitudes and practices/soul search for bias and racism - change it when found
• Know socio-historico-political realities of the students in my class, because it has an impact on their lives today
• Become multicultural myself - learn about other cultures, confront my 'norms', see reality from muliple perspectives
• Make choices against the 'path of least resistance'
• Be hopeful

In light of the final goal of being hopeful, here are a few quotes:

"in my own work, I have seen the effectiveness of talking about racism and teaching others to do the same. I have seen the impact on educators I have worked with who are now transforming their curricula and interacting with students of color in ways that facilitate rather than hinder those children's academic success... I remain hopeful." -Tatum (p.xix)

"All of us want a better, more peaceful world for our children. If we want peace, we must work for justice." -Tatum (p. 127)

"hope can be sold, it can be taught or at least spread, it can survive in the strangest and most unlikely places. It is a force that does not disappear. I keep that idea as a counter to the reality-mongers, who try to sell the idea that compassion is a form of weakness and hope and justice are illusions." -Kohl (p.43)

"if you look for strengths and filter the world through a prism of hope, you will see and encourage the unexpected flowering of child life in the most unlikely places." -Kohl (p.44)