Cultivating Success: The Journey of Novice Black Educators
Summary
The retention of novice Black teachers is central to our discourse in today's episode, where we delve into the systemic factors influencing their inaugural years in the educational profession. I am honored to welcome Dr. Keisha Chandler, an esteemed executive education leader and researcher, whose commitment to fostering equitable learning environments is both profound and inspiring. Her research, encapsulated in The One Room Schoolhouse initiative, elucidates the critical conditions necessary for these educators to not merely endure but truly flourish within their roles. Through our conversation, we explore the need for authentic mentorship, supportive leadership, and the cultivation of safe spaces that empower Black educators to thrive. This episode serves as a clarion call to reimagine our schools as nurturing sanctuaries for both students and educators, thereby advancing the vital mission of educational equity.
Additional Notes
The One Room Schoolhouse presents a compelling exploration of the systemic challenges that novice Black teachers encounter in their initial years within the educational profession. The episode features Dr. Keisha Chandler, a distinguished advocate for educational innovation and equity, who shares her extensive research on the retention of novice Black educators. The discussion delves into the historical context of Black education, drawing parallels to the experiences of Dr. Chandler's own parents who attended a one-room schoolhouse in South Carolina during the era of segregation. This personal narrative provides a poignant backdrop to the contemporary issues at hand, as Dr. Chandler emphasizes the significance of mentorship, authentic support systems, and the cultivation of safe spaces within schools. The conversation elucidates the necessity of addressing the needs of Black teachers, particularly during their formative years, to ensure they not only survive but thrive in their roles as educators. Through the lens of Dr. Chandler's research, the episode advocates for transforming educational environments into nurturing spaces that foster both student and teacher success, thereby illuminating the critical importance of representation and support in the teaching profession.
Takeaways:
- The One Room Schoolhouse initiative aims to enhance the retention of novice Black teachers, addressing systemic challenges they face in their first years of teaching.
- Dr. Keisha Chandler's research emphasizes the critical need for authentic mentorship and support systems for novice Black educators in urban school settings.
- The podcast highlights the importance of creating inclusive environments where teachers of color feel empowered, supported, and connected to professional networks.
- Participants in Dr. Chandler's study noted that authentic collegial relationships were more valuable than support received from school leadership, indicating a need for systemic change.
- The conversation underscores the need for educational leaders to actively model empathy and care, ensuring that novice Black teachers feel seen and valued in their roles.
- The podcast discusses the generational shifts in teaching, emphasizing that today's Gen Z educators prioritize their well-being and are more likely to leave unsupportive environments.
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Transcript
This season's theme, Open Doors and Unlimited Possibilities, isn't just for students.
Speaker A:It starts with the educators who guide them.
Speaker A:What does it take to hold the door open long enough for novice black teachers not just to survive, but to thrive?
Speaker A:Let's find out.
Speaker A:A new episode of the Wheelhouse begins right now.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to give us a listen.
Speaker A:Season 10 features a team of four like minded friends and colleagues, Kathy Mone, Michael Pipa, Dr. Alicia Munro and yours truly.
Speaker A:We've opened the conversation this season to think about empowering educators to cultivate open doors and unlimited possibilities.
Speaker A:You know, the Wheelhouse exists to create an inclusive community of empowered educators who believe that together we can disrupt the transactional herding nature of schooling to create districts, schools and classrooms where each student feels confident, optimistic, capable, well supported and emboldened to be and to become who they're meant to be.
Speaker A:Episodes of the Wheelhouse will explore bodies of knowledge and expertise that align to this vision and to these guiding principles.
Speaker A:Our team and our guests are committed to this fundamental challenge to realize what we want for each student to experience in school.
Speaker A:In today's episode, we welcome Dr. Kesha Chandler, an executive education leader, researcher and advocate for innovation in K12 learning.
Speaker A:With more than two decades of experience as a teacher, coach and systems level strategist, she's dedicated her career to strengthening literacy, leadership development and equitable learning environments across schools and districts nationwide.
Speaker A:Dr. Chandler has previously served in leadership roles with the D.C. public Schools, the Leadership Academy and ASCD where she designed large scale professional learning ecosystems that that impacted tens of thousands of educators.
Speaker A:She also serves on the graduate faculty at Trinity Washington University where she teaches courses in reading, children's literature and assessments preparing the next generation of K12 leaders.
Speaker A:A published scholar and frequent speaker at national conferences, Dr. Chandler brings a unique blend of classroom experience, research expertise and systemic leadership to the conversation about how schools can transform to meet the needs of students and educators today.
Speaker A:We'll focus our conversation in this episode on her research the One Room Schoolhouse, which explores the retention of novice black teachers and the systemic factors that shape their first years in the profession.
Speaker A:This work spotlights advancing the conditions under which teachers thrive and how we ought to reimagine schools as places that cultivate both student and educator success.
Speaker A:And now, episode 10 and a great conversation with Dr. Keisha Chandler and our Wheelhouse team, Kathy mone, Michael Pipa, Dr. Alicia Monroe and me.
Speaker A:You're not going to want to miss it.
Speaker A:Take a listen.
Speaker A:Good morning.
Speaker A:I'm Grant Chandler.
Speaker A:And welcome to the wheelhouse.
Speaker A:It is another day in the recording studio.
Speaker A:And this one, I say it every week, right?
Speaker A:I say it every week.
Speaker A:Every week.
Speaker A:I love this.
Speaker A:I love this.
Speaker A:But this one's extra special because I've got a family member who's here today, Right?
Speaker A:I am so, so excited.
Speaker A:So first, let me welcome the Whale House team.
Speaker A:My dear friends and colleagues, Kathy Moni, Alicia Monroe and Michael Piper.
Speaker A:Good morning.
Speaker B:Good morning.
Speaker C:I was waiting to make sure we were in sync every.
Speaker A:It's like a choir, right?
Speaker A:It's like a choir.
Speaker A:How are you?
Speaker C:Direct us.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker C:So good.
Speaker C:Like, I know no one can see us, but everywhere, everyone is.
Speaker C:This looks like the sun is shining down upon everyone.
Speaker C:It's just gorgeous.
Speaker D:Just gorgeous.
Speaker A:Too bad that they can't see us because we are really cute this morning.
Speaker E:I know.
Speaker E:Looking good.
Speaker A:Oh, I. I even did my hair today for a.
Speaker A:For an audio podcast, Right?
Speaker A:I am certain.
Speaker A:So excited to talk about the work that we're going to talk about, but even more excited to welcome Dr. Kesha Chandler to the wheelhouse space.
Speaker A:Good morning, my dear sister.
Speaker D:Good morning, everyone.
Speaker D:Good morning.
Speaker D:Thank you for having me.
Speaker A:We're so happy you are here.
Speaker A:We are so happy you are here.
Speaker D:Thank you for having me.
Speaker A:So not only is the other Dr. Chandler, not only is she just really, really, really, but she's done some beautiful, amazing work that really needs even more attention drawn to it than she has already garnered.
Speaker A:And she calls that work the One Room Schoolhouse.
Speaker A:And it is a study which I'll let her describe for you.
Speaker A:But it's a study about novice black teachers and the experience.
Speaker A:The experiences of novice black teachers in schools across the country.
Speaker A:And so we'll just start with Dr. Chandler.
Speaker A:Kesha.
Speaker D:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker D:Please, Kesha, for today.
Speaker A:Why was this?
Speaker A:Yeah, for today only.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker D:Kesha?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:What inspired you to focus on such an amazing area?
Speaker A:The experiences of novice black teachers in the United States.
Speaker D:Absolutely.
Speaker D:So my research is centered around.
Speaker D:First of all, it was action research and it's centered around novice black teachers in urban school districts in their first to fifth year.
Speaker D:And the reason was because one, it's mostly personal.
Speaker D:I'm going to start there.
Speaker D:It's obvious I'm black.
Speaker D:Secondly, it's based on my parents.
Speaker D:My parents were reared in King Street, South Carolina, population 3,000.
Speaker D: uated from high school around: Speaker D:I'm going to take a step back to when they were in elementary school and literally went to a one room schoolhouse.
Speaker D:And anyone who knows the history that they are currently racing, but the history of the segregated South.
Speaker D:Literally black children went to school in a one room schoolhouse, most often in a church.
Speaker D:And so they had the same teacher that literally taught the multi grades.
Speaker D:So the grade band often was 1 to 8, 1 to 6 or however it was structured in that town.
Speaker D:Hearing the stories of my father, my mother, my father's responsibility was getting the logs to light the fireplace.
Speaker D:My mother went to a different school, church in her community.
Speaker D:But my mother's aunt actually was the teacher for her school church.
Speaker D:And I asked my mother, well, was your aunt or slash my grand aunt certified?
Speaker D:You know, because at the time I knew I always wanted to be a teacher, which I turned out to be a teacher of course.
Speaker D:And she said no, she was just the town's teacher.
Speaker D:And so I just found that very fascinating.
Speaker D:I just used to sit and listen to all of their stories.
Speaker D:And my mother was so fond of every single teacher she always had and can remember the stories about all of her teachers.
Speaker D:And it was just so fascinating to me because she had all black teachers.
Speaker D:Now I'm going to fast forward to my childhood.
Speaker D:I didn't have all black teachers.
Speaker D:I had a total of five black teachers from K12, from actually pre K to 12.
Speaker D:And I just didn't have that fond, fond experience.
Speaker D:But the fond experience I did have of my black teachers were because of those.
Speaker D:The five I had was because they were black.
Speaker D:And so then my daughter, fast forward to her experience, she had probably a total of five as well.
Speaker D:So that caused me to go a little deeper, like, okay, it's something about those relationships, identifying with people who look like you.
Speaker D:So that was really the cause of me wanted to get down to, okay, what does this look like?
Speaker D:The other reason I focused on from the first year to the fifth year, a lot of times teachers leave in that third year.
Speaker D:I left the very first time.
Speaker D:At that third year I went into the business world.
Speaker D:So, you know, I thought I wanted to make a little more money and was fooled when I started missing the Christmas holiday.
Speaker D:So I ended up coming back and all that good stuff when I realized, wait a minute, I don't have off Columbus Day, Veterans Day, all that good stuff, right?
Speaker D:So after I left for two years, I ended up coming back.
Speaker D:But nonetheless I was tricked, I was bamboozled, whatever.
Speaker D:I came back to education.
Speaker D:But at the same time it was something about that third year where I felt not as supported.
Speaker D:But there are many people who do not come back at all.
Speaker D:So I wanted to examine also what happens in those years 3, 4 and 5.
Speaker D:And so that's where I started to focus on years three, four and five as well.
Speaker A:I mean, the data is pretty clear, right?
Speaker A:I mean, there's such a mass exodus of teachers of any race race leaving at year three and never coming back.
Speaker A:But when there's such a shortage of teachers of color to begin with, then we can't afford.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We can't afford when any of these good teachers leave.
Speaker A:But we cannot afford that to happen.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Especially for our teachers of color who are already much smaller in number than.
Speaker D:They should be at the word shortage grant.
Speaker D: at I also started noticing in: Speaker D:And oftentimes when I started traveling, especially to the Midwest and out west, I would often be the only person of color I would see in a lot of these schools.
Speaker D:And I was perplexed from leaving the east coast and starting to shift and move.
Speaker D:I was astonished, right?
Speaker D:Like, what is happening?
Speaker D:Where are the teachers that look like me, but I'm looking at babies that look like me.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:And the students would just run to me and gravitate like, hey, it's so good to see you.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:And oftentimes I would have babies, complete strangers run up and give me hugs.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, we, you know, for white people, we kind of take that for granted, right.
Speaker A:That we go to schools and there's going to be a lot of people in those schools, adult wise, that look like us, but we take that for granted.
Speaker A:And of course.
Speaker A:Well, we'll leave that there for right now.
Speaker A:In your work, the one room schoolhouse, you mentioned three pillars.
Speaker A:It's all focused around three pillars in that research.
Speaker A:Could you talk to us just a little bit about what those are and then we're just going to engage in some great conversation.
Speaker D:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker D:So what I had.
Speaker D:So okay, let me take a step back.
Speaker D:So I had around 8 to 10 participants.
Speaker D:So let's talk about what that research looked like.
Speaker D:There were six weeks of professional learning and eight to 10 participants that would come in.
Speaker D:They were all teachers in their first to fifth year black teachers that identified as black teachers in urban school districts from the east coast all the way down through, I think, Louisiana.
Speaker D:So we covered multiple regions.
Speaker D:We didn't have any west coast participants because of time zone.
Speaker D:So I wanted to keep them in the central time zone and the east coast time zone.
Speaker D:So we met on zoom at a set date, day of week and time per week.
Speaker D:Every other week we met and we had a topic set for each one of those weeks, and they knew the topic.
Speaker D:So we would meet for, I believe it was an hour and a half, and I'm trying to remember, and we had the topics already identified and we would do a survey and we had a different facilitator each week, and we would have great conversation on each topic.
Speaker D:And I was just a listening ear.
Speaker D:Sometimes I would get involved, but most times I just listen.
Speaker D:Taking notes, of course, and what came out of the notes, of course, and the survey results, the three pillars that you speak of, what came from those participants is that these teachers identified that they need support from leadership and true mentorship.
Speaker D:Not the type of mentorship that you.
Speaker D:You receive, you know, from your assigned mentor that shows, oh, here's where you sign in per day, here's where you get your paper, you know, your rhema paper.
Speaker D:But they needed real mentorship.
Speaker D:They need authentic professional learning, culturally relevant, job embedded.
Speaker D:Not that they need versus, you know, the traditional diverse, you know, versus the traditional six hour, you know, that type.
Speaker D:Then they needed authentic relationships and safe spaces.
Speaker D:What they found more, the most valuable were those collegial relationships.
Speaker D:Authentic collegial relationships.
Speaker D:They learned more from their colleagues than they did from their leaders.
Speaker D:Every single participant, and this was most frightening for me, did not find value from their principal.
Speaker D:And that was the most disheartening part for me.
Speaker A:I mean, you think about it, and, you know, we've been talking in the wheelhouse, well, for 10 seasons about how important belonging is.
Speaker A:Yeah, Right.
Speaker A:And, you know, here's just another.
Speaker A:Another lens, another very specific lens to think about how important authentic relationships and belonging really are, not just for students, but for adults too.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:And a lot of our facilitators, of course, we're all former principals.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:So hearing, having the facilitators in the room and hearing the conversations from these teachers were, I think were also.
Speaker D:That was valuable for the facilitators, hearing those conversations from them.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:But then also giving their perspective as well.
Speaker D:But I think it was great for them to hear from these young people.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:We had only one millennial in the group, but the rest were all Gen Z.
Speaker D:So that was also undergirding something that unexpected that came out of my research that I didn't expect to learn myself was, hey, there's something here generational.
Speaker D:So something called reverse mentorship came that term, reverse mentorship, where Gen Z can afford to mentor millennials and Gen X, we can learn from Generation Z for sure.
Speaker D:And because this is the first time where we have Gen Z teachers teaching Gen Z students.
Speaker D:That's the only generation that actually is teaching their own students.
Speaker D:The only generation for the first time in history teaching their own because of the large population, right?
Speaker D:This is the first time.
Speaker D:So it was very valuable just to hear from that group.
Speaker D:And this is also.
Speaker D:They're digital natives, right?
Speaker D:And so because of that too, they're entrepreneurial.
Speaker D:So they're already creating businesses for themselves.
Speaker D:They're TikTok babies, right?
Speaker D:So they're earning income through social media.
Speaker D:They're influencers, right?
Speaker D:They're doing so many things.
Speaker D:They have an entrepreneurial mindset.
Speaker D:So they're already looking at ways to get out of education through that lens because of the financial aspect.
Speaker D:So we did a whole series on how to look at educational careers, not necessarily to get you out of the classroom, but to still keep you connected in education.
Speaker D:So after, not, I don't want to say after the one room schoolhouse, because there is no such thing as after the one room schoolhouse because all of these educators are still connected to the one room schoolhouse.
Speaker D:They're all still in education.
Speaker D:And I can use this one person as an example.
Speaker D:The only person that left K12 education is my daughter.
Speaker D:She was involved in the one room schoolhouse.
Speaker D:Now I'm going to use her as the example.
Speaker D:She's the one person who left after year two.
Speaker D:She had probably the worst experience with her principal, both principals.
Speaker D:She left K12, but she went into higher ed.
Speaker D:And she had then, when she went into higher ed, the best example of a supportive leader.
Speaker D:And she has grown and flourished in just two years there, where she now leads an entire department at her higher ed institution.
Speaker D:So she did not leave education.
Speaker D:She is now in her doctoral program, eds.
Speaker D:So she's in her dissertation phase herself.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:So talk about growth there.
Speaker D:The rest of the participants are now, I believe they're all out of the classroom and all in different leadership roles themselves.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:But just through having those conversations and seeing themselves, you know, in roles and having those conversations about their own leadership pathways.
Speaker D:And so I actually have to thank one of the facilitators, two of the facilitators that had those different conversations about pathways and growth and leadership and seeing themselves and talking about what does that mean to grow them, leading from where you are in growth and pathways and things like that.
Speaker A:So before I open it up and talk about implications of this work for leaders and for teachers, just want to give my team an opportunity to digest and ask you some questions around this fascinating work that you've done.
Speaker E:So I'm familiar, nicely familiar with Dr. Chandler's research.
Speaker E:I remember the focus groups and I remember her sitting there and just gleaning all this great information.
Speaker E:My question kind of really bridges what we discussed last week.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:With today's conversation.
Speaker E:And I wanted to know, Kesha, as you collected the data and you did that so well, what was lifted from the participants around what characteristics they are looking for in leaders?
Speaker E:Last week we had a great conversation around transformational leadership.
Speaker E:You and I talk about that all the time.
Speaker E:What are those qualities, those high impact qualities that are new teachers?
Speaker E:As you mentioned, this is the first time in our history that we have four generations of educators in the workplace that our new teachers are actually there making it happen.
Speaker E:What are they looking for in a transformational leader?
Speaker D:The first thing I lifted was empathy.
Speaker D:That was the very first word that popped up, empathy.
Speaker D:The second thing was culturally responsive.
Speaker D:The third thing was create meaningful support systems.
Speaker D:Meaningful actionable support systems.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:We have to go beyond words.
Speaker D:When you say a mentor relationship, it's not, again, show me where that ream of paper assigning someone to me to, you know, show me where my parking space spaces, but showing me someone to advance my career or to show to, to co.
Speaker D:Teach, co plan, create meaningful planning time.
Speaker D:Not, you know, giving me that time to use me to, to, to sub a class.
Speaker D:And again, we know that there's such a shortage and time is thin and everyone is being stretched, but value my time enough to honestly help me grow.
Speaker D:So those were the three or four main things.
Speaker D:But empathy was the first thing that was lifted, right?
Speaker D:And that safe space was super important.
Speaker D:Super important.
Speaker A:Because they need to talk.
Speaker A:I mean, they need to be able to talk about everything that is in their head and in their heart around what this, what this journey in the classroom looks like.
Speaker A:And it's not always right, it's not always easy, and it's not always pretty.
Speaker D: his research was completed in: Speaker D: th,: Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:So today you need a strategic advocate to navigate these political pressures that's happening right now.
Speaker D:No matter what side you sit on.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:You have to protect your teachers from these political pressures.
Speaker D:I don't care what side you sit on.
Speaker D:A, B, C, D, e, whatever.
Speaker A: Yeah,: Speaker A:We were returning to face to face.
Speaker A:Some of them were, some of us.
Speaker D:Were still different world, right?
Speaker D:Everyone has a different.
Speaker D:Wherever you come from, we have students in front of us.
Speaker E:We must also think about the fact that our teachers are coming in with a different level of pedagogy and practice.
Speaker E:And that's where the empathy comes in.
Speaker E:Right?
Speaker E:We have to really meet them where we are where they are.
Speaker E:And if we're asked, we're asking of our teachers to do that with our students as educational leaders.
Speaker E:We must in turn do that with the educators that we serve.
Speaker E:And first of all, we have to see ourselves as servant leaders.
Speaker E:So there is so much, Dr. Chandler, to your research that I'd love to take touch on that is far outside of our 40 minutes.
Speaker E:So I am not going to monopolize the conversation because, you know, you and I could talk about this all day.
Speaker E:You know, I'm a fan, but I think Mike, I, I heard Mike take a deep breath, so I know he's getting ready to start something.
Speaker B:I'm surfaced.
Speaker B:Thank you, Alicia.
Speaker B:Dr. Chandra.
Speaker B: his takes me back probably to: Speaker B:And, you know, our efforts at diversifying our workforce were really just getting focused and beginning.
Speaker B:And you know, to me, it wasn't the fact that, that there weren't qualified teachers who were black teachers.
Speaker B:It was that the research was really clear.
Speaker B:The pipeline, you know, where it existed across the nation, it had interest in several preparatory institutions from students of color, but the landing places where these certified new teachers were coming to were not hospitable spaces.
Speaker B:And the research was so clear in this.
Speaker B:And as I began to understand and grow an understanding of, you know, a professional network of colleagues, when I thought about our own school building and our school district, I thought, how would we do that with people who have any kind of lived experience in common?
Speaker B:How would we do that?
Speaker B:And we'd have to work outside of our institutions, outside of our district, to a larger network.
Speaker B:But it also made me realize that inhabiting what was predominantly a culturally white space, if I'm not white, is.
Speaker B:Is a daily practice in holding your breath.
Speaker B:A daily practice in constant self conscious navigation of those spaces being ground down by all of the tacit and openly expressed biases that was nonstop.
Speaker B:And when my colleagues took a look at this research, we realized that before we can begin making really targeted invitations to talented candidates, we had a lot of work to do in our own buildings.
Speaker B:And that began our work on culturally responsive education and teaching and practice.
Speaker B:And we were trying to put the cart before the horse.
Speaker B:And I was desperate to learn about networks, professional and learning networks across the country for our black and brown educators and There would be these pockets of incredible programs in Chicago and other places and they relied on funding streams that were so unpredictable.
Speaker B:And as soon as I'd click and initiate contact, I'd get messages back that unfortunately, this program is no longer gone.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I was predating your work because I would have found you.
Speaker B:I would have found you.
Speaker B:But you know, just that that is how your work attaches to me and it's a slightly different spin from the urban educational setting to the suburban educational setting.
Speaker B:I'm curious though, in your findings and in your experience that you know how, how much of you know how much of the differences disappear for those people who participate in your program, regardless of the urban setting, the suburb setting or how do they complicate.
Speaker D:So first of all, kudos to you for even doing the work.
Speaker D:The research, pulling back, looking, searching.
Speaker D:The One Room schoolhouse is now becoming a nonprofit started by my daughter.
Speaker D:It will be completely a virtual setting where the one room schoolhouse will operate and open to beyond urban.
Speaker D:So yes, we are beginning that.
Speaker D:We will do a one room schoolhouse for teachers, a one room schoolhouse for leaders, and then a one room schoolhouse for consultants because there is also a space where specifically black consultants feel a space where they don't always feel supported, which is a whole different level.
Speaker D:But I will give her space to talk about her work at another time.
Speaker D:But what was your question again?
Speaker D:Because I got so worked up when you things you said.
Speaker D:Because I wanted to give you your kudos for doing that.
Speaker B:Well, thank you for that.
Speaker B:But to me, as we all know, it's the necessary work.
Speaker B:We all need to be digging into it.
Speaker B:We all need to be doing it.
Speaker B:I'm just going to say my only question at this point is I'm going to be getting in touch and how do I get in touch with your daughter and you because this is a really, really power and I want to make sure that I have the connection.
Speaker D:So I absolutely.
Speaker D:So right now we do have a landing space with contact information.
Speaker D:We haven't built it out yet, but I will say it's one the number one rsh.org one room schoolhouse one rsh.org yes.
Speaker D:And she's going to kill me for saying it because she's going to like mom, I didn't build it out yet.
Speaker D:Putting it out there.
Speaker D:Liv.
Speaker D:Sorry.
Speaker C:Well, that really leads to the question I was going to ask Kesha, which was around the resources that are available for those because what at least in our state, and I think in many states across the nation, as we're faced with shortage in educators where, you know, these programs like grow your own have been put into place.
Speaker C:So we're really looking at how do we attract different people that maybe have taken a different path, haven't gone into education, but we want to draw them in what is, you know, so it really relies on the leaders.
Speaker C:And I'm thinking about everything you said and this disheartening research around leaders not.
Speaker E:Being.
Speaker C:The people that support finding the.
Speaker C:The educators not finding that in that person.
Speaker C:So thinking about these programs that are, okay, we're going to grow our own, but that relies heavily on leadership to be able to.
Speaker C:To build these support systems for our educators.
Speaker C:So thinking about what, what do we offer, what do we encourage our.
Speaker C:Our leaders.
Speaker C:Our districts that are taking this approach are states, I mean, at state level that are really funding considerable amount of funds to be able to attract individuals to come into education and heavily those of color to be able to really.
Speaker E:Build.
Speaker C:The educational system that.
Speaker C:Where the teachers look like the students and the significance and the importance of that.
Speaker C:What do we say to them?
Speaker C:Kesha.
Speaker D:So there's been so many programs and focus on the recruitment, but not enough work on the retention.
Speaker D:And kudos to Sharif El Meki in the center for Black.
Speaker D:Oh, he's going to kill me.
Speaker D:Oh, Sharif, I apologize.
Speaker D:Center for black Education.
Speaker D:He does a lot of work, amazing work around the recruitment of black educators and his campaign on we need black teachers.
Speaker D:I would want to draw your attention to that.
Speaker D:And he does a great job on both the recruitment and retention side and a program that I think states need to look at for that model.
Speaker D:I want to heavily draw your attention to his program, but I think a lot of that funding that you speak of, Kathy, needs to transition to the retention.
Speaker D:And on the support side, you know how we pour into year one, we need to also take some of that investment to year two, three and four and that year one support.
Speaker D:We need to look at what that support model looks like beyond.
Speaker D:Here's your ream of paper, here's where you get your pencils, here's where you park.
Speaker D:Maybe not paying Our mentor teachers 1,500 for the year and not really looking at what that mentor teacher is providing.
Speaker D:How are we evaluating what that mentor teacher really did and where that teacher, what that relationship really, the value that it's really brought back to the district.
Speaker D:Attrition cost the district approximately 12,000 per teacher.
Speaker D:Let's start doing that math.
Speaker A:We talk about humanizing the space for students, right?
Speaker A:That's what this wheelhouse podcast is all about.
Speaker A:It's a guiding principle.
Speaker A:It's really important.
Speaker A:What I hear as I'm listening to you is what I'm hearing you say is we need to humanize the space for our educators as well, particularly our educators of color.
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker B:When you talk about the importance of Year one and also that we recognize the importance of year four, I just want to juxtapose my own early career as a Year four teacher.
Speaker B:I had an instructional administrator, not a principal, advocating for me and finding a way to pay for three weeks of graduate work at University of New Hampshire, where I was studying with the authors that I was reading that were informing my practice as a teacher of writing.
Speaker B:Donald Murray and Donald Graves and just so many other incredible.
Speaker B:Bonnie Sunstein, incredible people who I had been reading.
Speaker B:That was my Year four.
Speaker B:And what that did for me as a teacher of writing is infinite.
Speaker B:And the payoff for every child I got to learn with from that point forward was infinite.
Speaker B:And I know that we no longer have that kind of departmental instructional administrator in most school buildings to be able to provide that close oversight and that shepherding.
Speaker B:But we did once and it worked for this white educator.
Speaker B:And I can only imagine the infinite potential of that kind of close advocacy for our newest black educators in ways that are meaningful and expansive and explosive and infinite for them.
Speaker B:But we're making this argument in a time where we're struggling to cover classrooms with bodies.
Speaker B:And it's all just this perfect storm, this confluence of systemic under resourcing, historic and purposeful under resourcing, combined with.
Speaker B:And I'm talking about the systemic racism of an educational system that was designed to ensure learning, poverty and deny cognitive justice, to borrow words from Zaretta Hammond.
Speaker B:And now we're in a space where it doesn't matter what zip code your school district is in.
Speaker B:It's going to experience scarcity.
Speaker B:And the human beings who continue to come to the project are going to be spread thinner than it works.
Speaker B:But the same level of intention and follow through in care for our newest staff members isn't going away.
Speaker B:We have to find a way.
Speaker B:We have to.
Speaker B:And it's not just year one.
Speaker B:You're so right.
Speaker E:We also have to consider the impact on students.
Speaker E:Last season we focused on are we cultivating hope or are we killing dreams?
Speaker E:And when we're.
Speaker E:I'm a higher ed profession and I'm a professor of Africana studies and I teach a junior senior elective course.
Speaker E:And when I'm sitting in a classroom filled with mostly black and brown students and I Ask them on the first day of class in the fall semester, okay, why did you take this course?
Speaker E:And the majority of them say, Dr. Monroe.
Speaker E:Well, we want to take it because of the content and we heard about you, but we also wanted to have the experience having the first black teacher we've ever had.
Speaker E:So let's, let's, you know, I'm the truth.
Speaker E:And let's realistically say that there is.
Speaker E:Now, you know why I'm a fan of the one room schoolhouse.
Speaker E:Because this is my reality.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:This is the reality of students.
Speaker E:And I only have limited space in my course and I only teach it one semester.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:At least having, you know, at least 30 students because I have to sign them in.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:So it's packed in the class because they want to have that first experience.
Speaker D:And you're across the bridge from Philadelphia, which people assume.
Speaker D:They assume because it's an urban city, you're going to have all black teachers, which is not the case.
Speaker E:That is not the case.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:And think about the experience.
Speaker E:I'm glad I was a. I'm a New York product of New York City public schools.
Speaker E:So I was rocking with the black and brown teachers.
Speaker E:Thank God for that because that was an identity piece.
Speaker E:They cultivated hope in me.
Speaker E:You're waiting for the child's 13th, 14th, 15th year in education to have their first touch with someone who they could identify with.
Speaker E:Right.
Speaker E:Someone who they say they can be.
Speaker E:Someone who can process their experience.
Speaker E:Not that others can't, but there is a commonality there.
Speaker E:We have to think about, are we really cultivating hope or are we killing dreams?
Speaker A:So let's.
Speaker A:We know that there's a shortage of teachers of color.
Speaker A:We know that.
Speaker A:I mean, that's real.
Speaker A:We know there are shortages of other teachers and other leaders who identify in ways other than white cis, whatever, however, whatever identities we want to talk about.
Speaker A:But we know that those folks are few and far between in a lot of places.
Speaker A:And I think that makes.
Speaker A: look at my calendar and I see: Speaker A: very different the reality of: Speaker A: rent world that we live in in: Speaker A:So my question for Kesha and for all of us is to think about.
Speaker A:We need to.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:We need to continue to recruit.
Speaker A:We need to recruit, recruit, recruit.
Speaker A:And we need to think about the environments that we're recruiting them into.
Speaker A:Totally.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:That's absolutely part of the Work.
Speaker A:But we also have to keep.
Speaker A:It's September, so we have new teachers of color who've been hired, who are just starting.
Speaker A:We've got teachers of color who are just.
Speaker A:Who've been in there, who are in year two, three or four or five or longer who are starting another school year.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:So I want to ask Kesha, would you think about this metaphorical room where these teachers feel supported, empowered, in all those things that you talk about, if we were to do that, what do we need to do, Kesha, So that they feel those things, right?
Speaker A:So that we think as we focus on.
Speaker A:If I'm a leader today and I have, whether I'm urban or suburban, it doesn't matter, and I have teachers of color in my building, whether there are a lot of them or whether just one, right?
Speaker A:What do I do?
Speaker A:What do I do?
Speaker A:Especially if I'm a white principal, what do I do to make sure they feel seen, heard, supported, empowered so they can do the great work that we hired them to do?
Speaker D:Well, first we need to model authentic care.
Speaker D:You just talked about not killing their dream.
Speaker D:Well, first we have to model what that looks like, authentically.
Speaker D:Check in on their well being, not just their classroom performance.
Speaker D:Connect them to broader networks.
Speaker D:1rsh.org eventually it's going to kick off.
Speaker D:Olivia, don't kill me.
Speaker A:You'll have something besides a landing page.
Speaker D:Right, right, right.
Speaker D:Link them with supportive professional communities beyond their immediate school because again, things will start to be attacked, right?
Speaker D:So we have to find underground networks.
Speaker D:And again, safe spaces are going to be extremely important.
Speaker D:People need places to commune, share practical navigation strategies, help them understand how to maintain their own values.
Speaker D:Maintaining your own values, I have found, is what's getting me through all of this craziness in the world.
Speaker D:When you are grounded in your own values, you understand and keep your sanity in this craziness.
Speaker D:Understand that I live in the Washington, D.C. area and I wake up sane every morning.
Speaker D:I'll leave it right there.
Speaker D:It's essential right now to provide political air cover.
Speaker D:And what that means is if you're more experienced, you have to shield these newer teachers from the unnecessary political stress.
Speaker D:Whether a parent's coming in hollering, right?
Speaker D:They still have to build their own practice among all of this chaos.
Speaker D:So you need to shield them from the unnecessary mess.
Speaker D:Why would you let a parent come down to that room?
Speaker D:So screaming and carrying on, or the community noise, right?
Speaker D:You have to shield them from the stress of all of the chaos.
Speaker D:So provide that air covering as much as possible.
Speaker D:Or co create a safe space with them, or co lead a meeting with them or send them in with another teacher that can help them do that.
Speaker D:Advocate strategically, share resources with them, speak up for teachers in the leadership meetings through informal channels when these professional learning opportunities may be limited or funding's being slashed or reintroduced or reallocated or all the things that are happening.
Speaker D:So those are just some quick strategies or wins or.
Speaker A:So I was listening to you, to your genius, right?
Speaker A:And I was also thinking about many of the people that I work with, that I coach, that are leaders that are, you know, the school year started, they're starting to work, they're starting to worry about classroom observations, evaluations, walkthroughs, you know, comments that they're going to make about what they see in classrooms.
Speaker A:And those are all.
Speaker A:Well, I wouldn't say all of those because I'm not an evaluation fan, right?
Speaker A:So I'm like, yeah, right.
Speaker A:So yes, being in classrooms is important with the right mindset, right?
Speaker A:But I was like, before you go into a teacher's classroom, whether you're going there to help or you're going there to, you know, unfortunately, you know, check off a checklist and do something like that, get to know your teacher, right?
Speaker A:Build the authentic relationship so that when that person comes in, they're, as Terri Perez says, they're a friendor friendor is.
Speaker D:Such an important word.
Speaker D:And I love, love, love that Terri has introduced us to that word.
Speaker D:Because here's my suggestion to you.
Speaker D:Would you rather that teacher in your building or in the job line?
Speaker D:Because people assume that, you know, while these people want, they want to be here, you know, it's hard to find a job and right now the job market is challenging.
Speaker D:But I promise you, what I do know about Generation Z, they will get up and leave.
Speaker D:That's what I do know.
Speaker D:They are all about protecting themselves and that that's what they are teaching the rest of us.
Speaker A:So say that again because I think if you're a leader listening to this podcast today, I think that you need to really hear that and internalize that comment.
Speaker A:Could you repeat that, Dr. Keith?
Speaker D:Absolutely.
Speaker D:This Generation Z and what they are teaching the rest of us, Me, Keisha, what I have learned from Generation Z, from my own child who got up and left, they are about protecting themselves and they will get up and leave to do that.
Speaker D:They care about their well being.
Speaker D:They care about their emotional health, although they want us to eliminate social emotional learning.
Speaker D:They are the kings, queens, the rulers of protecting themselves, their own well being.
Speaker D:Their own mental health.
Speaker D:And in order to do that, they will get up and leave something that is no longer serving them.
Speaker A:That's pretty profound.
Speaker A:That's a huge difference between people from my generation.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Who stick it out.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Who stick it out.
Speaker A:That was in drain ingrained into us.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Stick it out.
Speaker A:You know?
Speaker D:Absolutely.
Speaker D:Work, retire.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker D:Tough it out.
Speaker A:Tough it out.
Speaker A:Suck it up, buttercup.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I mean, we do the same job until it's time to retire.
Speaker D:We all did it and what did it do for us?
Speaker D:I'm sitting in the dark now because of these migraines.
Speaker D:No longer.
Speaker B:Your work with the one room schoolhouse is vital.
Speaker B:I'm delighted to hear that it's continuing.
Speaker B:But that is our way forward.
Speaker B:Our way forward is to hone our message to work simultaneously, not sequentially.
Speaker B:We have to do as Grant you suggested, look at our existing spaces.
Speaker B:They need to be sustaining and nurturing and mentoring for our existing educators of color.
Speaker B:And then we have to have the full package.
Speaker B:When we go out and recruit, we have to know that they need to hear from us what their advancement and their retention supports are going to be.
Speaker B:That message has to be complete and full.
Speaker B:And so thank you for directing us towards the center for Black Education and Sharif Almacki's work, because I'm going to be going there next.
Speaker B:But it's really about putting all of these pieces together because our kids can't wait and they shouldn't have to.
Speaker D: Michael, to Your point, into: Speaker D:They put put out a re a report called State State of State of babies report or something like that.
Speaker D:And it's a report for the United States.
Speaker D:And it used to do every state of the United States.
Speaker D:And how many babies were born for the year?
Speaker D:I don't know if they did it for this year.
Speaker D: I'm sorry,: Speaker D: Well, in: Speaker D:And each year it's gone up.
Speaker D: If we look at the: Speaker D:That means those are the majority of students in our classroom.
Speaker D:And that means that's the majority of students we are serving.
Speaker D:We have more babies of color in our classrooms now in kindergarten and less teachers of color.
Speaker D: % Black teachers in: Speaker A:And with that, my dear friends.
Speaker A:That brings us to the end of this episode for the Wheelhouse.
Speaker A:I want to say thank you so much Dr. Kesha Chandler, the author who spearheaded the One Room Schoolhouse research and the work that's coming in the future.
Speaker A:I want to say thank you so much for joining us today in the Wheelhouse.
Speaker A:And if you want to HEAR More from Dr. Kesha Chandler, then stay tuned because we're about to record a two part season finale with all of our guests from season 10.
Speaker A:We'll see you next week in the Wheelhouse.
Speaker A:And that's a wrap of season 10, episode 10 of the Wheelhouse.
Speaker A:A special thank you to my incredible guest Dr. Kesha Chandler and the amazing Wheelhouse team, Kathy Mone, Michael Pipa and Dr. Alicia Monroe.
Speaker A:You know we're back in the studio next week with part one of a two part finale for season 10.
Speaker A:It's like a Bravo reunion if you will.
Speaker A:We've invited all seven of our guests from season 10 to return to the Wheelhouse space together to engage with our own team to explore what we've learned about cultivating open doors and unlimited possibilities for each student.
Speaker A:Part one of this conversation will drop on September 23rd with the second part, the end of season 10, dropping on September 30th.
Speaker A:This is simply something you're not going to want to miss.
Speaker A:We also hope you'll join the Wheelhouse Company.
Speaker A:Are you a like minded educator who's committed to open doors and unlimited possibilities for each student?
Speaker A:Follow Students Matter LLC on Instagram or LinkedIn, or any of the four of us individually who are also on LinkedIn.
Speaker A:Subscribe to the Wheelhouse Chronicle on Substack.
Speaker A:Michael's waiting to hear your comments and we're all super excited to continue this conversation with you.
Speaker A:That's thewheelhouse.substack.com or join the curated community, the Wheelhouse Forum, only available at Students Matter's very own Learn Harbor.
Speaker A:That's learnharbor.thinkific.com the Wheelhouse is a production of Students Matter LLC.
Speaker A:Our show's theme music, Off We Go was written and performed by Cody Martin and obtained through soundstripe.com stop by our website, find out who we are and what's important to us at www.ourstudentsmatter.org.
Speaker A:together, our goal is simply to prove to each student and to each teacher that they are both distinctive and irreplaceable.
Speaker A:Until next time.
Speaker A:Remember, we got this.
