{"id":228,"date":"2020-06-29T10:32:05","date_gmt":"2020-06-29T14:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/?p=228"},"modified":"2020-06-30T09:30:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T13:30:00","slug":"notes-on-abolitionist-teaching-and-the-future-of-our-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/2020\/06\/29\/notes-on-abolitionist-teaching-and-the-future-of-our-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes on &#8220;Abolitionist Teaching and the Future of Our Schools&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uJZ3RPJ2rNc?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><br \/>\nAccessed on June 29, 2020<br \/>\nBettina Love,<br \/>\nGholdy Muhammed<br \/>\nDena Simmons<br \/>\nBrian Jones.<\/p>\n<p>Bettina Love described arriving at college and being pushed onto a &#8220;jock track&#8221;. She transferred universities, but that was a turning point in her life.<\/p>\n<p>Gholdy Muhammad recalls reading a hadid about ways to respond to oppression. Reading and studying Blackness also helps her hold on to abolitionist teaching.<\/p>\n<p>Dena Simmons was put in the &#8220;slow class&#8221; in first grade and advocated to switch. Then in high school, leaving the Bronx, she experienced tone policing and hurt. Returning to the Bronx as a teacher, she saw the way the system was set up to fail her students.<\/p>\n<p>Q: (Brian Jones) How does White supremacy show up in schools?<br \/>\nA: (Dena Simmons) Tone policing, tokenization and objectification, over-managing, expectation of being super-people. The emotional labor of asking &#8220;am I safe to be Black here&#8221; is also work.<br \/>\n(Gholdy Muhammad). It shows up in the curriculum, in the interviewing questions (&#8220;how does anti-racism appear in your math curriculum&#8221; isn&#8217;t one of those questions. The questions focus on meeting &#8220;challenges&#8221;). It is in tests, in the emphasis on skills, in zero tolerance policies.<br \/>\n(Bettina Love). In education &#8220;we manage inequality&#8221;. We don&#8217;t remove it. Instead of removing barriers, they manage inequity (via directors of equity).<\/p>\n<p>Q: (Brian Jones) White supremacy follow up<br \/>\nA: (Dena Simmons) &#8220;We can use anything in education to create harm&#8221;. Social-emotional learning (feelings) is often equated to promoting equity. But &#8220;if the school is steeped in White supremacy&#8230; then the curriculum is a White supremacist curriculum&#8221;. Without trauma informed instruction to address the trauma of racism, there is an issue.<\/p>\n<p>Q: (Brian Jones) Abolition is being used about prison and police. What about schools?<br \/>\nA: (Betinna Love) &#8220;It is not a radical thing to want to be seen as fully human&#8221;. Abolition is a request to start over. &#8220;It is a push for everybody&#8217;s humanity&#8221;. See work by Angela Davis, Ruth Wilson Gilmore. Eradicate the conditions that make it possible to treat children in the way they are treated within school. \u00a0The system is oppressive. \u00a0Build a community-based curriculum where children learn their history and culture, have the chance to play, and have access to healing. \u00a0When you&#8217;re an abolitionist, you might not live to see the win, but you work thoughtfully and methodically, to justice.<\/p>\n<p>(Gholdy Muhammad). \u00a0&#8220;Stop putting fresh coats of paint on the same debilitating structures&#8221;. \u00a0State learning standards, teacher evaluations, curriculum. \u00a0Who authors these? \u00a0In the 19th century, Black literary societies came together to strategize to improve social conditions with four learning goals: identity, skills, intellectualism, criticality (understand power). \u00a0Teaching these four goals would teach the whole child.<\/p>\n<p>Q: (Brian Jones). \u00a0Black women and Black queer folks are important in this.<br \/>\nA: (Bettina Love) For Black queer women, the intersection creates deep knowledge of marginalization.<br \/>\n(Dena Simmons) There is so much erasure of the contributions of Black womyn.<\/p>\n<p>Q: (Brian Jones). What about the shutdown of schools?<br \/>\nA: (Bettina Love). \u00a0They canceled standardized tests, handed out computers, relied on the ingenuity of teachers, asked for flexibility and compassion, and asked parents to be partners. \u00a0&#8220;Why did it take a pandemic&#8221; for this? \u00a0Expelling children, school shootings, should not be normal. \u00a0When schools reopen, that trust in parents and teachers should remain.<br \/>\n(Dena Simmons). Some students are thriving in the shutdown of schools. \u00a0Learn from that. \u00a0&#8220;The school has never known what&#8217;s best for us&#8221;.<br \/>\n(Gholdy Muhammad). \u00a0Be urgent in pedagogy. \u00a0Skills and knowledge are not enough. \u00a0Students need to be able to agitate as antiracists.<br \/>\n(Dena Simmons). \u00a0How will you change how you spend money, etc, grounding in anti-racism?<br \/>\n(Bettina Love). \u00a0The work needs to happen in White schools, including anti-racist education.<br \/>\n(Gholdy Muhammad). \u00a0Redefining achievement and success is important. \u00a0&#8220;High performing&#8221; schools are not a positive model.<br \/>\n(Bettina Love). \u00a0&#8220;Black parents care&#8221;<br \/>\n(Dena Simmons). \u00a0The school can be a place of trauma for the parents.<\/p>\n<p>Q: (Brian Jones) Resources people can turn to? \u00a0Black Lives Matter at School movement. \u00a0Four demands. \u00a0Counselors not cops, hire Black teachers, end zero tolerance discipline, teach Black history and ethnic studies.<br \/>\nA: (Dena Simmons) For &#8220;woke&#8221; White people, start at home with racist family members.<br \/>\n(Gholdy Muhammad). \u00a0See healpedagogies.com. \u00a0A goal is to have curricular materials made by Black educators.<br \/>\n(Bettina Love). \u00a0There are so many organizations doing the work. \u00a0See &#8220;Unapologetic&#8221; by Charlene Carruthers<\/p>\n<p>Q: (audience Q) Trapped in standardized tests, what do you do on a daily basis?<br \/>\nA: (Dena Simmons). \u00a0In one example, as an act of resistant in a 7th grade classroom, talked through with the students about whether to take a standardized test (and the students chose not to).<br \/>\nCommunity organizing is also an act of resistance.<br \/>\n(Gholdy Muhammad). \u00a0&#8220;Revise and modify the curriculum that is given to us&#8221;. \u00a0&#8220;How can this unit plan help my students learn about themselves&#8221;? \u00a0Plan towards advancing student thinking about equity, power, anti-oppression. \u00a0&#8220;Collect the data you want to collect&#8221;. \u00a0&#8220;If you value it, assess it&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Q: Unions?<br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 1rem\">A: (Dena Simmons) Let&#8217;s ask our unions to demand these practices.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Q: Do we need to create our own schools?<br \/>\nA: (Gholdy Muhammad). \u00a0&#8220;Black abolitionists&#8230; cultivated their own schools&#8221;. \u00a0&#8220;A lot of power lies with the parents&#8221;.<br \/>\n(Bettina Love). \u00a0&#8220;It is our money&#8221;. \u00a0We pay the police, teachers, etc. \u00a0&#8220;Understand the value and power we have as citizens&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Q: Is abolitionist teaching anti-capitalist?<br \/>\nA: (Bettina Love). \u00a0Abolition is anti-capitalist.<br \/>\n(Dena Simmons). The country is &#8220;built on stolen Black labor&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Accessed on June 29, 2020 Bettina Love, Gholdy Muhammed Dena Simmons Brian Jones. Bettina Love described arriving at college and being pushed onto a &#8220;jock track&#8221;. She transferred universities, but that was a turning point in her life. Gholdy Muhammad recalls reading a hadid about ways to respond to oppression. Reading and studying Blackness also [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8032,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[157887],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-learning-and-teaching"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7E5LF-3G","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/2017\/08\/25\/reading-student-learning-objectives-and-mathematics-teaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":228,"position":0},"title":"Reading &#8220;Student learning objectives and mathematics teaching&#8221;","author":"siams","date":"25 August 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I am working to write learning objectives for multivariable calculus this Fall. This article helped distinguish between overarching goals (that students are able to fit the math in the course into a greater understanding of math and of the world) and the learning objectives, of what I hope students will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Learning and teaching&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Learning and teaching","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/category\/learning-and-teaching\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/2017\/08\/25\/reading-mental-maps-and-learning-objectives-the-fast-slo-algorithm-for-creating-student-learning-objectives\/","url_meta":{"origin":228,"position":1},"title":"Reading &#8220;Mental Maps and Learning Objectives: The FAST-SLO Algorithm For Creating Student Learning Objectives&#8221;","author":"siams","date":"25 August 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This article is focused on a method for writing student learning objectives for a course (SLOs).\u00a0 I find writing learning objectives challenging when working alone.\u00a0 They can be written at so many different levels of detail.\u00a0 Almost every example or question in a textbook has an implicit objective associated with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Learning and teaching&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Learning and teaching","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/category\/learning-and-teaching\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":173,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/2019\/07\/18\/reading-high-school-algebra-students-busting-the-myth-about-mathematical-smartness-counterstories-to-the-dominant-narrative-get-it-quick-and-get-it-right\/","url_meta":{"origin":228,"position":2},"title":"Reading &#8220;High School Algebra Students Busting the Myth about Mathematical Smartness: Counterstories to the Dominant Narrative \u201cGet It Quick and Get It Right\u201d&#8221;","author":"siams","date":"18 July 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Dunleavy 2018, \"High School Algebra Students Busting the Myth about Mathematical Smartness: Counterstories to the Dominant Narrative \u201cGet It Quick and Get It Right\u201d\". \u00a0Education Sciences. I'm reading a paper about a high school Algebra I course that uses the principles of \"complex instruction\" (which I still need to look\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Learning and teaching&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Learning and teaching","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/category\/learning-and-teaching\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/2017\/08\/25\/reading-statistics-done-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":228,"position":3},"title":"Reading &#8220;Statistics Done Wrong&#8221;","author":"siams","date":"25 August 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"While discussing course design for our mathematical modeling course in the Spring, my colleague recommended paging through Statistics Done Wrong.\u00a0 I find the book's description of the p-value useful: \"A p value is ... a measure of how surprised you should be if there is no actual difference between the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Learning and teaching&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Learning and teaching","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/category\/learning-and-teaching\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":74,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/2017\/10\/04\/webtools-for-math-teaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":228,"position":4},"title":"Webtools for math teaching","author":"siams","date":"4 October 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This semester I'm using Gradescope for homework and exam grading.\u00a0 It is working relatively well, although not perfectly.\u00a0 This enables us to reuse feedback, makes it easy for me to review regrade requests, and gives us access to all student work in the course. For our discussion board, we're using\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Learning and teaching&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Learning and teaching","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/category\/learning-and-teaching\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":239,"url":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/2020\/08\/25\/quasi-experiments\/","url_meta":{"origin":228,"position":5},"title":"Quasi-Experiments","author":"siams","date":"25 August 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Caroline Junkins and I are working to identify the impacts of an online summer bridge program (the Mathematics Fluency Initiative, MFI). For some ideas and context, I'm reading Suter, WN. Introduction to Educational Research: A Critical Thinking Approach. \u00a02012, Sage. In Chapter 1, Educators as Critical Thinkers, Table 1.1 presents\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Learning and teaching&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Learning and teaching","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/category\/learning-and-teaching\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8032"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":234,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions\/234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/siams\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}