Cultivating anti-racist professional cultures that support educators of color

Abstract

Maine’s Portland Public Schools has for years been committed to racial equity, but that commitment has been both an asset and a barrier to making the district hospitable to educators of color. The district’s progressive and anti-racist stance led many white educators to assume that their colleagues did not experience interpersonal or institutional racism. However, when Doris Santoro, Julia Hazel, and Alberto Morales interviewed educators throughout the district they found that experiences of racism were pervasive. Knowing that white educators might tend to deny that reality and not wanting to further burden the district’s educators of color with sharing their trauma or observing their colleagues’ ignorance, they undertook a deliberate process to share their findings in ways that considered the needs of all educators in the system.

On Leadership: A leader’s equity journey

“…Teresa started informal focus groups with Black teachers and learned they felt disenfranchised, isolated, and unappreciated, and bore more burdens than white teachers. This echoes the experiences of teachers in other districts (Santoro, Hazel, & Morales, 2022;Stovall & Sullivan, 2022). Alongside the external strategy to recruit more teachers of color, Teresa also started affinity groups so that different groups of employees could find strength and sustenance through relationships.…”

Untying the double bind

“…Being one of a few (or the only) Black teacher in a teacher education program, school, or department can be isolating. Racial affinity groups can address this challenge (Mosely, 2018; Santoro, Hazel, & Morales, 2022; Stovall & Sullivan, 2022). In these groups, teachers of color can be supported by and build solidarity with their colleagues of color.…”

“…Unfortunately, the racially toxic environments of many U.S. schools often stymie these efforts, as novice Black teachers find themselves teaching in environments tainted by racism (Stovall & Sullivan, 2022). Many teacher educators, administrators, and school leaders who could improve these conditions, thereby increasing the odds of retaining novice teachers, may not understand how their school policies and practices marginalize Black teachers and students and place disproportionate demands on Black teachers, both novices and veterans (Santoro, Hazel, & Morales, 2022).…”

Cultivating anti-racist professional cultures that support educators of color

“…Our research showed that PPS's commitment to equity for students attracted educators of color to the district, but highly racialized school climates and policies impeded their ability to thrive. We wrote a publicly available report that described these educators' experiences (Santoro, Hazel, & Morales, 2021) and began the process of transforming the professional culture and context. Through this process, we are learning that how the research is shared is just as important as the research itself.…”