The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
State schools address racism after Floyd death
Nationwide fury and protests over another police killing of a black man has further rocked children and teens already shaken by the coronavirus pandemic.
This time, children cannot talk to their friends or teachers about it in school, and conversations about racism and police brutality have been shifted virtually.
“It’s really weird and different,” Bethel Superintendent Christine Carver said. “If we were in session, it would be a completely different approach. It just makes it more difficult to have the conversation.”
In various districts throughout the state, educators are reaching out to provide emotional support to individual students and, in some cases, fostering dialogue about racism through virtual classrooms or programs.
“As you navigate these difficult conversations with your families and your children, all of our school resources including school psychologists, social workers, and all staff stand ready to assist you by speaking with you and providing resources
that you may find useful,” Danbury Superintendent Sal Pascarella said in a message to families.
The state Department of Education has provided a host of resources to schools and has urged educators to have ageappropriate conversations with students about racism.
“If we are to prepare our students to become productive members of a diverse society who embrace diversity and foster school communities in which all members feel valued, respected and safe, remaining silent on these current events is not an option,” Miguel A. Cardona, the state education commissioner, said in a statement. “As adults and educators, we must be proactive about making this a teachable moment by addressing issues of racism and inequity head-on.”
The State Education Resource Center is also holding webinars each Thursday this month that will focus on race and education.
The center works with schools and districts on confronting institutional racism and holds an annual conference on dismantling systemic racism in education, spokesman Jeremy Bond said. It also runs a Youth Leadership Initiative that focuses on culture and identity.
“My colleague on the initiative has spoken with a few students since the protests started, and we can say they’re upset by what happened, some are anxious and saddened by some people who are getting hurt,” Bond said.
Safe environment
Many districts have condemned the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on his neck for more than 8 minutes.
New Haven Interim Superintendent Iline Tracey said in a message to families that the district was “committed and united in the fight against racism and bigotry.”
“We are saddened and disgusted by what has been happening for years to our black and brown communities across the nation,” she said. “The recent tragedy of George Floyd has sparked and unravel deep emotions, and was the icing on the cake that has led to this recent widespread protest. There is so much hurt and pain in our communities already impacted by CPOVID-19 (sic).”
The district held Zoom calls with parents and students to discuss the issue, with a virtual town hall for teachers, too, Tracey said. Families were also given resources and encouraged to talk to their children about the issue.
“We have also sent emails to our staff regarding not tolerating racism, hate, and bigotry and the need for having courageous conversation about race and economic inequality,” Tracey said.
Schools must provide an environment where students feel valued, respected and safe, Cardona said.
“It starts with ensuring children and teenagers know their schools are safe places to learn and grow,” he said. “It involves providing ageappropriate information to allow them to cope with and form an understanding of upsetting current events as well as asking what they may understand already about the situation and, just as importantly, listening to their perspectives.”
Listening to students and helping them figure out how to make change is important, Bond said.
“We would suggest that districts talk with their students, see how they’re doing, how they’re feeling, really listen to them with an open heart,” he said.
“Ask them what they think should be done, maybe what strengths they have individually and how they can use their strengths to help make the world a better place — then help the students take some action.”
Classroom discussion
In the Easton, Redding and Region 9 district, one sixth-grade social studies teacher focused a recent lesson on current events, having students watch a video and discuss it over Google Classroom.
The teacher told Superintendent Thomas McMorran this opened up a conversation about the issues, with the teacher holding a one-hour video call with about 30 students where they had a deep dialogue about the protests and social injustice.
It is key that teachers provide a “safe place” through guided readings and small group discussions for students learn about the history of racism in the country, McMorran said.
“We rely on our humanities teachers most heavily, but we can also expect all teachers to be sensitive to the students whom they teach,” he said. “Discussion of difficult topics can be powerful and helpful to students if the relationship they have with their teachers is strong and positive.”
Normally these conversations would have started in the hallways, Stamford Superintendent Tamu Lucero said in a letter to parents
“Inadvertently, this hallway chatter would have made its way into the classroom and the daily planned lessons would have been set aside, and our teachers and support staff would have used this as a spontaneous teachable moment,” she said.
Instead, Stamford held a webinar for families on Friday evening to provide strategies to parents on how to discuss race and traumatic events.
The Bethel High School principal discussed with teachers during a virtual staff meeting on how to talk about the protests and racism with their students, Carver said.
But some classes are not meeting over video and the school year is wrapping up, so these discussions may not be happening, she said.
“It’s been brought up by students more than it’s been a structured conversation that staff has brought forward,” Carver said.
Bethel aims to better prepare teachers to have these conversations.
“We talked about having our teachers trained when we go back in the fall on just how to have those conversations in a way where it’s not based in emotion,” Carver said. “It’s based in fact. It’s based in producing positive outcomes. It’s inclusive of all viewpoints and it’s actionable.”
Bridgeport had similar conversations with their teachers recently, said Michael Testani, acting superintendent.
“We want to maintain a level of professionalism,” he said. “We want to make this more about supporting our kids and less about our own personal agendas or platforms. I’m not here to judge anyone, but I do think it’s important that our students see positive role models from our staff.”
Virtual conversations with students are best, Testani said. Then teachers can connect children who appear to be particularly struggling with support staff.
“It’s not an easy topic for some folks to try to work through with kids,” he said. “Just being a good listener is a good start.”
Addressing racism
In Bridgeport, the district uses its bullying and social emotional programs to address racism, Testani said. The schools also focus on celebrating diversity through cultural nights and more, he said.
“It’s important to try to stay positive, teach our kids we all bring something unique and special to the table,” Testani said. “Trying to embrace that is what we do more so than anything here in Bridgeport.”
Bethel has upped efforts in the past couple years to address racism among students due to some “fairly significant” hate speech, Carver said.
This includes a leadership program led by a local black pastor, where high school students discuss how to facilitate conversations with their peers about systemic racism, unconscious bias and white privilege, Carver said. The district is trying to set up a virtual program with the pastor soon, she said.
The district has also brought in groups like the anti-defamation league and Truth About Hate to speak to students, she said. Better Angels, a bipartisan citizen’s movement, also spoke to parents last winter about how to talk across the political divide.
“We have every right to be angry,” Carver said. “But if we’re going to really move forward and to have honest conversations about what the key issues are, and then from there develop strategies that we can actually implement, you have to be able to have a conversation that is productive.”