Experts: White educators likely leading new Black and Latino classes
Who will be teaching Black and Latino history classes? The question came quickly to those charged with developing the new course for Connecticut’s high schools.
“This question we asked all the way back in 20192020 doing our focus groups,” said Michelle Lebrun-Griffin, a consultant with the State Education Resource Center of Connecticut, which was designated by the state legislature to develop and implement the program.
More than 50 high schools across the state are field testing the cultural studies course this year before the state mandates all high schools offer the elective course next fall. Some teachers are bringing their lived experience to the class while others are learning right along with their students.
“I’m very upfront with what I know and what I don’t know, and what I have experienced and what I haven’t experienced. I find that transparency extremely helpful in teaching the course and having an open mind,” said Cecile St. Jean, a white social studies teacher at P-TECH Norwalk.
Lisa Breen, a Spanish teacher at the CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts High School, called the history course “a complete game changer.” The integrated magnet arts high school is using an interdisciplinary approach and collaborating with other subjects such as the arts, media studies, and the language department.
“This course is groundbreaking,” said Breen, who is African American. “Its content brings Black and Latino communities together, exposing truths that all students (of every race) need to learn, reflect and synthesize.”
Lebrun-Griffin and fellow SERC consultant Nitza Diaz-Candelo recognized early that Connecticut has a high prevalence of white teachers, and it was more than likely a white instructor would be teaching the new class. Only about 10 percent of all educators in the Connecticut are non-white, according to state data.
The two sensed some initial uncertainty from teachers but said all of them had the desire to teach the course from the start.
“It wasn’t that they had to teach the course because no one else could. Teachers wanted to be a part of this. They wanted to be a part of the initial implementation and didn’t want to wait the year,” Lebrun-Griffin said.
Old Saybrook Public Schools had little choice but to have a white teacher pilot its Black and Latino history course, Despite efforts to recruit Black and Latino teachers, 97% of the staff in the district identifies as white. The course is being co-taught at the high school by a social studies teacher and the librarian, with support from a bilingual teacher.
“The feedback I’ve has been positive. The course is fully enrolled,” said Amity Goss, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for Old Saybrook Public Schools said this week. The district plans to keep the course an elective class.
Superintendent Kevin Smith of Wilton Public Schools, which is not part of the initial field study for the course, said he would feel comfortable with any member of the Wilton High School social studies department teaching the Black and Latino history class next year.
“They are all state certified to teach social studies and would be well-prepared to instruct in this course,” Smith said.
In an early focus group with students, SERC asked younger participants whether the teacher’s race would make a difference. They got a split response, but early feedback from students currently enrolled in the course shows they are more interested in the information that they are receiving than the person who is delivering it.
“This class helps me learn about the hidden history of my ancestors and helps me understand myself as a person. It incorporates two big parts of who I am,” said Lavinnia Nazareth, a junior at Westbrook High School, who identifies as half Black and Latina.
P-TECH Norwalk juniors Chance Teel and Julian Rivera both recently said they were encouraged to take the class by their parents.
“My culture, yes it’s a U.S. territory, but it’s not really talked about in U.S. history,” said Rivera, who has a Puerto Rican background. “I wanted to dive a little deeper . ... I thought learning more about my background could help me in the future.”