An Open Letter to Students Who are Tackling Racism

A letter written by me to our high school drama students in response to their incredible performance of Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird. I am posting it here to spread the great news about the impact engaged students have on the world. It is our responsibility to foster a culture in schools where ideas turn into action. Kudos to teacher-extraordinaire Lori Thompson for her direction of this production and her remarkable leadership helping all of us make meaning through our struggles. This letter was given to each member of the cast and production team.

The Dream is Now, Detroit. By Nick Gregory

You are an all-star.

I figured since a few of you have been on the receiving end of my high-fives in the hallway or praise in my classroom, you should know why I am so fired up about your role in the FHS performance of, To Kill a Mockingbird.

I am writing this letter to you because you pulled something off that some people spend a lifetime trying to do; you significantly moved the needle toward progress. I do not say that lightly.

Working for progress is tedious work and it tests our patience.

The fight for progress can make us feel isolated. Striving to get to a better place can be lonely.

A true commitment to progress makes us vulnerable as we reflect on our own imperfections and flaws.

The process of making progress can be discouraging at times.

Voice of Hope, Detroit. By Nick Gregory 

Your performance and the honesty with which you delivered it brought all of the above truths about progress to light. You revealed the complicated layers that make confronting bigotry and racism challenging. All aspects of the evening - the acting, the character development, the video montages, the set and direction, the Q & A - it came together remarkably. You reached hundreds of people directly from the theatre alone. Add to that your interactions with guests, in Flint, with your families and among your peers and the scale of your influence expands dramatically. More importantly, you will continue to fight for good ideas and so will many of the people who shared this learning experience with you.

Never underestimate the power of ideas and our capacity to evolve as human beings.

Your effort, focused study and the exhausting rehearsal that went into authentically delivering To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates respect for your audience and your belief in something bigger than the “show” itself. I admire your dedication. Truths about hate and love that have existed for more than the eighty years since the story was set, came to life in the theatre Saturday night.   

You did that. You helped people think and feel the tough stuff. Your work creating positive change in our world is only beginning and that excites me.

A few other ideas came to mind in the days since I enjoyed your performance.

Risk

Judge Not, Detroit. By Nick Gregory

Putting yourself out there to be a part of a team is a risk. Collectively, you got to a deeper level of understanding by opening yourself up to learning from new experiences and difficult conversations. It is inspiring to me and makes me want to keep reaching for more.

Empathy

We can never have too many reminders about the importance of “walking in another’s flip-flops” and opening our hearts and minds to the experiences of others. Empathy is a function of love and there’s no such thing as a surplus of love. You reminded me that empathy is greater than a set of actions or deeds. Empathy can be taught and modeled.  As a teacher and a dad, that’s a reminder I appreciate. Thank you.

Evolve

We have the power to change. Every person, regardless of age or background, is capable of change and forgiveness.

When I was in college, my uncle referred to a good friend of mine as a “Sand-N-word”  and it shook me up. My friend is Indian and has dark skin. My uncle was looking through some spring break photos I brought to a family gathering and he spewed his hate so casually that it caught me off-guard. He said it as though he was describing an obvious feature like his jet black hair or his goofy smile and I remember feeling helpless. My uncle’s bigoted slur hung in the air the entire day. I struggled for a long time with the fact that I never spoke up back then. I don’t remember exactly, but I am sure I was weary of creating tension with someone I loved.

At that time, I was not willing to go there.

I told myself for a long time that my uncle was just set in his ways and he was still a good guy (which is true). I questioned why he volunteered his hate so easily when it was not even solicited. It’s not like there was a heated discussion or a relevant topic that at least provided some context for his toxic attitude. Years later, the stench of his insulting remark has mostly evaporated, but traces of it still hang around in my mind. I began challenging myself to think about things like, how do we unlearn hate? I never wanted to feel helpless about speaking up again.     

Fast forward seven years and I had fallen in love with Beata, now my wife of eleven years. Beata is a first-generation Iranian-American whose parents immigrated to the United States in 1978. Like my college friend, my wife has dark skin, dark hair and her ethnic features are striking. By the time we got married, I decided that the discomfort my uncle might feel around my wife’s family with their accents and cultural customs was his burden, not mine.

Horrible slurs and insults like the one I heard years prior would never happen again in my presence. At first, I was not sure if my uncle changed or if he just toned down his rhetoric around me. Today, I believe that he has changed. He thinks differently than he did a decade ago.  

As I have fallen more in love with my wife and her beautiful family (they’re now my family too), I appreciate how their unique life experiences as US immigrants have influenced Beata. My in-laws have opened my eyes to an American Dream that I never had to contemplate growing up. They have also opened my eyes to valuable experiences that have shaped their view of our nation’s struggles. When we gave birth to our own children, I began re-thinking my own ideas about love and hate; bigotry and inclusion. I guess you could say that like my uncle, my ideas are evolving.

What has changed most for me is that I no longer feel that the racism others have learned is their burden alone. The hate and baggage others carry is my burden too. It is also your burden.

Racism and prejudice are rooted in sins that our nation has been living with for centuries and acknowledging that truth is a critical first step. This hatred cannot be denied, nor can it be justified. As we have learned, silence in the face of hate is support. Sometimes the bigotry is softly disguised as indifference, but it is still wrong. We know that prejudice can be  expressed in both subtle and overt ways. Neither are acceptable. I am learning though that there is such a thing as a “recovering racist” and that people can change. People do change. We learn how to change - some slower than others - but we learn with experiences and we learn with practice.

Your performance was a testament to that practice. It takes practice. The work does not end with one act or an epiphany. Commitment to helping others doesn’t really end,  it just changes as we grow. You reminded me of that truth. Thank you.

You appear to have examined so much of this long before many adults do and I am grateful. It helps me remain optimistic. Hopefully your feelings about diversity and tackling our differences by listening with open hearts is reflective of your generation. We, the adults, need your help. I got to witness your leadership on stage and in the conversation that followed.

One Step at a Time - Building Bridges, Detroit. By N Gregory

Keep this conversation going.

The good ideas will always be worth fighting for, even when all of the usual indicators might say those good ideas are losing. The ideas only lose when people give up. You put on display a favorite quote of mine: “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” (Attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt and I believe the origin is from a Chinese proverb).

You reminded me Saturday night that it is important for me to keep my candle lit, especially when the nasty winds of hatred are swirling all around us. I am committed to contributing to “going there” to “get there.”

I am inspired that you are elevating your voices and providing the light we need so badly in our nation right now.

Grateful. Proud. Fired up.

Sincerely,

Mr. Gregory   

Michigan Students are Depending on Educators to Lead

Teachers & Administrators need to Join Forces and Act Decisively to Tackle Systemic Challenges in our Schools

Educators are uniquely positioned to lead. We impact more lives than anyone outside of students’ homes, and in communities all over Michigan we have immense social capital.

That capital doesn’t do much good, however, if we fail to cash it in by advocating for fundamental changes within our profession. Teachers, school leaders and boards of education throughout Michigan must turn their social capital into political capital and fundamentally change our approach to teaching and learning.

The Michigan Department of Education (MDE), led by Superintendent Brian Whiston, has set out on an ambitious goal to make Michigan a Top Ten state for education within ten years. Considering that Michigan ranked 41st in fourth-grade reading in 2015 and 22% of of our students failed to graduate on time, it will take bold action to solve our challenges. In a state where more than 70% of eighth-graders aren't proficient in math, Michigan educators have an awesome opportunity to change the future of our state by demanding drastic changes to the way we approach education. (Detroit Free Press - June 22, 2106)

For our students to realize their potential, educators spanning the ranks of the profession need to responsibly address the problems that have been holding us back for the past two decades. We need to devote our collective energy to improving our education system and spend less time assigning blame. The way we do K-12 education in this state needs an overhaul, and recognizing the current landscape requires honesty about our failures. We need to stop paying lip service to collaboration, long-range planning and the value of teamwork. We can start by dedicating our resources to four areas where we struggle most.

Consistent Collaboration 

The finest school districts in Michigan have mastered collaboration among staff, students and the community. Unfortunately, these educational hubs of innovative collaboration are the exception not the norm. In some of our poorest schools collaboration occurs out of desperation to make up for a lack of resources, but that’s not enough. Teachers want to plan and work in effective teams, and unfortunately we lack content-driven, expert-led collaboration with peers. (Education Resource Strategies, April 2017).

It is rare for school administrators to have both the resources and expertise to work alongside teachers collaboratively. Teachers would embrace collaborative planning time, peer accountability and teacher observations with constructive feedback yet we find ourselves mired in school business driven by a compliance mindset.  

Our energy is devoted to meeting requirements for teacher evaluations designed to score us so we can be ranked and sorted rather than helping us improve instructional delivery. There is little time to work with other professionals on the craft of teaching or to develop unit plans for learning that transcend a traditional classroom setting. In Michigan schools, there is a premium placed on things like obtaining, “State Continuing Education Clock Hours” or attending required professional development sessions that do not involve clear goals. Far too often teachers struggle to connect mandated professional development  to student learning.

Every profession has its share of compliance issues, but from their inception schools were not designed with change and collaboration in mind. In tight financial times, there does not seem to be much interest in investing in leadership training and collaborative strategies that will improve the culture of learning. Schools are brimming with talented professionals whose ideas live in isolation. Veteran teachers lose interest working in small confined spaces and beginning teachers struggle to get their footing when there is little in place to unify teachers. As school systems try to catch up with a changing economy, dedicated professionals are handcuffed by old thinking.

Clear Targets

Most veteran teachers will admit they feel the education policies coming down from Lansing are the result of political battles that have little to do with student outcomes. School leaders react to the legislation accordingly and priorities shift without much explanation. Teachers, administrators and school boards are on the same team, yet we struggle to pull together and advocate for sensible legislation.

Teachers, administrators and school boards are on the same team, yet we struggle to pull together and advocate for sensible legislation.

There are more than 100 games that can be 

played on a standard pool table. Wouldn't 

you want to know which game you are 

playing before starting the game? 

At the building level, ideas that actually hold important meaning become “buzzword victims” every school year. Our acronyms have a nine-month shelf life and become fodder for staff lounge laughter. One year it was HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills), then Differentiated Learning, and finally RTI (Response to Intervention) the next year. Necessary concepts and stated goals are fleeting because we fail to examine how these concepts might fit within a bigger framework. Simply put, that bigger framework just does not exist in many Michigan school districts.

It is difficult to find meaning in ideas that stand alone. Integrating our “buzzwords” into relevant practice is not a realistic target. We lack the ability in education to measure meaningful progress in relation to our new buzzwords and, quite frankly, I am not sure we’re all that interested. Educators lack confidence in a law-making process that usually does not include a seat at the table for teachers. A clear vision for education is hampered by all the uncertainty in Lansing.

Ironically, for the last couple of years Learning Targets have been a popular point of emphasis in our instructional delivery across the state - just another moving target to fit in with our other buzz words and a confusing teacher evaluation process. I am, however, encouraged by the MDE Top Ten in Ten campaign because there are clear targets. Now we must find the political will to support the MDE plan in order to achieve the ambitious goals outlined.

Short-term Thinking

Educators have grown so used to survival mode that our default setting is often indifference when it comes to long-range goals. Think about it: Education is the subject of incredible public scrutiny and divisive political battles. Educators are operating in an environment where pay freezes, health care and pension uncertainty, and public criticism are the norm. Having little sense of control takes a toll.

At the local level, many school buildings operate with a weekly or day-by-day survival goal. Even in high performing schools, when plans from the top roll down to teachers they often die on the vine. Great ideas can struggle to gain traction if they require long-term planning or too much risk. Teachers passively fill up their inboxes with a new “something” confident it will drift away soon enough. It pains me to admit this, but it’s the truth.

It goes something like this: An educator, sitting in a staff meeting, nods in agreement about mapping out a new mission statement for the school about developing reflective, caring and principled learners for a global society. Meanwhile the copy machines are down, two students were added to your crowded classroom and you’re wondering if the rumors about another round of layoffs are true.  

So, we function, because that is what we have learned to do best. Some school leaders are more supportive than others, but uncertainty has stunted the educational leadership capacity in Michigan. For many reasons, educators are deeply concerned about the future of our profession. Building leaders cannot adapt to new accountability measures and best teaching practices within a system burdened by decades of institutional norms. We are tired, and sometimes we’re infected with a short-term mindset presented too often as cynicism.

Educators must stamp out cynicism so we can make the kind of progress our students deserve. A short-term mindset  is one of the most difficult challenges facing our profession, because it has been developed as a coping mechanism - a survival tool of sorts. The problem is that short-term thinking robs teachers and students of creativity, innovation and the ability to build trust. School leaders and teachers who fail to collaborate on long-range goals eventually suck the life out of learning for everyone involved.  

A short-term mindset is one of the most difficult challenges facing our profession, because it has been developed as a coping mechanism - a survival tool of sorts.

Mentorship and Feedback 

The absence of mentorship and feedback is the unfortunate result of the three previous failures. Teachers in Michigan are adapting to a teacher evaluation process that is designed to provide continuous feedback, but instead sorts and ranks teachers. In addition, many schools did away with mentorship programs after the economy tanked in the mid-2000’s. As a result of both of these developments, outdated instructional methods persist and evidence-based teaching practices lag.

This energy conservation report is the extent of feed-

back a teacher might receive in some Michigan schools.

Feedback aimed at supporting best teaching practices has a ripple effect. As I struggled through my first year of teaching, the assistant principal took the time to mentor me and help me develop meaningful units of instruction. We had a teacher induction program to support new hires, so our successes were shared. These experiences led to meaningful conversations and contributed to better classroom instruction. Fast forward more than a decade and I have witnessed the responsibilities of the assistant principal role double and support for teachers cut in half.  

Some Michigan school districts invest in instructional coaching and promote feedback among staff and students. We need to step up our game in Michigan when it comes to promoting, funding and adopting best practices state-wide.

Students are left behind when we fail to realize the impact school leaders and master teachers can have as mentors. Most administrators were classroom teachers and most would prefer to devote their energy to mentorship. Teachers thrive in school cultures where collaboration, risk-taking and new ideas are celebrated. Continuous feedback is the lynchpin for improving instruction. We know leadership quality and teacher performance drive student learning, and it is our responsibility to urge our schools to do more on both fronts.

We know leadership quality and teacher performance drive student learning, and it is our responsibility to urge our schools to do more on both fronts.

The worst part may be that no one is paying much attention to the cost of our indifference as school employees. Improving our teacher evaluation system is a great opportunity for educators to collaborate, and that opportunity demands we set aside old labor disputes and animosity. Inaction hurts morale and hinders student learning.

Teachers are rarely invited to evaluate school leaders and provide feedback regarding employee engagement. One of the best ways to ensure we are engaging students is to make sure the staff is professionally engaged and eager to learn. We should be working together, but we can’t do that if we allow frustration about outside factors to stall progress.  

Cowering in fear before these obstacles is cheating our children and diminishes our profession. Michigan communities need teachers and school administrators to consolidate our political will and deliver on our commitment to Michigan students. Michigan needs bold leaders, energized teachers and a unified voice advocating for students. Unless that happens, the MDE Top Ten in Ten plan will serve as the evidence of our collective failure and inaction in the face of adversity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR of CIVICS ENGAGED: Nick Gregory has been a social studies and high school journalism teacher since 2000 and he has been a National Writing Project Teacher consultant and a junior varsity basketball coach since 2003. Gregory is an America Achieves Lead Fellow and he has exhibited photography related to Detroit and social justice causes since 2011. Gregory, who has a Masters degree in Educational Leadership, believes that building positive relationships helps students find their passion for learning. You can follow him on Twitter @CivicsEngaged.

DISCLAIMER: This blog includes ideas and topics serving as a composite of issues from various sources. The issues raised in this blog are not specifically or solely motivated by the policies within the author's own school district.