Sean said:
…we, as teachers, need to know how and where to direct Tanisha so that her voice is given value….
This is the task, indeed! First, we have to know how to teach the class so that Tanisha is included and not excluded bc of interstitial racism.
(I know the term is institutional, but I call it interstitial bc it hides between spaces and can’t be seen, and crowds kids of color into little invisible spaces, little bubbles where we can’t see them, in our classrooms, clobbering kids like Tanisha. So interstitial racism in our classes is the enemy.
Once we know how to SEE them – that’s where using a pedagogy that is free of racial bias is necessary – then, when they are given a chance because of HOW WE TEACH, we can begin to reach each single Tanisha and free her from the bubble of invisibility that she is trapped in, we can begin to do the real work of the future in our profession, which is not finding out the best way to teach, but to teach in a way that frees kids of color from those bubbles they are in.
