Note: This was originally published on Medium (January 2022). The Education Matters Bill, HB1134, is now declared dead, but we must continue to apply pressure and denounce harmful legislation as it arises.
I believe the purpose of education is to nurture the intellectual capacity of youth, developing skills and dispositions that enhance criticality and knowledge to engender contributing members of a democratic society. To foster just communities, it is the collective responsibility of people in positions of power to make equitable decisions for the progression and embetterment of humanity. As an educator, I seek to help youth become better versions of themselves which requires humanizing approaches coupled with critical conversations that empower students to see a world beyond the optics of their social conditioning- a world with many strengths and inherent flaws that evoke a spirit of advocacy and a desire to act. Human development requires us to question, wonder, wrestle with beliefs, and grapple with the complexities of societal conditions. This is the heart of education and the way we educate students matters.
The proposed House Bill 1040 and House Bill 1134 demonstrate a misalignment to the purpose of education and discredits the scholarship of educators who understand the science of learning. Cognitive scientists have conveyed the connection between schema and learning. We build schema by taking in new information and connecting it to what we believe and experience. The act of educating is an ongoing process where students encode information and filter it through a lens of their cultural experiences while existing in a racialized society. Our identities shape how we see the world and our cultural experiences influence how we learn. This is why practitioners of education have studied culturally responsive teaching practices to ensure that learning concepts connect to what is relevant and meaningful in the lives of children.
Identity matters. Race matters.
Youth are not exempt from seeing the injustices that adults have created. Many children from historically marginalized groups feel the impact from discriminatory systems at a young age. They recognize the narratives and perspectives that are amplified in educational settings and the stories that are discarded. The state of Indiana also has glaring racial disparities in the field of education that are felt and internalized by students of color. Schools should be a brave space where students feel comfortable addressing the injustices that exist in their present realities, paralleling their truths to our historical past and having courageous conversations about race to rebuild a world where all people can live authentically. Teachers must also address disparities in data with a race-conscious approach. They need spaces to talk about student outcomes where they can analyze inequities and the structures in systems that perpetuate them. When a state reflects racist outcomes for Black students, we cannot have bills in place that could potentially deny or exempt teachers from opportunities to learn about antiracist pedagogy and culturally responsive practices.
We cannot address what we ignore and what we ignore is willful negligence. We cannot use hope as a strategy to eliminate racial injustice, including inequities in healthcare, housing, employment, and legal systems. However, we can teach truth and empower students to be the light, seeing each other as fully human. The mistakes of the past can be a catalyst for justice-centered work and inclusive communities.
Youth are capable and able to have civic conversations about race and different humanity-related issues. They can learn about the racial hierarchies that were established through government sanctioned laws (e.g., Indian Removal Act of 1830, Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Jim Crow laws, etc.), including the attempt to whitewash and redefine how we teach history through these proposed bills. They can learn about dehumanizing acts such as colonization, enslavement, and redlining, and how activists of today are using their voice to continue the fight for human rights. They can learn about activism from the experiences of people color (e.g., Claudette Colvin, James Baldwin, Diane Nash, etc.) and white abolitionists (e.g., John Brown, William Lloyd Garrison, etc.) or individuals who conspired with people of color (e.g., Freedom Riders) to create a world where liberation exists.
Since the start of the pandemic, there has been an uptick in violence and hostile acts against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. We have seen national protests in support of Black lives following the murder of George Floyd. If one of these bills were to pass, would educators be restricted in their approach to confront racist and xenophobic behaviors? Will teachers have to disregard social justice topics that are pertinent to the lives, passions, histories, and identities of students if those concepts make *some* people uncomfortable or delve deep into the origins of racism?
Importantly, I challenge policymakers to think about the voices that are centered in the proposed bills and the voices that are forgotten. Do the authors of HB 1040 and HB 1134 have a shared identity? Has there been an intentional effort to seek out perspectives and voices from families or students of color? What is the racial makeup of the leaders of organizations who are in full support of HB 1040 and HB 1134? If the answers to these questions do not reflect the rich diversity of children and families who are proponents of public education, decisions are not being made in the best interest of racially, linguistically, and ethnically diverse youth. Rather, decisions are being made to protect one’s privilege.
I can agree that not every educator is equipped for critical conversations about race, gender, religion, etc. or has the background knowledge to teach these concepts appropriately. We know malpractices exist in every field and industry, and need to be dealt with accordingly. Yet, the focus should be on building capacity for teaching understandings of diversity and antiracist work, not stifling intellectual discussions altogether. Oftentimes, the people who create policies are the least impacted by its outcomes and do not absorb the ramifications from a policy’s manifestation in systems across institutions. Either bill will lead to irreparable damage and the demise of public education.
In addition to ‘controversial topics,’ I want to address how the other curricular components of the bills will impact educators.
Teachers are professionals who have obtained degrees that require a strong knowledge base in child development. They spend more hours than anyone recognizes to plan lessons and make instructional visions a reality for students. Please do not make teachers feel more expendable than many already do while working hard every day to educate students and maintain safety in a global pandemic. There is a teacher shortage in Indiana. A bill that restricts the creative power of educators to cultivate learning experiences for students will only result in an exodus of quality teachers. Mental wellness has also been a struggle for many children and adolescents who have experienced isolation or the loss of loved ones during this pandemic. How do policymakers expect educators to support students’ emotional needs without explicit teachings to help youth process their emotions (i.e., social emotional learning)? Is the assumption that educators should be able to easily obtain parental consent (as suggested in the language of both bills) in the moment of a crisis in order to address wellness concerns related to students? The language of this bill is subjective in nature and lacks practicality.
I urge policymakers to think about who benefits and who is harmed by these proposed bills. And, I also challenge them to spend more of their energy creating spaces for listening and learning, hearing from the voices of students and teachers to identify worthy concerns to address within education in Indiana.
