Cultural Identity Affirmation
Cultural identity events are an extremely important part of West's calendar. The vast majority of our students are black and Hispanic, so Hispanic Heritage Month (which runs from mid-September to mid-October) and Black History Month (February) generate a lot of enthusiasm, excitement, and extracurricular engagement. I try to be actively involved in planning events and creating decorations for these celebrations.
School spirit during Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month. To the left, a giant map of the Americas that I helped build. In the end, it was covered with flags from and facts about Spanish-speaking countries in our hemisphere. To the right, students excitedly anticipate the next performance at the annual Black History Month assembly.
However, as important as cultural identity events are, they are much less meaningful unless teachers are actively affirming the cultures that they celebrate in classrooms. I grew up seeing doctors, lawyers, scientists, and other professionals who looked a lot like me. My students have generally not had that advantage, and it is essential that I recognize that and do what I can to mitigate it. (For further discussion of the importance of diverse role models in STEM fields, take a look at the National Science Foundation's report on the topic. Or, if you are interested in more of a pop-culture angle, check out FiveThirtyEight's coverage of Black Panther's social importance.)
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This reality led me to create my Meet the Mathematicians bulletin board, which is easily the most visible part of my teaching space. Each week, I feature a new mathematician on the board, complete with information about the amazing things that he or she has done and descriptions of how those things involve math. Of course, I define "mathematician" very broadly for the purposes of the display; I have featured professional athletes, artists, and chefs alongside engineers, physicians, and math professors. The idea is to help scholars connect math to careers that may interest them and recognize that they are fully capable of pursuing those careers.
A panorama from the hallway outside of my classroom. The Meet the Mathematicians board is the light blue one in the middle. This was the first week of the 2016-2017 school year, so the two mathematicians on the board were me (by way of introduction to my new students) and 2016 Summer Olympics star Simone Manuel, who had recently become the first black woman to win a gold medal in swimming.
Examples of Meet the Mathematicians displays. I strive to identify individuals who will empower and inspire my students, and I encourage students to give me suggestions. For example, one of my students last year wanted to be a neurosurgeon, so I featured Dr. Keith L. Black on the board at his suggestion.
Of course, ​cultural diversity can be celebrated outside of the school as well as within it. I try to take my students on identity-affirming field trips as often as possible. One of my favorite such trips this year was to see an award-winning one-act play entitled "Race to the Finish." The show, which was written by a first-year student at New York University and performed by a cast of four 18- and 19-year-olds, directly confronted issues of systemic racism and police brutality. The subject matter was frequently upsetting and difficult to watch—police shooting victims Laquan McDonald and Rekia Boyd were the main characters—but my scholars emerged from the experience eager to have important conversations about racial identity and privilege. Because the show was only about an hour long, they also had the opportunity to ask the playwright and actors questions after it concluded and then spent some time working on their hip-hop skills with the show's dancers and DJs.
Student experiences at "Race to the Finish." Above and to the left, two scholars learn how to use a DJ's turntable to mix tracks. Above and to the right, scholars practice their dance moves. These post-show opportunities brought my students together with other students from around the city, which was itself a positive learning experience. At the bottom left is the program from the show, and at the bottom right are my students' reflections shortly after watching it. I like to combine field trips with brief, written reflections to encourage scholars to process and share things they have seen and learned. For this reflection, I asked them to write at least one paragraph and then let them choose between writing a second and drawing a picture of something significant from the show. As with any pedagogical practice, it is important to remember that different students prefer to think and communicate in different ways.
Although my colleagues and I do the planning for trips that affirm students' cultural identities, many would not be possible without funding and other support from our wonderful Parent-Scholar-Community Organization (PSCO). Recently, one of our eighth grade scholars wrote a short speech about her experiences on such trips and delivered it at a PSCO meeting. The examples she offered and the gratitude that she expressed are reflective of the conversations that our scholars have throughout the school building after returning from cultural identity events and activities. It is usually very difficult to capture the mood of pride and activism that these conversations evince, but the recording of her speech below is beautifully illustrative of it.
An eighth grade scholar addresses the PSCO to talk about how much she has learned about cultural identity this year. Part of effective advocacy is sharing life experiences and other information with a broader group of people, especially those in positions of power (like the PSCO leaders within the West community).