June 3, 2020 • 8 mins
As protests over the death of George Floyd continue across the country, we find ourselves looking to the future generations for a way forward. Dr. Dyan Watson joins to discuss the role of education in fighting racial bias and inequality—and the critical role teachers and parents can play in educating children while also educating themselves.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Each day we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining, the glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere, every day, we just
need to look for and share it. Here's something Good
(00:27):
for today. As protests over the death of George Floyd
continue across the country, now is the time of listening, empathy,
and compassion. At this moment of great pain and difficulty,
we find ourselves looking to the brave young women and
men standing up in the face of injustice, and we
find hope in the future generations to come. Right now,
(00:48):
there is a focus on this future generation and how
we can help break the cycle of racism and intolerance
in the United States through conscious and thoughtful education, not
just for our children, but also for ourselves. We sought
to learn more about what we can all do in
our own lives and in our own homes to improve
anti racism education, and we're grateful for the opportunity to
(01:09):
speak with Diane Watson, Associate Professor of Education and Social
Studies content Coordinator at the Lewis and Clark Graduate School,
of Education and Counseling. She's also a co editor of
Teaching for Black Lives, which serves the handbook to help
all educators fight racism, and she's an editor for Rethinking Schools.
Here's what Dr Watson had to say. Well, we know
(01:33):
that as early as three to six months of age,
babies begin to notice and express preference by way, and
then I believe it's between the ages of three and
five or so the children began to apply stereotized and
casuali people by race and express racial bias. So by
the time kids are in school, they already have sort
(01:54):
of strong beliefs about different races. So the biggest way
you eradicate racism is to start with the curriculum. It
is very important for schools to offer a curriculum that
reflects the multiracial country. Students have to know how to
work with other people that are different from themselves. Didn't
(02:17):
have to know the real history, so they can appreciate
really what happened. I mean, if you ask students, probably
you know who are the winners and who are the losers,
and not society. You will see answers that will fall
out along racial lines. And it's just not true. There's
a great center called Morning Side Center for Teaching Social Responsibility,
(02:39):
and they have a variety of ways to approach difficult conversations,
including conversations about race and violence. UM, so that there's
great section on how to talk about what happened with
George Floyd. And so I would, as a parent and
(02:59):
as a teacher or UM consult these places so that
you're constantly thinking about it and um helping students think
about it. And that's another thing. We can't begin to
talk about these things in a productive manner if we
ourselves haven't talked about it. So if you're a parent,
especially if you're not a parent of colors, So if
(03:21):
you're a white parent, you've got to start dealing with
your own stock. Um, if you are afraid to talk
about ways, you gotta get over it. And so find
some folks that you can start talking with about ways
and just jump in and and it's trying to tell
a kid. No, I'm not used to this myself, but
(03:42):
I know it's important. The main thing for a teacher
is to create a safe, respectful and supportive tone and classroom,
to ask questions, to solicit children's thoughts like what are
you thinking? It's just a great question to continually ask
and that you know, obviously in a really warm way. UM,
(04:03):
and just to see where they're at, because uh, you
might be surprised. They might have been thinking about this
and they're just waiting for a chance to process it
with an adult. We're talking about race and controversial issues.
With older kids, it's really important to present facts to
give them or provide sources where they can see a
(04:25):
variety of views and come to conclusions on their own.
We don't want to just provide one side, you know,
and or not even just two sides, because there's usually
more than just two sides to any UM issues. So
given the variety of issues, was to variety people believe
(04:45):
and provide framework so they can't systematically go through this
material and keep track of their thinking and others thinking
and have an opportunity to talk about it with their
peers and even UM their FA at least, and and
then write about it. You know, what conclusions do they
come to UM and interview others, get out there and
(05:08):
create podcasts, create a blog to really get in there
and delve into the different ideas of others and add
your own and UM have these conversations this Sunday. About
four years so students will officially become teachers. So'll be
(05:29):
graduating from the school where I teach. And that brings
me hope because all year long we've been talking about
why black lives matter, how to integrate principles of social
justice into the triculum, how to love your students. And
while none of us are perfect, they have the perfect
(05:52):
attitudes and the perfect mindset to make a difference. And
that's where it starts. UM. Teachers are so important in
this battle. And I am hopeful because I know more
than just a handful who are going to do great things,
who are doing great things, and who will do great things.
And that brings me a lot of comfort and a
(06:13):
lot of hope. There is so much we can learn
about the fight against racial bias and what each of
us can do in our own lives to help. Dr
Watson demonstrates how we can refocus our efforts in education
to provide more effective anti racism teaching even in our
own homes. So here's something helpful for today, especially in
(06:34):
the circumstances we find ourselves during this global pandemic. Dr
Watson provides much needed perspective on education and a way forward.
She encourages us all to seek out resources and guidance
to make education more effective in the fight against racism
for all ages, and in doing so, she also encourages
us each to dig deep within ourselves so that we
(06:55):
can understand our own biases and become better teachers of
the next generation, and in doing so, move towards the
more equitable world we all want to see. You can
find out more from Dr Watson by visiting Teaching for
Black Lives dot org and Rethinking Schools dot org. Thank
(07:26):
you for listening, and please share Today's Something Good with
others in your life. This is Kim Azzarelli, co author
of Fast Forward and co founder of Seneca Women. To
learn more about Seneca Women, go to Seneca Women dot
com or download the Seneca Women app free in the
app store. Here's Something Good is a production of the
Seneca Women podcast network and I Heart Radio Have a
(07:46):
Great Day. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, check
out the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Each day we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining, the glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere, every day, we just
need to look for and share it. Here's something Good
(00:27):
for today. As protests over the death of George Floyd
continue across the country, now is the time of listening, empathy,
and compassion. At this moment of great pain and difficulty,
we find ourselves looking to the brave young women and
men standing up in the face of injustice, and we
find hope in the future generations to come. Right now,
(00:48):
there is a focus on this future generation and how
we can help break the cycle of racism and intolerance
in the United States through conscious and thoughtful education, not
just for our children, but also for ourselves. We sought
to learn more about what we can all do in
our own lives and in our own homes to improve
anti racism education, and we're grateful for the opportunity to
(01:09):
speak with Diane Watson, Associate Professor of Education and Social
Studies content Coordinator at the Lewis and Clark Graduate School,
of Education and Counseling. She's also a co editor of
Teaching for Black Lives, which serves the handbook to help
all educators fight racism, and she's an editor for Rethinking Schools.
Here's what Dr Watson had to say. Well, we know
(01:33):
that as early as three to six months of age,
babies begin to notice and express preference by way, and
then I believe it's between the ages of three and
five or so the children began to apply stereotized and
casuali people by race and express racial bias. So by
the time kids are in school, they already have sort
(01:54):
of strong beliefs about different races. So the biggest way
you eradicate racism is to start with the curriculum. It
is very important for schools to offer a curriculum that
reflects the multiracial country. Students have to know how to
work with other people that are different from themselves. Didn't
(02:17):
have to know the real history, so they can appreciate
really what happened. I mean, if you ask students, probably
you know who are the winners and who are the losers,
and not society. You will see answers that will fall
out along racial lines. And it's just not true. There's
a great center called Morning Side Center for Teaching Social Responsibility,
(02:39):
and they have a variety of ways to approach difficult conversations,
including conversations about race and violence. UM, so that there's
great section on how to talk about what happened with
George Floyd. And so I would, as a parent and
(02:59):
as a teacher or UM consult these places so that
you're constantly thinking about it and um helping students think
about it. And that's another thing. We can't begin to
talk about these things in a productive manner if we
ourselves haven't talked about it. So if you're a parent,
especially if you're not a parent of colors, So if
(03:21):
you're a white parent, you've got to start dealing with
your own stock. Um, if you are afraid to talk
about ways, you gotta get over it. And so find
some folks that you can start talking with about ways
and just jump in and and it's trying to tell
a kid. No, I'm not used to this myself, but
(03:42):
I know it's important. The main thing for a teacher
is to create a safe, respectful and supportive tone and classroom,
to ask questions, to solicit children's thoughts like what are
you thinking? It's just a great question to continually ask
and that you know, obviously in a really warm way. UM,
(04:03):
and just to see where they're at, because uh, you
might be surprised. They might have been thinking about this
and they're just waiting for a chance to process it
with an adult. We're talking about race and controversial issues.
With older kids, it's really important to present facts to
give them or provide sources where they can see a
(04:25):
variety of views and come to conclusions on their own.
We don't want to just provide one side, you know,
and or not even just two sides, because there's usually
more than just two sides to any UM issues. So
given the variety of issues, was to variety people believe
(04:45):
and provide framework so they can't systematically go through this
material and keep track of their thinking and others thinking
and have an opportunity to talk about it with their
peers and even UM their FA at least, and and
then write about it. You know, what conclusions do they
come to UM and interview others, get out there and
(05:08):
create podcasts, create a blog to really get in there
and delve into the different ideas of others and add
your own and UM have these conversations this Sunday. About
four years so students will officially become teachers. So'll be
(05:29):
graduating from the school where I teach. And that brings
me hope because all year long we've been talking about
why black lives matter, how to integrate principles of social
justice into the triculum, how to love your students. And
while none of us are perfect, they have the perfect
(05:52):
attitudes and the perfect mindset to make a difference. And
that's where it starts. UM. Teachers are so important in
this battle. And I am hopeful because I know more
than just a handful who are going to do great things,
who are doing great things, and who will do great things.
And that brings me a lot of comfort and a
(06:13):
lot of hope. There is so much we can learn
about the fight against racial bias and what each of
us can do in our own lives to help. Dr
Watson demonstrates how we can refocus our efforts in education
to provide more effective anti racism teaching even in our
own homes. So here's something helpful for today, especially in
(06:34):
the circumstances we find ourselves during this global pandemic. Dr
Watson provides much needed perspective on education and a way forward.
She encourages us all to seek out resources and guidance
to make education more effective in the fight against racism
for all ages, and in doing so, she also encourages
us each to dig deep within ourselves so that we
(06:55):
can understand our own biases and become better teachers of
the next generation, and in doing so, move towards the
more equitable world we all want to see. You can
find out more from Dr Watson by visiting Teaching for
Black Lives dot org and Rethinking Schools dot org. Thank
(07:26):
you for listening, and please share Today's Something Good with
others in your life. This is Kim Azzarelli, co author
of Fast Forward and co founder of Seneca Women. To
learn more about Seneca Women, go to Seneca Women dot
com or download the Seneca Women app free in the
app store. Here's Something Good is a production of the
Seneca Women podcast network and I Heart Radio Have a
(07:46):
Great Day. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, check
out the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
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