Teaching Our Students About Civil Rights

Hey, Teachers!

On Civil Rights Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, some of us may feel silenced by state mandates and district policies that have made discussing civil rights, racism, and equity extremely difficult.

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Students deserve to see themselves in our curriculum, but the latest wave of political bans and pushback against historical truths and realities curtails our liberties as educators. Up until now, teachers have been able to teach students about civil rights, racism, and equity more freely.

How do we encourage students to explore personal definitions of important concepts related to civil rights when our hands are tied? 😓

There is no perfect answer because our individual experiences with an increasingly restrictive educational climate vary across this nation. However, we CAN be a voice for equity and inclusion in our circles of influence.

That's where we have control. 

But how?

The following is a SIMPLE 5-STEP LIST to lighten the burden of organizational silence for teachers at schools where new political bans and legislation have attacked our teacher integrity, classrooms, and inevitably, our students:

1. Be an example of what you believe and support, in your own life, while remaining professionally compliant in all areas, on the job.
2. Encourage students to ask questions about what they believe and support, without intentionally directing students to think or believe a certain way about those concepts; encourage classroom activities that are centered on positive values and decision-making that can also connect to social-emotional learning (SEL); and encourage opportunities that promote student self-discovery surrounding topics that you can't directly discuss during contract hours or as the teacher of record in your position.
3. Read and study what inspires YOU.
4. Creatively weave thematic lessons about civil rights into a curriculum that may now be extremely limited and narrow based on state mandates stemming from legislation such as CRT bans; there are ways to talk about human rights and supporting one another as human beings, and ways to discuss topics related to the human condition without bias or directly using the words race, equity, inclusion, or other phrases that have become politicized and hypersensitive terminology under these new blanket policies.
5. Be an advocate of doing your due diligence and civil duty, such as safely and appropriately cultivating your own role in political outcomes including being a registered voter, or participating in other community and local level opportunities that promote the positive change you would like to see.

Consider the types of conversations that are "safe" (and professionally compliant) to continue in your school (whether in-person or online), and that are in alignment with approved curriculum and state mandates impacting your classroom decisions. Even if you are a teacher who believes new laws are stifling, backwards, or exclusionary to some degree, always address your individual student concerns and involve other trusted colleagues or administrators in the problem-solving process if your concerns are severe and warrant immediate attention for any number of reasons.

And have the "teacher faith" required to persevere. The wave of educational "reform" ebbs and flows. Nothing stays etched in stone except hopefully, our passion to reach young minds.

FIND NEW WAYS TO SUSTAIN YOUR TEACHING CAREER. BOOK YOUR FREE DISCOVERY CALL WITH DR. SHEA

And Snag Your: 5 WAYS TO STAY RESILIENT IN THE CLASSROOM FREE DOWNLOAD