March 16,
2022
| Amy Porter
aporter@thereminder.com
WESTFIELD – Linda Jordan of the International Center for Leadership in Education was back in Westfield on March 11 to offer professional development on culturally responsive education to staff and administrators of Westfield’s public schools.
Curriculum Director Susan Dargie said the schools’ goal is to create a respectful environment that ensures students and staff feel safe. She said the district began a new equity action plan during a retreat over the summer that identified areas of focus for staff training, building on the work they have been doing with Jordan.
Speaking about rigor and relevance to the group, Jordan said, “it’s amazing what is not relevant” to today’s students. She said today’s students need to be able to answer three questions – what am I learning, why, and how will I use it.
“COVID[-19] is relevant,” Jordan said. She said for today’s kindergartners, half of their life has been spent during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also said across the country, students had very unequal COVID-19 experiences. While some students never turned on Zoom, some watched Zoom and had private tutors, increasing the inequity in the classroom. She said teachers can no longer teach to the middle. They must teach to the child and make education relevant.
Jordan also shared some of her personal experience growing up poor in the Midwest. She said she had two new dresses for school every year, one store-bought, and one new to her, and she thought that she was lucky, because her mother told her she was lucky, until she was made fun of for having only two dresses.
Before graduating, she was told by a counselor that she could only hope to become a secretary. Jordan said she brought that counselor her college diploma, her master’s degree, and would have brought him her doctorate but he had passed away.
“Words matter,” she said.
For classroom management, Jordan said teachers should be asking “why is this student acting this way? Is there bias in the system?” She said the obvious one is a language gap, which makes it uncomfortable for some parents to participate.
She said there are also institutional biases to consider.
“We all have biases. How do we know our personal biases?” Jordan said. “We must draw on the student’s culture to shape the curriculum and instruction, believing in all students. Know your biases.”
Jordan also talked about the need to market public schools and to be more vocal about their work. “Want to make a difference – write weekly letters to legislators, they can be short,” she said, adding that she would write letters once a week on behalf of her school, until the legislators started to call her for her opinion.
“What if every single teacher sent letters once a week?” she asked.
She also said that every family has now experienced online learning as an alternative for schooling.
“We now have more competition,” she said.
Jordan said equity is being relevant with intention. She asked administrators to imagine what schools will be in 2025, and said the lack of seeing people’s faces the last couple of years is causing problems.
“Our job is growing great human beings. We have to teach compassion and acceptance versus stereotypes,” Jordan said, adding, “What do we model? Greet kids every day, and model high expectations for all students.”
Quoting Michelle Obama, Jordan said, “Value everyone’s contribution and treat everyone with respect.”
“One of our district goals for professional development this year is for all [Westfield Public Schools] administrators to participate in equity training as a team,” Dargie said. “Dr. Linda Jordan focused her presentation on culturally responsive teaching as a strategy for achieving equity for all students. By increasing our knowledge of our students and their families, building relationships, and making learning relevant, we increase academic engagement and achievement for all students. The training was well-received by the team, and it aligned with the work being done at the district and school levels.”
Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski remarked, “Our professional development work with Ms. Linda Jordan from the International Center for Leadership of Education over the last two years has brought about a modern shift in the way we view education in the Westfield Public Schools. Ms. Jordan and ICLE’s guidance on implementing the Relationships, Relevance, and Rigor concept into teaching and learning has and will continue to benefit all students in the district.”
Share this: