Creating a Home in Schools

The authors of this book provide caring advice to Black, Indigenous, and Teachers of Color (BITOC) to help sustain them into and through the teaching profession. Through an examination of BITOC in the education workforce, the assets that these educators bring to the teaching profession are identified, as are some of the most critical challenges they face in today’s schools. The book illuminates the importance of cultivating and supporting social cultural identities as resources that will serve prospective teachers and their increasingly diverse students. Rooted in an identity sustaining framework, the authors strongly encourage BITOC to bring their full cultural, social, and linguistic assets into the classroom while simultaneously encouraging their students to do the same. Creating a Home in Schools will help readers successfully negotiate and navigate the teaching profession, from pathway programs, to teacher education, and into the classroom.

Book Features:

• Explores major contextual constraints that BITOC will have to understand and navigate.
• Identifies the cultural and linguistic assets BITOC bring with them and how to make these a central part of their teaching.
• Focuses on the importance of a strong sense of identity and how to approach teaching and learning in identity sustaining ways.
• Offers guidance for enacting culturally sustaining pedagogies that are rooted in BITOC identities to serve the needs of their students.

Francisco A. Rios, professor, and A Longoria, assistant professor, are both at Woodring College of Education, Western Washington University.

“As we read Creating A Home In Schools: Sustaining Identities for Black, Indigenous and Teachers of Color, we found it to be a powerful catalyst for conversation reflecting on the need for this resource as we journeyed through our time as classroom teachers. … In many ways, we wished we had the discussions nurtured in this book at the beginning of our own teacher-preparation journey.”

—Teachers College Record

“Guided by the critical voice of the authors, this book is woven with theory, data, and reflection exercises for BIPOC teachers to grow and stand in their power. A much-needed resource in this current time!”
—Rita Kohli, associate professor, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Riverside

“Finally—a book written for preservice Black, Indigenous, and Teachers of Color (BITOC). Creating a Home in Schools is designed to help us see our cultural and linguistic wealth as strong pillars on which to build sustaining pedagogies.”
—Margarita Bianco, associate professor, University of Colorado Denver; founder, Pathways2Teaching

Contents (Tentative)

Series Foreword James A. Banks 

Preface: This Political Moment—A House in Disarray? 

Acknowledgments 

Introduction 
Who We Are and Where We Stand 
The Framework 
Chapter Overviews 
A Note About Terminology 
Getting the Most From This Text 

1. The Community: Mapping the Contours of the Profession 
An (All-Too) Brief History of Education for Students of Color 
Segregation, Desegregation, and Integration: An Extended Example 
Schooling and Diversity in the Contemporary Era 
Concluding Reflections 

2. The House: Finding Your Theoretical/Ideological Foundations 
Understanding Theories of Minoritized Student Performance in Schools 
Critical Theories of Schooling for Diverse Children and Youth 
Concluding Reflections 

3. The Entryway: Representing Through Multicultural and Culturally Centering Education 
Multicultural Education: Our Historical Roots 
Defining Multicultural Education 
Culturally Centering Education as Multicultural Education 
Teachers of Color: Exploring Your Own Principles of Practice 
Concluding Reflections 

4. The Living Room: Sustaining Identities Through Teaching and Learning 
Diversity in the Teaching Profession: 
On Identity 
Identity-Sustaining Pedagogies 
Concluding Reflections 

5. The Kitchen (and the Closet): Getting Real About Schooling 
Finding Nuances Between Public and Private Spaces 
The Challenges of Being a BITOC 
The Closet: Opening Ourselves and Being Vulnerable . . . out of Necessity 
Preprofessional Advice for Preservice BITOCs 
Pursuing Your First Teaching Position 
Concluding Reflections 

6. The Patio: Re/energizing Yourself in Community 
Cautionary Tales: From Damage Narratives to Desire Narratives 
Engaging in Meaningful and Critical Reflection and Self-Reflexivity 
Sustaining Ourselves Through Self-Care 
Building Allies 
Recognizing and Embracing Joy 
On Chisme 
Teacher Education Programs Have a Role, Too 
Concluding Reflections 

7. The Rooftop: Visioning and Action Planning for Sustainable Futures 
Bringing It All Together 
Envisioning Futurities 
Theories of Change 
Career Development: A Purposeful Trajectory 
Activist Teacher Leaders 
Action Planning 
Telling Your Story 
On Hope 
Our Unfinishedness 
Concluding Reflections 

PostScript (PS) 

Appendix A: The Toolshed 

Appendix B: A Note to White Readers 

Appendix C: Other Goals for Culturally Centering Education 

Appendix D: An Action-Planning Worksheet: Crafting Your Story 

Notes 

References 

Index 

About the Authors