Teaching for Racial Equity with Tonya Perry, Steven Zemelman and Katy Smith

Today, we welcome the three co-authors of Teaching for Racial Equity: Becoming Interrupters, published by Stenhouse. The book was named as one of three winners in the Best Book for Educators category of the inaugural Excellence in Equity Awards, presented by the American Consortium for Equity in Education.

The discussion includes:

• What it means to be an “interrupter”
• Critical love, critical humility, and critical reflection
• How the authors collaborated and learned from one another
• “Find your people”
• The “a-ha moments” with students
• Examples from the book’s educator contributors that simply illustrate “good teaching,” with respect to engaging students and getting them into the material
• Where readers can begin with the book, based on their prior level of experience with explicit equity work and research
• Our guests’ book recommendations for educators:  Not Light, but Fire by Matthew Kay, Cultivating Genius by Gholdy Muhammad
• Recommendations for students: Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith

Teaching for Racial Equity is available from Stenhouse. Find it here: https://bit.ly/3jZN5RV

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About today’s guests

Tonya B. Perry is a Professor of Secondary English Education and serves as the Executive Director for GEAR UP Alabama and the Red Mountain Writing Project at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Steve Zemelman is a founder of the Illinois Writing Project. He’s helped start innovative small schools in Chicago and promotes student civic engagement there. His most recent book is From Inquiry to Action: Civic Engagement with Project-Based Learning in All Content Areas.

Katy Smith is a Professor of Secondary Education and a Department Chair at Northeastern Illinois University, where she and Steve Zemelman direct the Illinois Writing Project. She has dedicated her career to developing and enacting equitable classroom practices, first as a teacher of high school students and now as a teacher educator.

About the host

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies LLC. He is a leadership development and performance coach for professionals in a range of industries and consults with organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education industry to help communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Twitter @RossBRomano and LinkedIn