As a child, I lived in a world where everyone shared the same skin color, and I never questioned my place in the world. I lived in a world where money was tight, but I was never lacking for food, clothing, shelter, and care. I lived in a world where the books I read and the media I consumed showed me I had the power and promise to accomplish my goals, and was blessed with the resources I needed to achieve them.
Recognizing this privilege did not come easy. Neither is working to do something with it.
As instructional coaches, we have a responsibility to interrupt inequitable practices and engage teachers in safe, reflective, transformational conversations that shift beliefs and ways of being (Augilar, 2014). And although there are many ways to engage in this necessary work, we must begin with careful and honest reflection about our own identity markers (race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and so on) and how they influence our place in the world. Then, we need to question them, and after that, challenge them. But to do so, we first need an opportunity to see the world in a different way.
For me, the single most important factor in broadening my perspective of the world was, and still is, reading children’s literature. By simply turning the page, I have gained new perspectives on race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, religion, and disability from the perspective of a child, perspectives that I simply could not experience for myself. And when I say experience, I really mean experience, thanks to research behind the idea of mirror neurons.
Mirror neurons are neurons fired up in our brains to literally mirror the actions, goals, intentions, thoughts, and emotions of another, which explains why we can have such strong physical and emotional reactions to things happening to others. But here’s the thing: Those same neurons in our brains fire up not only when we are observing the actions of others, but when we are reading about them, too. We literally experience what characters do, feel, and experience alongside them.
Experiencing the world through the lens of diverse characters has propelled me to continually question how the world works and my place within it. I carry this with me into my coaching, ensuring I use diverse books throughout my practice that invite teachers to experience the world in ways different from their own through the eyes of a child. From the books I read and recommend to others to the books purchased for the book room, use as mentor texts, or offer to support the curriculum, I ensure they are current, diverse, and spark empathy. Here are a few titles that can do just that:
- Blended by Sharon Draper
- Some Places More Than Others by Renee Watson
- Book Uncle and Me by Uma Krishnaswami
- Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
- Clean Getaway by Nic Stone
- As Fast as Words Could Fly by Pamela M. Tuck
- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Picture Book Edition by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
- Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire by Susan Tan
- Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
- Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
- Front Desk by Kelly Yang
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
Laminack and Kelly (2019) offer key questions designed to evaluate the diversity in our classroom libraries that also apply to our own work with teachers, ensuring they have access to the kinds of books that will spark important conversations and perhaps, shifts in perspectives. Think about the books you consume and recommend as part of your coaching, and reflect:
- Do they introduce teachers to new ways of being?
- Will teachers have an opportunity to explore landscapes, neighborhoods, and dwellings unlike their own?
- Will they meet characters who have family structures different from theirs?
- Will they experience new religious or cultural traditions and/or celebrations?
- Will they experience new cultural ways of being and lifestyles?
- Will they meet new characters who face new challenges and obstacles that are different from those they know?
- Will they find characters who approach problems in ways they have not considered?
- Will they see and hear language and speech patterns that differ from their own?
- Do the books portray culture accurately without perpetuating stereotypes?
- Are the books written by and illustrated by someone who shares the culture represented in the book?
To truly coach with equity and for social justice, we must listen. We must listen to the voices that have been marginalized, to the messages the world is sending us, and to the call to action that is deep inside each of us. This is challenging work often filled with tension, defensive behavior, fear, and even shame. But I’ve found that when we first ground those conversations around fictional characters, our defenses are lower, our empathy is higher, and we are more willing to consider the possibilities that the world does not operate fairly and justly for everyone.
Although I acknowledge that I am privileged to approach this work through a fictional lens, and not reality, carefully selecting the books we read and offer to teachers as part of our coaching is an important first step toward anti-racist coaching and teaching. However, our work cannot stop here. This is simply an entry point to experiencing the world from a perspective different from our own, an entry point that can, and should, lead to more in-depth and intense work in the real world, not just the fictional one. But it is a place to begin our journeys together.