Equity & Favoritism

 

Dr. So-inso: "That's not what I think of, when I think of equity."

Me: "Ya, you think of it only as a racial issue."

Dr. So-inso: "No, when I think of equity, I think of it ONLY with our students."

Me: hugh..... How ironic is that? (only in my head because I am so baffled at that narrow minded view...)

*Equity is a noun & defined as: The quality of being fair and impartial. 

- Why on earth would equity only exist for one subset of "people." Students, whites, men, or whatever your circumstance, it is defined as being FAIR & IMPARTIAL. 

* I am so flabbergasted at our administration's ability to only think of our students. I know that the only reason why we are here is as teachers to serve our students, but we must create a sustainable environment to nurture them. That is not what the American, public school system has accomplished. 

This year, (20-21) I had 2 uncomfortable meetings with my administration. (One on my elementary school campus & another in the upper administration on a district level.) My main preguntas were why we aren't supporting teachers versus chastising them for unfair expectations in a global pandemic with 'UNPRECEDENTED" circumstances. 

Yes, we are here to help support, nurture, grow & develop our students but we as a community are here to do that, to raise our students & and if there isn't equity with planning time, how can we as a staff serve our students well? 

Truth: LIFE ISN'T FAIR. LA VIDA NO ES JUSTO. Equity cannot exist in our fallen, sinful, unfair world but we as humans long for fairness & inclusion!  

As soon as you can accept that life isn't fair, your life may be easier to accept. BUT that doesn't mean we stop and blindly accept the injustices of the world. We still must talk about them, shed light on them and fight for the positive most equitable choice always for our students & our society. We are finally trying to do that with race, religion, gender, sexual orientation & on & on & on that list goes...

For the last 4ish years I have been meditating on the fact that YAHWEH shows no favoritism. I remember being a kid and never understanding how a sin was a sin was a sin. Surely stealing bread for food to survive isn't as "bad" as murder. Not with YAHWEH'S creation because within perfection equity exists and everything works for the good of the Lord not for a slanted unfair American system.

 

This new year (21-22) I had a really squirrly, emotionally fragile boy at dismissal ask me very casually who my favorite student was. I was really surprised at this pregunta. Now that I am at a Christian school I was able to bring in YAHWEH & how he shows no favoritism. So, I simply said that I love every child equally, differently the best that I know how & I am constantly asking the Lord for more love, guidance & understanding.  

I guess the silver lining here is that we at least can finally try to have a conversation about what equity looks like.... It doesn't look like the higher ups taking their raises during a global pandemic when teachers working in "unprecedented" circumstances didn't get theirs. That definitely doesn't feel fair or impartial. 

GAL 2:6: As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism.

What would life look like if it was truly equal for everyone? Equal pay for services. Equal pay and opportunities for housing. Equal ability to obtain food, nourishment  medical provisions. What does equity look like to you? Does it only pertain to the students? Or is it more inclusive to our whole community?

TRUTH

I wrote this in late October and never published it. Now that the Texas STAAR test is being administered, I have decided to post 7 months later:

                            (Not sure who to give photo rights to, love this shot).

Recently, the frequency that Yeshua says: "Truly, truly, truly in the New Testament..." has really resonated in my soul. Unfortunately, I don't see or hear much truth in our leadership on many different facets in our American Government, business practices & educational policy. 

As an elementary teacher, for close to 15 years, it has always been tragically ironic that many of leaders writing educational goals or governing major decisions for our country have no classroom experience. 

NADA. ZILCH. ZERO. NONE. 

Additional many of us "front line teachers" think that our leaders in curriculum policy or administration in our districts should have to cycle back in to the classroom on any grade level for a quarter up to a semester every 5 years. I am unaware of 1 administrator in my particular Texas school district who has been in the classroom in the last 5 years. I have concluded that being out of the classroom creates an unforeseen disconnect and complacency to the real demands of the evolving classroom. 

Back to truth. 

I have recently become aghast at our higher level administration quoting that we, as teachers, are doing our jobs with "INCREASING EASE." There is nothing in our global pandemic society that is producing "INCREASING EASE." Many of us, veteran and new teachers alike feel as if we are drowning. We have BEGGED for time to plan & adjust to our ever growing & changing demands. Instead of being listened to, validated and accommodated in some reasonable relationship we are told that we can "resign if it is that bad." And we have been. There is a national teacher shortage and teachers are having to resign due to unfair, unreasonable or perhaps unsafe demands. When will it stop?     

When will we as Americans be able to re-prioritize truth, wisdom, balance... LIFE? 

The last 8 months I have been stewing on: What is best practice? I don't think we know. Or perhaps we do, and we just continue to succumb to being overworked and manipulated into doing more. At what cost? More isolation, higher depression rates, higher debt rate, more meetings, more lies, more restrictions for minority voters, more tax evasion and finally more assessments when the assessments are not standard, recommended or valid by the companies that produced them to be given in an in person classroom environment.

We are currently in a revolving door of 2 dimensional ZOOMLAND.

Instead, let us fix our eyes on the Good Shepard:

John 10: 1-18

10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

In conclusion:

I can barely catch my breath. I am so grateful that I am only able to be sustained by my truly, good Shepard. Who HEARS my cries, calls me by name, listens, comforts and sustains me all the days of my life. 

What would you do if you didn't have to work?

What a blessing that I know without a doubt that my real "calling" in life is teaching. I left Austin feeling a little tired. Now, at the end of my trip, I find myself eager to come back to the classroom. While in Medellin, I was lucky enough to be placed with a really extradionary teacher. Casey, pictured below, is British and specializes in theatre. Which really reinforces how much we need to be doing movement, role playing and games with learning. I find myself the most excited I have been to attend his sessions and will incorporate some of his techniques in my classroom in a couple months. 

I am helping out in 2 different Barrios. Santa Domingo is the one pictures above with kids from 13ish - 25ish coming to learn English. 

Comuna 13 (below)

These classes are bigger, divided by abilities and have a range from teenagers to 50 somethings. 

Some of the Younger children just come and watch.

One commonality of the road is the way that you are often welcomed into new cultures. I cannot tell you how many Colombians I have met on the street or in these classes that invite me into their homes for meals, coffee or all kinds of adventures. It truly humbles me and warms my heart. And reminds me of how much more hospitable I hope to be in the future.

Hebrews 13:1-2 "Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers..." 

In all my years international escapades, this was the first time a family member came to meet up with me. Needless to say, I was elated when my brother, Tommy, arrived in Colombia for Semana Santa. The difference between traveling with family and friends is although both probably see you at your best and worst, there is a level of comfort and compromise that already exists without even needing words most of the time.

We spent 3ish days in Bogota & 3ish days in Medellin. In the traveling circuit Bogota has a nasty reputation in Colombia whereas Medellin gets all the clout. We had a wonderful time in both places.

Bogota 

 As we moseyed through Bogota, we happened in on a little bit of the Graffiti walking tour.  

The downtown governmental headquarters in Bogota 

One of the main reasons why Tommy came was to witness the "rockshow" of Bomba Estereo in their native Colombia.

Medellin 

Jardin Botanico 

It's Filled with all kinds of wild organisms. Notice the similarities?

Hiking "Pan de Azucar"

At any given time, it is could be raining somewhere in Medellin just as this picture shows. With the nickname of "the eternal spring" & the flower capital of the world there is a reason why it produces so many flowers. We got really lucky at the end of our hike and hopped on a bus right as it started to pour. 

We also rode bikes, salsa danced, enjoyed countless outdoor workout equipment & saw a few museums. 

Plaza de Las Luces

Comuna 13 

There is a depth to comuna 13 that is hard to articulate in a blog, especially as I get to know the some of the community through the different classes they offer. I think something that has struck me as ironic & interesting with the different cycles of art is that graffiti used to be such an underground "disdained form of art." Now it widely accepted, encouraged, publicly funded so much so that there are world wide graffiti tours. Just interesting to think of the different cycles of art. If you would also like to dig into a fascinating charla on hip hop click here

1 Chron. 16:11: 

"Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always."