Becoming or being a teacher of color comes with multiple challenges, according to panelists including a University of Texas associate professor at a SXSWedu Conference & Festival discussion March 8.
Associated Press journalist Jesse Holland prefaced the discussion by saying 82 percent of teachers in the U.S. are white, so he asked panelists why that matters.
From left: SXSWedu Conference & Festival 2016 panelists Jesse Holland, Lily Eskelson Garcia, and Keffrelyn Brown talk about a lack of teachers of color March 8.[/caption]
Keffreyln Brown, UT College of Education associate professor, said public schools represent the democracy that U.S. residents live in, adding it is the role of teachers and educators to prepare students for who they are going to meet in the world.
“Race in America is an issue that still haunts us,” National Education Association President Lily Eskelson Garcia said.
Holland also asked panelists about the teaching profession. He asked how the American public can change its view about teachers, noting that there is a general disrespect people have for teachers.
Brown said educators need to be paid more.
“Teaching as a profession started as a feminized position, so that’s why they’re underpaid,” Brown said. “It is part of the bigger sociocultural phenomenon of living in the United States."
Discussing barriers that prevent
African-American, Hispanic and Asian students from becoming teachers, Garcia said African-American parents resist their children’s decisions to become teachers.
“The pay is low, prestige is low, respect is low,” Garcia said. “The only people who respect what we do completely are professionals themselves.”
Brown said she became a professor because it was important work to her.
"I help students recognize there is no profession on earth where one didn't have to learn from many teachers," Brown said.
From left: SXSWedu Conference & Festival 2016 panelists Jesse Holland, Lily Eskelson Garcia, and Keffrelyn Brown talk about a lack of teachers of color March 8.[/caption]
Keffreyln Brown, UT College of Education associate professor, said public schools represent the democracy that U.S. residents live in, adding it is the role of teachers and educators to prepare students for who they are going to meet in the world.
“Race in America is an issue that still haunts us,” National Education Association President Lily Eskelson Garcia said.
Holland also asked panelists about the teaching profession. He asked how the American public can change its view about teachers, noting that there is a general disrespect people have for teachers.
Brown said educators need to be paid more.
“Teaching as a profession started as a feminized position, so that’s why they’re underpaid,” Brown said. “It is part of the bigger sociocultural phenomenon of living in the United States."
Discussing barriers that prevent African-American, Hispanic and Asian students from becoming teachers, Garcia said African-American parents resist their children’s decisions to become teachers.
“The pay is low, prestige is low, respect is low,” Garcia said. “The only people who respect what we do completely are professionals themselves.”
Brown said she became a professor because it was important work to her.
"I help students recognize there is no profession on earth where one didn't have to learn from many teachers," Brown said.
