Members of NEA’s Aspiring Educators (AE) program had much to show for during the 2021 Aspiring Educator’s Conference! This past year alone, they’ve been active in the country’s political and cultural landscape and have taken to the streets and spoken out on issues ranging from social justice, equity in education, and the intentional underfunding of public schools in certain zip codes. Much of this work, among other efforts, was on full display at this year’s conference.
The three-day event featured some how-to workshops that offered practical tips and tools, including how to launch and grow a strong campus organization with “NEA’s Aspiring Educators Chapter Toolkit,” as well as how to repay student loans without breaking the bank using “NEA’s Student Debt Navigator,” an easy, online tool that can help identify the right repayment plan.
Other sessions reinforced aspiring educators’ activism around creating just schools, with workshops on integrating Black Lives Matter demands in schools and communities, policing in schools, and creating LGBTQ+ inclusive classrooms through an anti-bias lens.
“We worked hard to put together a conference that would enrich both spirit and mind,” says Cameo Kendrick, chair of the NEA AE program, adding that the conference sessions were designed so participants could “learn, grow, and lead in creating more inclusive environments for all our students, celebrate each other’s wins, and push ourselves and our nation to build a better public education system for all.”
In one workshop that centered on educating students truthfully, presenters Turquoise LeJeune Parker, a fifth-grade reading, writing and social studies teacher in Durham, N.C., and Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, a former high school social studies teacher of 19 years in Portland, Ore., showcased several curriculums that help to shift culture, competency, and action.
For example, in one lesson, Who Gets to Vote, participants went through a series of short exercises that underscored the history of the struggle against voter suppression in the United States and how the century-plus-old problems of voter suppression show up today under a new guise: voter ID laws, voter roll purges, polling places shuttered, among other deceitful practices.
Wolfe-Rocca says the failure of many textbooks is its chronology and how it frames injustices as a problems of the past that are now over. “Instead, …it’s an ongoing struggle,” she says. Wolfe-Rocca works for the Zinn Education Project and Rethinking Schools Magazine, which promotes and supports a more accurate history and sustains and strengthens public education through social justice teaching and education activism, respectively.
The work to advance an anti-racist pedagogy, curriculum, and practice “has to be your life,” says Parker, who encouraged the conference-goers to really question whether being an anti-racist educator is really who you at your core or is it only in the classroom.
This work, she says, “is not a destination…it’s a journey…and it’s hard.”
The sessions emphasized the power and promise of aspiring educators, and these attributes were not lost on NEA President Becky Pringle.
“During this critical moment for our nation, for public education, you are our reminder of the power and promise; the creativity and commitment; the resilience and resolve that incredible humans like you must tap into when humanity is facing unimaginable challenge, and seemingly insurmountable odds. You are a reminder of the strength of the human spirit; and the determination of those who have made that decision to become a teacher. Most of all, you are a reminder of the strength and power we wield together as the NEA—the largest labor union in this entire nation.”
Cameo Kendrick closed out the last night of the conference with a simple reminder that bears repeating: “This is a movement, not a moment. The movement continues.”
Additional Anti-Racist Teaching Resources
Here you’ll find a collection of anti-racist resources for educators, such as NEA’s EdJustice site, which engages and mobilizes activists in the fight for racial, social, and economic justice in public education. Readers will find timely coverage of social justice issues in education and ways they can advocate for students, schools, and communities.
As a part of a collaboration between the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Legacy Project (SNCC, pronounced “SNICK”) and Duke University, the SNCC Digital Gateway offers historic materials including documents, photographs, oral history interviews, and audiovisual material hosted in digital collections at repositories across the country; profiles examining individuals’ contributions to the movement; map connecting users to the people who worked–and the events that happened–in a specific place; and more.
An additional lesson on teaching truth in education from the Zinn Project can be found here.
The NEA GramAE Awards
While many tough conversations were had and deep reflections made, there was much to celebrate, too. This year, NEA recognized aspiring educators and those who contribute to strong campus chapters with the GramAE awards.
Among the winners were Elizabeth Horvat, a history and social science major at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Illinois and president for her campus chapter. She was honored with the Outstanding Local Leader award for her work to increase membership, even during a pandemic, and her support in maintaining a strong campus chapter.
California’s Ed Gomez, an ethic studies professor at San Bernardino Valley College, was recognized with the Distinguished Chapter Advisor award for mentoring and championing members of the Student California Teachers Association (CTA). Gomez is a strong supporter of aspiring educators and has helped the college’s chapter grow on a professional and personal level. He is constantly inviting leadership to present to his classes about Student CTA and is at the forefront of the union.
The Aspiring Educators of Michigan (AEM) received the State Excellence Award for recruiting, retaining, and diversifying its membership. AEM provided many opportunities for potential members to join the organization through the local college and university chapters. Specifically, AEM partnered with each local chapter to host an education trivia night and an information session about the program. Local chapters were provided with flyers, email scripts, and other resources for advertising the events. Local chapter leaders targeted potential members who were both similar and different to the membership of the current chapter.
Check out all the winners on AE Instagram.
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