Derman-Sparks, Higa, and Sparks (1980) have shown that children become aware of race at a very young age despite being offered little more as a template than “denial” of the existence of race, and “avoidance” of the subject. The issue therefore becomes how we best position ourselves to help children grow into anti-racist adults. I propose that teachers must first be able to have difficult conversations about race, identity, and diversity with each other prior to engaging with our students, or else the risk is run of unloading our own implicit biases into the classroom. My goal is to understand to what extent opening external spaces for participation can help me as an educator engage more fully with culturally-responsive pedagogy in my classrooms.

STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Makawalu, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place, Advocacy