A great hiring process is the key to a diverse dream team—but if your process is bias-heavy, that dream will quickly turn into a nightmare.
So, you notice a policy that really isn’t working, and you want to do something about it. But where do you start? And will anyone even listen?
In the workplace, listening increases employee engagement, improves retention rates, and boosts company culture.
As you build teacher diversity, connect with your wider community to share your diversity wins, encourage acceptance and offer support.
Regular diversity training workshops can help provide relevant, consistent education on how to increase allyship and become an even more inclusive community.
A systemic approach helps children, parents and employees feel supported, leads to higher teacher retention rates, and helps build stronger, more dynamic communities.
Ten years after the ‘Brown v Board of Education’ trial led to the start of school desegregation across the US, the first Black teacher stepped through the doors of a white school.
Robert Lewis Gilbert paved the way for educators of color, but—even half a century later—there’s still a long way to go.
In fact, a 2018 Data USA report showed a huge 61% of ECE teachers were non-Hispanic white, while only 16% identified as Black.
Lack of support, hiring bias and financial barriers are just some of the challenges facing teachers of colour—and when you factor in the systemic difficulties that come with being a person of color in the US, the path to teaching can seem insurmountable.
But without teacher diversity, everyone loses out.
Research shows increased teacher diversity positively impacts children of color at school, minimizes biases between racial groups and boosts workplace productivity.
In other words, diversity = productivity and respect.
So how can ECE leaders promote teacher diversity, support educators of color and build a healthy school community?
That’s where this comprehensive ebook comes in. We’ll help you understand the challenges, choose the right tools and figure out how best to welcome and support educators of color from day one.
Teacher diversity is more important than ever—especially when it comes to supporting children of color as the population becomes more diverse.
Plus, research shows inclusive companies are 1.7X more likely to be innovation leaders and 1.8X more likely to be able to cope with change—and in the post-pandemic world, organizational resilience is everything.
But for an educator of color, navigating the education field isn’t easy. Here’s why:
A great hiring process is the key to a diverse dream team—but if your process is bias-heavy, that dream will quickly turn into a nightmare.
A great hiring process is the key to a diverse dream team—but if your process is bias-heavy, that dream will quickly turn into a nightmare.
The trick is to take a step back and look at your hiring process as a whole. When do diverse candidates drop out of the funnel? And are you doing everything you can to provide an equal, bias-free experience?
Here are a few suggestions to help you create an awesomely diverse hiring process:
So, you notice a policy that really isn’t working, and you want to do something about it. But where do you start? And will anyone even listen?
So, you notice a policy that really isn’t working, and you want to do something about it. But where do you start? And will anyone even listen?
According to ECE expert Cindy Terebush, standing up for change is easier than you think:
“Your voice needs to be heard, people! I think one of the fatal flaws of our professional community is that we don't come together and stand as one. We’re in these silos and we're teaching and we don't even realize the universality of what we do,” she says.
Standing up for policy changes that affect the work of educators of color is an action any ECE professional can take.
“Write emails to [policy makers]… just say, here's my concern. I'm your constituent. I'm somebody, I'm a voter,” says Cindy. “They want to hear from you. They're very interested in what the people who elect them to office have to say… The only way to change policy is to tell the policy makers what you need.”
In the workplace, listening increases employee engagement, improves retention rates, and boosts company culture.
It’s no secret that listening can make you a better leader.
In the workplace, listening increases employee engagement, improves retention rates, and boosts company culture—plus, it’s key to understanding your employees better.
Here’s how to listen like a pro:
Every ECE pro knows education is about more than just teaching ABCs—it’s about building a strong community.
Every ECE pro knows education is about more than just teaching ABCs—it’s about building a strong community.
As you build teacher diversity, connect with your wider community to share your diversity wins, encourage acceptance and offer support.
Regular diversity training workshops can help provide relevant, consistent education on how to increase allyship and become an even more inclusive community.
Regular diversity training workshops can help provide relevant, consistent education on how to increase allyship and become an even more inclusive community.
From encouraging conversation through roleplay to teaching white employees how to support students of color (so Black teachers don’t always have to), diversity training helps employees grow and navigate new experiences.
A systemic approach helps children, parents and employees feel supported, leads to higher teacher retention rates, and helps build stronger, more dynamic communities.
Social emotional learning (SEL) is how people understand and deal with their emotions.
Schools around the US are introducing SEL programs into their teaching initiatives and company cultures.
A systemic approach helps children, parents and employees feel supported, leads to higher teacher retention rates, and helps build stronger, more dynamic communities.
“If we’re going to be a multicultural society, we need young people who can hear and understand the perspective of others so that we can create and navigate a common good,” explains David Adams, Director of SEL at the Urban Assembly, “[And] if our school systems are going to be relevant in 2020, in 2030 and 2050, in terms of the problems that our societies are facing, they need to be concerned about social-emotional development and the social fabric of our nation.”
Social emotional learning is the basis of how we connect as humans and, for experts like David, it’s the key to innate workplace inclusion.
“Our schools don't just exist to make sure students can read, our schools are extensions of society itself… I would teach SEL even if it had no impact on learning whatsoever. These concepts are important enough that if there were no academic gains from social emotional learning, I still think it'd be one of the most important things schools do.”
Ever since Robert Lewis Gilbert first stepped through the doors of that white school in 1964, educators of color have been fighting for teacher diversity.
Teaching’s hard enough already. As an ECE leader, you have the power to lessen the load and give educators the time and space to do what they do best—teach.
From removing hiring bias to lobbying for change, consider taking action steps to make life easier for your teachers and your community.
Remember, more teacher diversity = a healthier, more well-rounded school.
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