Weekly Shares 6/11/23 - Summer Reading Recommendation #1 - We're Gonna Keep On Talking
As many schools wrap up the 2022-2023 school year this week, I wanted to share a few books I think would be great individual or group reads to support the inclusive schools and classrooms we need to ensure all students feel seen and valued. The first book I am highlighting is We’re Gonna Keep On Talking by Matthew R. Kay and Jennifer Orr. The subtitle of this new book is How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Elementary Classroom.
Kay the author of Not Light but Fire (2018) provided an incredible resource with this publication which gave readers critical insights into the steps necessary to set up a classroom community where there is a foundation of trust between its members which sets the stage for critical conversations about race.
In We’re Gonna Keep On Talking Kay and Orr also provide the explicit steps necessary to create a classroom culture where deeper conversations can take place. Part I of the book focuses on building a healthy ecosystem and has chapters dedicated to Building Community Together, Developing Our “Talking Game,” and Improving Our Dialogic Pedagogy. As the authors point out, these steps cannot be skipped because “without a foundation of healthy relationships, strong communication skills, and sound conversational structures, we are forced to rely on either our “sparkling” personalities or our “good luck” neither of which can be counted on to be consistent over the course of a whirlwind of a school year.”
Part II of the book is titled “A Study of Conversations” beginning with a chapter titled Names and Identities in Preschool and Early Elementary and follows with How the Past Impacts the Present in Middle Elementary. Part II concludes with Voting Rights in Upper Elementary. Every chapter gives concrete examples for teachers to connect their own practice while also aligning the work to grade-level standards. The book also shares the reality that educators face in that sometimes lessons don’t hit the intended mark. But the beauty of this book is in its authenticity which shows the reader that oftentimes intended outcomes are missed. However, because the work has been done to establish the classroom as a safe space and communication skills are prioritized, these lessons that would cause some teachers to veer away from future conversations surrounding race are embraced as opportunities for continued growth.
One of the many parts of this book that resonated for me in my first reading of it was in Chapter 3 - Improving Our Dialogic Pedagogy where the authors remind us of the following: “The great majority of elementary teachers are White women. It makes sense that we might not have the breadth and depth of knowledge necessary to meaningfully layer race into parts of our curriculum that do not traditionally engage it. We need to both recognize and remedy this. The first step is educating ourselves.”
The authors provide the following options for educators to begin and/or continue this journey:
Read children’s books by authors and illustrators of color. (examples are provided throughout the book)
Read adult books by authors of color.
Follow people of color on social media.
Consider the media you consume.
This book is a must-read for teachers at all levels who are interested in understanding how to scaffold the necessary skills and practices in their classrooms to ensure that we Keep On Talking about race in our classrooms and beyond.