Black educators at Blair push back on MCPS's ham-fisted antiracist PD

[Anonymous]

Remember the awful, cringe-inducing PD video by Dr. Shalaby that MCPS forced all educators to sit through on Oct. 9? Well, Blair's student newspaper Silver Chips just released a piece that exposed that many MCPS educators of color found the PD video to be patronizing, inauthentic and ineffective: https://silverchips.mbhs.edu/content/county-wide-antiracism-professional-development-training-stirs-controversy-at-blair-36250/

About 35 minutes into the video, Blair Black teacher Marshall Collier – a member of PISAB, a national antiracist alliance – stood up and critiqued the training’s lack of authenticity. He and many other teachers of color were aggravated since Shalaby, a White-passing woman, was teaching them about racism. “So I’m thinking to myself, 'What does she know about racism?' I found that illogical and it doesn’t flow well with what we’re actually seeing and experiencing outside of the school,” Collier says.

“It was not a presentation for me. It was a presentation for White people… And just the details and just some of the information that was mentioned… As I sat there, I was going through so many different emotions. I was going through anxiety. I was going through PTSD. I almost felt like I was going through Stockholm Syndrome. I'm listening to someone who looks like my captor telling me about racism,” he says.

Collier’s speech sparked many more passionate speeches from many teachers in the auditorium, as they passed the microphone from one to the next for half an hour.

Jordan Warner, a Black teacher, explains that the advice the video gave on how to react to and address racism felt unreasonable and not applicable to real life. “[The video] really felt like a kumbaya… a lot of people stood up, and were just like, 'the advice that you're giving us is not what I can give to my children,'” Warner says.

To many teachers, the entire training felt made for elementary, rather than high school teachers. “We are a high school and some of the strategies [the training] gave were very elementary school. They addressed how we are talking to children with gentleness in your voice… when you're going to talk about something as big as racism, talking about being gentle… really just missed the entire mark,” Warner says.

World history teacher Michael Burnell, a Black teacher, agrees with Warner, saying in an email, “I felt that the presentation was at a middle school level. The presenter was a college-level educator and I felt that the presentation should have been at a higher educational level.”

Some of the topics in the video that Blair staff felt were elementary were new definitions to words like "freedom" and "care" and conversations surrounding teaching control versus practicing freedom.

If you don't know what PD video we're talking about, it's in this thread. Fair warning: You might need a vomit bag to get through it: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1160302.page

Newsflash to MCPS Central Office: While black and brown people can get behind antiracism as high-level goal, the implementation and execution of antiracism actions matter. What you're doing is terrible. Either fix it or stop doing it altogether, cause you're causing more harm than good.

[Anonymous]

I get the impression that this is what most of the people at the central office work on since they are definitely not focused on education.

[Anonymous]

That is so damn funny that these high school students managed to get a written statement from Shalaby herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is so damn funny that these high school students managed to get a written statement from Shalaby herself.

It's impressive! They're doing legit work as student journalists.

What I really found funny is Shalaby's assertion that Blair educators are the only ones in MCPS who had a bad experience with her absolutely garbage PD training.

No, they're just the only ones brave enough to say it out loud and on the record.

[Anonymous]

A couple of thoughts

As a Blair parent, I'm proud of the SCO team for getting this story, and that the school environment is one where teachers don't fear retribution for speaking out like this.

As an MCPS parent and taxpayer, I'm extremely annoyed that my children's educators are being subjected to this twaffle.

As someone who actually believes in anti-racism, I'm annoyed that the genuine goals of creating culturally responsive and welcoming learning environments for our community's children are being undercut by absolute nonsense like this, designed by people with no classroom experience and selected by Central Office staff who seem to have no care or curiosity about the lived experiences of educators.

Finally, I think nonsense like this is a very strong argument for a more effective School Board. If the person who made this video mandatory had any fear at all that they would need to sit in front of the Board and discuss their decision-making, we might have seen a better choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A couple of thoughts

As a Blair parent, I'm proud of the SCO team for getting this story, and that the school environment is one where teachers don't fear retribution for speaking out like this.

As an MCPS parent and taxpayer, I'm extremely annoyed that my children's educators are being subjected to this twaffle.

As someone who actually believes in anti-racism, I'm annoyed that the genuine goals of creating culturally responsive and welcoming learning environments for our community's children are being undercut by absolute nonsense like this, designed by people with no classroom experience and selected by Central Office staff who seem to have no care or curiosity about the lived experiences of educators.

Finally, I think nonsense like this is a very strong argument for a more effective School Board. If the person who made this video mandatory had any fear at all that they would need to sit in front of the Board and discuss their decision-making, we might have seen a better choice.

Co-sign and endorse all of the above!

[Anonymous]

Kind of silly to complain "It was not a presentation for me. It was a presentation for White people".

There's a lot wrong with the presentation, but the part where they tell white people to not be racist isn't the bad part. The problems were in the specific recommendations.

As a teacher, she should be aware that 90% of public school "isn't for me", for any "me" , it's mass produced one-size lessons for everyone. You ignore the parts that are for someone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remember the awful, cringe-inducing PD video by Dr. Shalaby that MCPS forced all educators to sit through on Oct. 9? Well, Blair's student newspaper Silver Chips just released a piece that exposed that many MCPS educators of color found the PD video to be patronizing, inauthentic and ineffective: https://silverchips.mbhs.edu/content/county-wide-antiracism-professional-development-training-stirs-controversy-at-blair-36250/

About 35 minutes into the video, Blair Black teacher Marshall Collier – a member of PISAB, a national antiracist alliance – stood up and critiqued the training’s lack of authenticity. He and many other teachers of color were aggravated since Shalaby, a White-passing woman, was teaching them about racism. “So I’m thinking to myself, 'What does she know about racism?' I found that illogical and it doesn’t flow well with what we’re actually seeing and experiencing outside of the school,” Collier says.

“It was not a presentation for me. It was a presentation for White people… And just the details and just some of the information that was mentioned… As I sat there, I was going through so many different emotions. I was going through anxiety. I was going through PTSD. I almost felt like I was going through Stockholm Syndrome. I'm listening to someone who looks like my captor telling me about racism,” he says.

Collier’s speech sparked many more passionate speeches from many teachers in the auditorium, as they passed the microphone from one to the next for half an hour.

Jordan Warner, a Black teacher, explains that the advice the video gave on how to react to and address racism felt unreasonable and not applicable to real life. “[The video] really felt like a kumbaya… a lot of people stood up, and were just like, 'the advice that you're giving us is not what I can give to my children,'” Warner says.

To many teachers, the entire training felt made for elementary, rather than high school teachers. “We are a high school and some of the strategies [the training] gave were very elementary school. They addressed how we are talking to children with gentleness in your voice… when you're going to talk about something as big as racism, talking about being gentle… really just missed the entire mark,” Warner says.

World history teacher Michael Burnell, a Black teacher, agrees with Warner, saying in an email, “I felt that the presentation was at a middle school level. The presenter was a college-level educator and I felt that the presentation should have been at a higher educational level.”

Some of the topics in the video that Blair staff felt were elementary were new definitions to words like "freedom" and "care" and conversations surrounding teaching control versus practicing freedom.

If you don't know what PD video we're talking about, it's in this thread. Fair warning: You might need a vomit bag to get through it: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1160302.page

Newsflash to MCPS Central Office: While black and brown people can get behind antiracism as high-level goal, the implementation and execution of antiracism actions matter. What you're doing is terrible. Either fix it or stop doing it altogether, cause you're causing more harm than good.

I second this.

Also, because of the way it was executed at my school, I had to sit through it as the sole person of color in the room. It was impossible to have a meaningful discussion of the video’s shortcomings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A couple of thoughts

As a Blair parent, I'm proud of the SCO team for getting this story, and that the school environment is one where teachers don't fear retribution for speaking out like this.

As an MCPS parent and taxpayer, I'm extremely annoyed that my children's educators are being subjected to this twaffle.

As someone who actually believes in anti-racism, I'm annoyed that the genuine goals of creating culturally responsive and welcoming learning environments for our community's children are being undercut by absolute nonsense like this, designed by people with no classroom experience and selected by Central Office staff who seem to have no care or curiosity about the lived experiences of educators.

Finally, I think nonsense like this is a very strong argument for a more effective School Board. If the person who made this video mandatory had any fear at all that they would need to sit in front of the Board and discuss their decision-making, we might have seen a better choice.

Do you think the School Board is unaware of this, or uninterested, or supportive?
"Effective" is only the problem of they aren't achieving ther own goals or the goals of their electorate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember the awful, cringe-inducing PD video by Dr. Shalaby that MCPS forced all educators to sit through on Oct. 9? Well, Blair's student newspaper Silver Chips just released a piece that exposed that many MCPS educators of color found the PD video to be patronizing, inauthentic and ineffective: https://silverchips.mbhs.edu/content/county-wide-antiracism-professional-development-training-stirs-controversy-at-blair-36250/

About 35 minutes into the video, Blair Black teacher Marshall Collier – a member of PISAB, a national antiracist alliance – stood up and critiqued the training’s lack of authenticity. He and many other teachers of color were aggravated since Shalaby, a White-passing woman, was teaching them about racism. “So I’m thinking to myself, 'What does she know about racism?' I found that illogical and it doesn’t flow well with what we’re actually seeing and experiencing outside of the school,” Collier says.

“It was not a presentation for me. It was a presentation for White people… And just the details and just some of the information that was mentioned… As I sat there, I was going through so many different emotions. I was going through anxiety. I was going through PTSD. I almost felt like I was going through Stockholm Syndrome. I'm listening to someone who looks like my captor telling me about racism,” he says.

Collier’s speech sparked many more passionate speeches from many teachers in the auditorium, as they passed the microphone from one to the next for half an hour.

Jordan Warner, a Black teacher, explains that the advice the video gave on how to react to and address racism felt unreasonable and not applicable to real life. “[The video] really felt like a kumbaya… a lot of people stood up, and were just like, 'the advice that you're giving us is not what I can give to my children,'” Warner says.

To many teachers, the entire training felt made for elementary, rather than high school teachers. “We are a high school and some of the strategies [the training] gave were very elementary school. They addressed how we are talking to children with gentleness in your voice… when you're going to talk about something as big as racism, talking about being gentle… really just missed the entire mark,” Warner says.

World history teacher Michael Burnell, a Black teacher, agrees with Warner, saying in an email, “I felt that the presentation was at a middle school level. The presenter was a college-level educator and I felt that the presentation should have been at a higher educational level.”

Some of the topics in the video that Blair staff felt were elementary were new definitions to words like "freedom" and "care" and conversations surrounding teaching control versus practicing freedom.

If you don't know what PD video we're talking about, it's in this thread. Fair warning: You might need a vomit bag to get through it: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1160302.page

Newsflash to MCPS Central Office: While black and brown people can get behind antiracism as high-level goal, the implementation and execution of antiracism actions matter. What you're doing is terrible. Either fix it or stop doing it altogether, cause you're causing more harm than good.

I second this.

Also, because of the way it was executed at my school, I had to sit through it as the sole person of color in the room. It was impossible to have a meaningful discussion of the video’s
shortcomings.

Why couldn't you discuss it? You were in a position to play the race card and validate what everyone in the room was thinking but afraid to say. Don't ignore your power.

[Anonymous]

Oof so Clara Shalaby is not black enough to talk about racism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember the awful, cringe-inducing PD video by Dr. Shalaby that MCPS forced all educators to sit through on Oct. 9? Well, Blair's student newspaper Silver Chips just released a piece that exposed that many MCPS educators of color found the PD video to be patronizing, inauthentic and ineffective: https://silverchips.mbhs.edu/content/county-wide-antiracism-professional-development-training-stirs-controversy-at-blair-36250/

About 35 minutes into the video, Blair Black teacher Marshall Collier – a member of PISAB, a national antiracist alliance – stood up and critiqued the training’s lack of authenticity. He and many other teachers of color were aggravated since Shalaby, a White-passing woman, was teaching them about racism. “So I’m thinking to myself, 'What does she know about racism?' I found that illogical and it doesn’t flow well with what we’re actually seeing and experiencing outside of the school,” Collier says.

“It was not a presentation for me. It was a presentation for White people… And just the details and just some of the information that was mentioned… As I sat there, I was going through so many different emotions. I was going through anxiety. I was going through PTSD. I almost felt like I was going through Stockholm Syndrome. I'm listening to someone who looks like my captor telling me about racism,” he says.

Collier’s speech sparked many more passionate speeches from many teachers in the auditorium, as they passed the microphone from one to the next for half an hour.

Jordan Warner, a Black teacher, explains that the advice the video gave on how to react to and address racism felt unreasonable and not applicable to real life. “[The video] really felt like a kumbaya… a lot of people stood up, and were just like, 'the advice that you're giving us is not what I can give to my children,'” Warner says.

To many teachers, the entire training felt made for elementary, rather than high school teachers. “We are a high school and some of the strategies [the training] gave were very elementary school. They addressed how we are talking to children with gentleness in your voice… when you're going to talk about something as big as racism, talking about being gentle… really just missed the entire mark,” Warner says.

World history teacher Michael Burnell, a Black teacher, agrees with Warner, saying in an email, “I felt that the presentation was at a middle school level. The presenter was a college-level educator and I felt that the presentation should have been at a higher educational level.”

Some of the topics in the video that Blair staff felt were elementary were new definitions to words like "freedom" and "care" and conversations surrounding teaching control versus practicing freedom.

If you don't know what PD video we're talking about, it's in this thread. Fair warning: You might need a vomit bag to get through it: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1160302.page

Newsflash to MCPS Central Office: While black and brown people can get behind antiracism as high-level goal, the implementation and execution of antiracism actions matter. What you're doing is terrible. Either fix it or stop doing it altogether, cause you're causing more harm than good.

I second this.

Also, because of the way it was executed at my school, I had to sit through it as the sole person of color in the room. It was impossible to have a meaningful discussion of the video’s
shortcomings.

Why couldn't you discuss it? You were in a position to play the race card and validate what everyone in the room was thinking but afraid to say. Don't ignore your power.

"Play the race card" in a totally legitimate appropriate context, I mean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oof so Clara Shalaby is not black enough to talk about racism.

No, she's not credible enough to equate the bad behavior of an emotionally dysregulated child in the classroom with freedom fighter Rosa Parks.

If you watched that PD video and thought Dr. Shalaby emerged from it as credible on race, then I question your judgment and analytical skills.

[Anonymous]

It's outrageous that Central Office is wasting their time on these virtue-signaling productions instead of actually directing children's learning and education.

Focus on academics.

Racism will never go away, but it can be addressed and managed by decreasing poverty in target populations - which you do by increasing their level of education! Not the other way round.

Get your priorities straight, MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It's outrageous that Central Office is wasting their time on these virtue-signaling productions instead of actually directing children's learning and education.

Focus on academics.

Racism will never go away, but it can be addressed and managed by decreasing poverty in target populations - which you do by increasing their level of education! Not the other way round.

Get your priorities straight, MCPS.

Luckily you don't get to make these decisions. Ignorance abounds.