The vision of Boston Educators for Equity is to create deep and lasting relationships among a racially diverse group of Boston area educators through dialogue and learning about how we show up racially as teachers, and through undertaking interventions building towards more racially conscious, equitable and empowering school experiences for all students, especially students of color, in the Boston area.
Quotes from the 2017-2018 cohort:
"Every day we were together. I learned SO much. I always walked away with new articles, books, or people to look up. I gained a different perspective on Public Schools and the "debate" between charter and public."
"I love hearing and learning from the landscapes of other schools and other people's experiences. It is so valuable to know, also, that people are having very similar struggles in their communities and are facing similar challenges. This is not only encouraging but also community-building among the teacher community."
"Not surprisingly, this kind of group attracted special, reflective, and dedicated educators."
"I know now that more people are doing this work than I thought. I realize that organizing and coming together to share ideas and best practices is so important and vital in this work to achieve the outcomes we wish to see in our students. I also think the building of a teacher community outside of your own advances the professionalism of all teachers as a whole."
"I have found success at just how I teach my students and the policies that I have in place. It has forced me to make adaptive, equitable solutions with students on a one-on-one and whole group basis. This has been powerful in how I view my relationships and leadership in the classroom. BEE has allowed me to see myself as an empower-er of student identity and self-efficacy."
"I feel as though I have been better able to recognize the ‘truer’ reasons behind some of my students’ academic struggles and, as such, have been able to devise better solutions for them. Additionally, I have been able to have tough and honest conversations with students when necessary. More vaguely, I have noticed that I am much more aware of the racial, gender, etc dynamics at play in spaces all around me."