WEBVTT KAREN: BEYOND SIMPLY RECRUITING DIVERSE GROUPS OF EDUCATORS -- CULTURAL PROFICIENCY, THE CONTEXT AND TRAINING TO INTERACT WITH STUDENTS OF BACKGROUNDS NOT OF THEIR OWN. CATHERINE WONG OVERSEES THE DOMINANT TEACHING SCHOLARS PROGRAM AND WITH HER IS ALLISON MANN, AN ALUM OF DONOVAN -- DONOVAN URBAN TEACHING SCHOLARS. WHAT DO CULTURALLY RELEVANT TEACHING PRACTICES LOOK LIKE AND WHY IS THERE A NEED FOR A DIFFERENT KIND OF PROGRAM? CATHERINE: FOR ME WHAT CULTURALLY RELEVANT TEACHING LOOKS LIKE IS HAVING YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE CLASSROOMS WHETHER IF THE TEACHERS, INTERNS, THAT REFLECT THE VERY COMMUNITY THEY REPRESENT. I THINK THAT IS NUMBER ONE. THAT FOR ME IS ABOUT THE BIRD MATTERING. I CREATING TEACHERS WHO ARE REFLECTIVE OF THE STUDENTS IN THEIR CLASSROOM THERE IS A WAY THAT THEY CREATE A SENSE OF BELONGING THROUGH THEIR LIFE EXPERIENCES. THERE COMES A TRANSFORMATION OF A YOUNG PERSON BEING ABLE TO SEE THEY CAN ERADICATE THE STEREOTYPES THAT HAVE BEEN PUT ON THEM. THAT THEY CAN NAME THEIR OWN EXPERIENCES. CULTURAL PROFICIENCY IS ABOUT STARTING WITH HOW TO WE NAMED OUR LIVED EXPERIENCES AS PEOPLE OF COLOR. HOW DO WE ALLOW STUDENTS TO DO THAT AND HAVE THAT BECOME PART OF THEIR ACADEMIC LEARNING. KAREN: ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO WENT THROUGH THAT TRANSFORMATION IS SITTING NEXT TO YOU. ALLISON, YOU HAVE GONE ON TO BE AN EDUCATOR YOURSELF. TALK ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE PROGRAM. ALLISON: ONE OF THE UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE DONOVAN PROGRAM IS WE’RE A COHORT MODEL. WE LEARN FROM EACH OTHER AND WITH EACH OTHER. BEING A PART OF THAT, BEING ABLE TO MAKE MISTAKES WITH EACH OTHER BUT ALSO BEING ABLE TO HAVE CRITICAL DIALOGUE HAS -- GIMME THE PRACTICE WITH MY STUDENTS AND COLLEAGUES NOW. KAREN: TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE DIFFERENT SKILL SETS YOU MIGHT USE IN YOUR CURRENT SETTING THAT YOU MIGHT NOT USE IN SUBURBAN SCHOOLS. ALLISON: I THINK WITH CULTURAL RELEVANT TEACHING IT IS IMPORTANT WHATEVER CITY YOU ARE LIVING IN. IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE METHODS OF TEACHING, HOW TO TEACH READING AND WRITING. BRINGING IN MODEL EXPERIENCES BUT THOSE OF MY STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES IN BRINGING THOSE INTO THE COMMUNITIES. I THINK WITHIN THE URBAN COMMUNITY WE HAVE TO BE CREATIVE WITH ADVOCATING FOR RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS. EDUCATION AS A WHOLE IS UNDERFUNDED. I THINK PARTICULARLY SO IN THE URBAN COMMUNITY. KAREN: SHE TALKED ABOUT BRINGING THE EXPERIENCE OF STUDENTS AT THE CLASSROOM. ONE OF THE IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF DONOVAN IS THE SOCIAL JUSTICE EDUCATION COMPONENT WHICH INTERPLAY’S WITH WHAT ALLISON JUST SAID. CATHERINE: PART OF THAT IS HOW I RECRUIT FOR DONOVAN. THE DONOVAN PROGRAM IS ANYWHERE FROM 60% TO 70% STUDENTS OF COLOR. RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES ARE DOING LOTS OF COMMUNITY PARTNERING. STARTING ANYWHERE FROM THREE TO FOUR YEARS OUT IN PREPARING STUDENTS OF COLOR FOR GRADUATE SCHOOL. MANY OF OUR STUDENTS ARE FIRST GENERATION. SO RATHER THAN SET THEM UP TO EITHER GET REJECTED OR REJECTED FROM OTHER COLLEGES LESLIE OUT THE PIPELINE, COACH THEM INTO WHAT IT MEANS TO NOT ONLY COME INTO GRAD SCHOOL BUT TO BE A TEACHER. I’M LOOKING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HAVE A VOCATION FOR TEACHING. THEY’LL WILL COMMIT TO URBAN EDUCATION AS A LIFETIME. WE HAVE KEPT DATA TO SHOW THAT THE DONOVAN’S ACTUALLY REMAIN IN URBAN EDUCATION WHETHER THEY CONTINUE IN THE CLASSROOM INTO LEADERSHIP ROLES, THEY HAVE GONE ON, SOME OF THEM ARE ADMINISTRATORS. SAM TEIXEIRA HIMSELF, HE AND AND MEMBER OF THE MEN THAT YOU SAW IN THE MAIL EDUCATORS OF COLOR, NUMBER OF DONOVAN’S WERE PART OF THAT STARTUP. FOR ME, THE JUSTICE PEACE IS REALLY ABOUT CREATING REPRESENTATION, AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE IN GRAD SCHOOL OFTEN DONOVAN’S WILL SAY WITHOUT THE INITIAL SUPPORT, THE SOCIAL JUSTICE CURRICULUM IN TERMS OF LOOKING AT WHO THEY ARE, WHAT THE BIASES ARE, WE TEACH FROM A CRITICAL RACE THEORY PERSPECTIVE AND WE TAKE ON THOSE FICKLE CONVERSATIONS SO THAT WHEN THEY GET INTO SCHOOLS, THEY CAN BECOME TEACHER ACTIVISTS. MUCH OF THE FOOTAGE YOU SAW AROUND WHAT SAM WAS DOING, TALKING ABOUT THE HAVE BEEN OF COLOR OR WHAT SARIN WAS SAYING ABOUT CREATING OPPORTUNITIES, FOR ME IT IS A JUSTICE COMPONENT. KAREN: HOW DID THIS EXPERIENCE OPEN YOUR EYES TO LEAD YOU TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY? ALLISON: IT GAVE ME THE SKILLS AND THE LANGUAGE TO BE ABLE TO EXPRESS WHAT I HAD BEEN FEELING AS A STUDENT FROM ELEMENTARY SCHOOL UP TO COLLEGE. I DID NOT HAVE THE WORDS TO SAY THIS IS WHAT I’M EXPERIENCING. THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO PREVENT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS OF STUDENTS. I ALSO HAVE INCREDIBLE SUPPORT FROM NOT JUST CATHERINE BUT DONOVAN’S ALL OVER. I CAN TALK TO CATHERINE AND SAY CAN YOU HELP ME FIND RESOURCES WITH THIS AND SEE -- AND SHE WILL SAY SURE. KAREN: YOU ARE BOTH DOING GREAT WORK. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE TO EXPLAIN THE PROGRAM AND ITS IMPACT. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EVERYBODY WE FEATURED ON TODAY’S PROGRAM VISIT US ONLINE AND FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA AT CITYLINE 5. HAVE A GREAT REST OF YOUR DAY.