DTEC TAG Monthly Newsletter |
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Happy Black History Month! January kicked off without a hitch and we are excited to continue the work all year long! As a reminder, below are the guiding themes of the Delta Teacher Efficacy Campaign this year.
- Every Student Succeeds (ESSA) Act
- Critical Race Theory
- Whole Child Approach
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
- Social-Emotional Learning
- Culturally Relevant Teaching, Learning & Leadership
As we navigate these terrain times, DTEC-TAG will offer the following in the coming weeks for our teachers:
- DTEC-TAG Advisory Committee of scholar-practitioners committed to the future of our program
- Black History Month Social Media Campaign
- Teacher Appreciation Giveaways
- Virtual Wellness Day for our Equity Warriors (TAG Participants)
- Monthly Fireside Chat with Program Director via IG Live
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A Word From Our Program Director... |
In the spirit of excellence, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the father of Black History Month, once said, “For me, education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better.”
Happy Black History Month!
I find this time in education to have an intricate and intentional responsibility to align empathy, preservation, and advocacy for our educators both in and outside the classroom. We are experiencing unprecedented times in our country with the continuous evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. Children, parents, teachers, administrators, counselors, and community members are exhausted! As we navigate education recognizing this exhaustion, we must develop strategic goals, cultivate teamwork, engage in intentional critical thinking and inquiry, provide purposeful solutions, and care deeply for one another.
As a scholar-practitioner, I consider the various relationships that an educator must navigate. Among those various relationships, “child-parent-teacher-administrator-community-policy” lies as a fundamental ideology. This ideology places “the child” at the center- having agency in the direction of pedagogy, policy, and practice within education. This is the drive that steers our work with DTEC-TAG. I believe wholeheartedly that education is a social justice and human rights issue. DTEC-TAG is committed to consciously serving as advocates engaged in social-emotional learning, equitable education, and anti-racist/anti-bias practices. Yet, we are exhausted as well!
We believe Education Now! is our quest of becoming astute contributors to teaching and learning. In these efforts, may we inspire people to live more abundantly; while preserving themselves and fulfilling the attributes of our past, present, and future attributes to educating Black children.
Happy Black History Month!
Kenya C. Ramey, MA-M.Ed.
“She who learns, teaches.”
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Sisterhood, Scholarship & Service |
The DTEC-TAG Team has been working tirelessly with our Equity Warriors to support educators across the nation and engage new participants.
This past month we were able to host our monthly Roundtable Call to Action with Equity Warriors from all six states present. There, we discussed the current state of education and ways educators can navigate current issues impacting their respective states including educator retention, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, state mandates impeding on educational equity and educator burnout.
We also hosted our very first Education NOW! Webinar series with Dr. Akosua Lesesne, renowned educational design leader. We explored the Black Teaching Tradition and explored the roots of pedagogical theories like the Whole Child Approach, Critical Race Theory, Adverse Childhood Experiences and discussed potential resources for educators.
Dr. Lesesne also exposed us to what she refers to as the "Teacher Development Framework for Black Pedagogical Genius," which focuses on the characteristics, roles, and embodiments of some of the most successful educators working with Black and brown youth.
For those who were not able to attend, a recap of the webinar in full has been posted to our DTEC-TAG Facebook page. Our next webinar will be hosted this month and we look forward to seeing you all there!
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2022 Programmatic Offerings |
Jan. 22nd: Roundtable for Equity Warriors
Jan 27th: Education NOW! Webinar Series
Feb: Teacher Talk Podcast
Feb: Equity Warriors Teach In
March: Delta Days in The Nation's Capital
March: Statewide Advocacy Engagement
May: National Education Symposium
June: DTEC-TAG Expansion Announcement
July: Summer Professional Development Series
Sept: Education NOW! Scholar-Practitioner Webinar Series
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DTEC-TAG Highlights Black Educators
All month we'll be highlighting Black educators who served as pioneers, change agents, and transformational workers for students, teachers, parents, and academia at large. We want to highlight not only those who have made history but those who are continuing to make history, starting with Dr. Carter G. Woodson, known as the father of Black history.
An author, journalist, historian, and founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Woodson was one of the first scholars to deep dive into the history of the African diaspora, paving the way for the academic sector known as African or Black studies.
Woodson was a tireless advocate for Black history in the classroom, working hard to get African American history curriculum in schools. His work continues even today, as educators across the country organize around expounding on the foundation he set so long ago, to ensure equity in education and a deeper understanding of the longstanding issue of race in this country.
To quote Woodson, "The mere imparting of information is not education. Above all things, the effort must result in making a man think and do for himself."
Be sure to follow us on social media to see more highlights of Black educators all February. Thank you as you join us in this necessary work!
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Education NOW! Webinar Series
February 24, 2022 6:00pm-7:30pm
The Education NOW! Webinar Series is an opportunity for DTEC-TAG Equity Warriors, Educators, and key education stakeholders in our community to obtain the tools and resources from scholar-practitioners with various perspectives to enlighten the notion of "the state of education" affairs at this moment. NOW!
Rodney Robinson is a 20-year teaching veteran and rural Virginia native. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Virginia State University in 2000 and a master’s in educational administration and Supervision from VCU in 2011. He started teaching at Virgie Binford Education Center in 2015, a school inside Richmond Juvenile Detention Center, in an effort to better understand the school to prison pipeline. His classroom is a collaborative partnership between him and the students. He provides a civic centered education that promotes social-emotional growth. The knowledge he is gaining from his students is also helping develop alternative programs to keep students from becoming part of the school to prison pipeline.
His accomplishments in education vary from his professional growth to his students’ personal growth. He has been published four times by Yale University and received numerous awards for his accomplishments in and out of the classroom, most notably the R.E.B. Award for Teaching Excellence. He has worked with Pulitzer winning author James Foreman developing curriculum units on race, class, and punishment as a part of the Yale Teacher’s Institute.
He was named the 2019 National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State's Schools’ Officers. He has used his time as teacher of the year to advocate for cultural equity to make sure students have teachers and administrators who look like them and value their culture. He was recently named HBCU male alumnus of the year by HBCUdigest.com. He was also named #8 on the Root magazine’s Top 100 influential African Americans of 2019. Last December he was named Richmonder of the Year by Richmond Magazine. His passion is helping the underprivileged and underrepresented populations in America.
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Let Us Know Your Thoughts
What are some of your concerns about the "state of education" in the never ending COVID-19 climate? Please feel free to email your thoughts to [email protected].
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