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Equity and Justice: Transforming the Educational Landscape
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to present in Ghana at an international conference focused on women in educational leadership. On one day, as a part of our cultural tour, we visited several sites in Accra, including one that truly surprised me—the W. E. B. Du Bois Center for Pan-African Culture.
I learned that in addition to his powerful impact on the United States, Du Bois had often been referred to as the “Father of Pan-Africanism.” In the last years of his life, he gained Ghanaian citizenship and is now buried on the grounds of the Center that bears his name.
Du Bois’ writing had a huge impact on me when I was a Director of Curriculum for a large school district in the San Francisco Bay Area. I discerned the benefit and power of teaching history using primary sources, and this culturally relevant precept guided the choices that PK-12 teachers in my district made as they engaged in their curriculum review for history-social science.
Du Bois wrote,
Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year.
His words impelled me then and still do today as I engage as a leader in the project of education. Today is the day to do our work.
Years before I came to know Du Bois, Gloria Ladson-Billings’ fifth grade teacher introduced her to his writing in what she has characterized as a subversive act. She recalls that in Du Bois she saw herself.
In her book, The Dream-keepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children, Ladson-Billings writes,
Culturally relevant teaching honors the students’ sense of humanity and dignity. Their complete personhood is never doubted. Self-worth and self-concept are promoted in a very basic way, by acknowledging the individual’s worthiness to be part of a supportive and loving group.
When I consider culturally relevant- and responsive education, I know that one aspect of supporting children’s sense of humanity and dignity is that they experience a big tent where all are welcome regardless of race, ethnicity, ability, religion, gender, and the myriad factors that make us a fully engaged democracy.
We are delighted and honored to welcome Gloria Ladson-Billings as the keynote speaker for our 13th Annual Social Justice in Education Conference, which takes place on Saturday, March 2, on our campus. Her words will invite you to consider the moral imperative of culturally relevant education and the actions you can take to transform our landscape.
We also extend a warm welcome to the Port Hueneme Elementary School District's Mariachi, as well as educators, members of Boards of Education, students, and community members from across our region, state, and nation who will also participate in this year’s conference.
I invite you to join us at this year’s conference to contribute your voice and experience to the ongoing dialogue about socially just education. Together, we can do our best work.
Looking forward,
Elizabeth
Elizabeth C. Orozco Reilly
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