ESJE Series Panel – Supporting Equity-Focused Teachers Against Pushback

The Equity and Social Justice in Education series, previously published by W.W. Norton, is a publishing home for books that apply critical and transformative equity and social justice theories to the work of on-the-ground educators. Books in the series describe meaningful solutions to the racism, white supremacy, economic injustice, sexism, hetero-sexism, transphobia, ableism, neoliberalism, and other oppressive conditions that pervade schools and school districts.

In this video from the series Q&A panel, series editor Paul C. Gorski asks six authors from the series:

What advice do panelists have for educators who may face backlash from their school or government for teaching about equity issues, or implementing social justice-focused practices?

Panelists discuss how to weigh potential risks to job security and individual privacy in the face of censorship laws. Authors Alex Shevrin Venet and Noreen Naseem Rodríguez mention sections of each of their first books that directly address this issue. Panelists discuss the prevalence of reactionist backlash over time, and the continued importance of speaking, writing, and teaching about equity issues.

Authors on this panel include:
Manya Whitaker, author of Public School Equity: Educational Leadership for Justice;
Shawna Coppola, author of Literacy for All: A Framework for Anti-Oppressive Teaching;
Jenna Chandler-Ward, coauthor of Learning and Teaching While White: Antiracist Strategies for School Communities with Elizabeth Denevi;
Noreen Naseem Rodríguez, coauthor of Social Studies for a Better World: An Anti-Oppressive Approach for Elementary Educators with Katy Swalwell and Teaching Asian America in Elementary Classrooms with Sohyun An and Esther June Kim;
Alex Shevrin Venet, author of Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education and Becoming an Everyday Changemaker: Healing Justice at School;
and JPB Gerald, author of the upcoming Embracing the Exceptions: Meeting the Needs of Neurodivergent Students of Color.

Learn more about the Equity and Social Justice in Education Series at the Routledge website: https://www.routledge.com/go/equity-a...