The Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture (ISPRC) at Boston College is hosting our 16th Annual Diversity Challenge Conference October 28-29th, 2016. Those interested in finding more information (including registration) may do so here: http://www.bc.edu/schools/
Regarding the conference, Dr. Janet Helms says the following:
Nationally and internationally disparities in the educational achievement of children and adolescents of Color or minority status cultures relative to their White majority culture cohorts have fueled many calls for educational reforms. In the United States, racial-cultural disparities have been reflected in adverse outcomes, such as lower standardized test scores, lower grades, higher dropout and suspension rates, and lower graduation rates of people of Color and marginalized cultural communities. Analogous patterns have been observed internationally.
Educators have responded to observed “achievement gaps” by attempting to shape every student to conform to government sponsored standards of achievement through social policies such as “No Child Left Behind”, “Race to the Top”, and “Common Core”. Such policies ignore the unique skills and talents of the students who enter the educational systems, as well as the life circumstances that make a one shape-fits-all model detrimental to their educational attainment, mental health, and aspirations. If students survive their educations, they potentially become widgets− unimaginative, obedient, conforming replicas of each other. Students, who do not survive their widget-making education, risk higher levels of lifetime poverty, and incarceration, as well as poorer physical and mental health outcomes than students exposed to more student centered educational interventions.
Racially and culturally responsive student-centered educational systems ought to promote development of whole persons who value themselves and, therefore, contribute to society in positive and meaningful ways. Whole person interventions would incorporate skills and talents that students bring with them from their cultural home environments including language diversity, leadership skills, panache, and social media expertise. They would also address and teach students to recognize and resist institutional and interpersonal racism and ethnoviolence as they are manifested in schools and the environments in which students and their families function.
Overcoming the “Widget Effect” and developing whole persons also requires a focus on how the adults in the lives of students of Color and marginalized communities are forced toward uniformity. Teachers and principals, as first responders, often must deal with students’ life traumas without having had any formal mental health training for doing so. Moreover, teachers are asked to raise the test scores of students whose life experiences on test day might include chronic hunger; undiagnosed learning disabilities; familial, community, and societal violence; homelessness; and loss or death of loved ones. Some of these life circumstances are not unique to students of Color and ethnic cultures, but are aggravated by a society that devalues the students as well as their teachers and families. Parents are vilified for their inability to leave work in the middle of the day, answer phone calls while at work, or help with homework. Rarely is consideration given to the burdens of racial and cultural stressors in the lives of parents and families.
To broaden the focus on the achievement gap to include students’ talents and life circumstances throughout the lifespan—from childhood through higher education—we are seeking proposals that use theory, research, and practice to develop whole persons. Proposals may address innovative and collaborative parent-teacher or student-teacher interventions, systemic changes and educational policy initiatives, and wrap around programming that includes health and mental health support for students and their families.
We envision an interdisciplinary forum in which a variety of perspectives are explored and educators, social and behavioral scientists, practitioners, and social activists can interact with each other in order to address mutual concerns related to holistic education. Finally, we welcome critical perspectives and creative ideas that not only concern the role of race and culture in fostering resilience and resistance in the lives of students who may encounter racial or ethnic discrimination, but also the adults who are charged with nurturing them.