Wait! Can this Teacher Relate?

 

By Darryn Hylton

Stonehill College News Staff

Growing up, Ratliff had very few teachers of color. She wasn’t alone in her experiences, and although the diversity society has accepted as a whole has gotten better, the lack of diversity in educators remains a challenge.

A recent study done by the Pew Research Center showed that majority of the schools in the United States education system lack diversity within their educators and people of authority. The population of students continuously increases in diversity while people of authority are remaining the same, according to the 2021 study.

“I think in terms of higher education, similar to primary and secondary education, representation matters.” said Sade Ratliff, a senior at Stonehill College. She is the student government association executive diversity chair.

 According to the study, elementary and secondary public-school teachers in the United States are considerably less racially and ethnically diverse as a group than their students. The diversity of students is increasing but the rate at which diverse teachers is increasing continues to lag behind.

Researchers found that white teachers make up about 79% of the nation’s public-school teachers and they account for that share or greater of educators in 37 states. Research also shows that the pattern in racial and ethnic diversity among school principals is like that of teachers. Around eight in ten principals (78%) are white, compared with 11% who are Black, 9% who are Hispanic and 1% who are Asian American.

 “I have had very few professors of color or instructors of color in general throughout my educational experience. There is an unspoken underwrite and understanding amongst communities of color. Though we may not have all the same experiences we are able to understand one another in ways that our white peers cannot.”

Ratliff said she has had some disconcerting experiences while being a student of color.

“The overturn of faculty of color, and more specifically women of color at our college has been astounding. It has created an underlying sense of instability and insecurity in terms of my professional and academic lives. In addition, I think that not seeing women of color in positions of authority and higher education makes it a lot harder for students of color to see themselves as authority figures or as people that can obtain such power. I think that failure to recruit and retain faculty and staff of color is a way for us to perpetuate institutional racism whether intentional or not,” said Ratliff.

Teddi Nguyen Lydon, assistant director for mentorship and advising in Stonehill College’s Office of Intercultural Affairs, said that the low number of diverse educators hurts students.

“It’s a real loss for students who need representation,” said Lydon.

Lydon says not only does this affect college students but also younger grade school students. Teachers and leaders in the education system are people who parents trust their kids’ lives with. Kids are at school for majority of their days. At a young age kids pay attention to their instructors and their chain of command. Students look for mentors to gravitate to. If a student doesn’t see themselves in their teachers, how would they know that there is a possibility of becoming an educator.

Lydon says it is important for children to have role models, mentors, and authority figures who look like them and have shared experiences. She said when they do, children can see opportunities and visons of oneself.

A recent event in Lydon’s life speaks volume to her. Lydon went to the movies with her family and during the ending credits her niece noticed someone with the same name as her. She was amazed and fascinated by this. Seeing similarities of oneself in another leads to hope. Hope that oneself can be something just like the other person. Kids learn as they see. Generational change will come.

“What comes first? The chicken or the egg?” said Lydon, while discussing what she sees as the timetable for change. If students are currently not exposed to diverse educators what would make change suddenly erupt?

“It’s a cycle,” said Lydon.

Ratliff says that right now we are at a point in our history where there could be incremental change in terms of human civil rights and collective activism.

 “Change is inevitable,” said Ratliff.

According to the study more than 40% of public schools in the U.S. do not have a single teacher of color. Less than one in five U.S. public school teachers are individuals of color, while approximately half of K-12 students are individuals of color. Majority of the states have a significant diversity gap between teachers and students. The only state where white teachers are not the largest racial or ethnic group is Hawaii, where Asian teachers make up 42% of the system.

The study points out that the diversity is not just in terms of race and ethnicity, but also in terms of gender.

“In the next few years there will be a nationwide decision to either unite or further diversify,” said Ratliff.