This disparity has been questioned by the school board, questioning whether there are systemic barriers that could impact hiring and retention of employees of color. Through the analysis of staff interviews, historical media, and hiring and firing data, this project sought to examine ABC Public Schools' approaches to hiring and retaining teachers of color and the perspectives and experiences of teachers of color in the school system. During the hiring of the superintendent, the School Committee expressed significant concerns about potential historical and systemic racist underpinnings that could impact the hiring and retention of teachers of color in the ABC School District.
However, the presence of community members of color in that work is limited, according to the superintendent. My intent is to highlight what is happening within the district regarding the hiring and retention of staff of color. These benefits may appear to be factors that disproportionately influence the hiring and retention of white staff over staff of color.
What are the perspectives and experiences of employees of color in the ABC School District. I selected interviewees from a representative group of teachers in the school system, including employees of color and white employees from a wide range of positions. How does Barnstable Public Schools approach hiring and retaining teachers of color?
What are the perspectives and experiences of teachers of color in Barnstable Public Schools. Assimilating Discourse Models What are the perspectives and experiences of teachers of color in Barnstable Public Schools? Features Building Culture How Barnstable Public Schools Approaches Recruiting and Retaining Teachers of Color.
This would align with Project Question 1: What are the perspectives and experiences of teachers of color in the ABC school district.
Community Connection and Access to Resources
Cape or nearby, or someone we know who has a connection here.' This was further. The cost of living came up in several interviews and was further referenced in Cape Cod Times: Cape's Housing Crisis. As Participant 4 says, “Newer younger people or people of color who don't have strong family ties here can't afford to live here and never stay.
I think they need to look at the long term feasibility of the pay scale, health care and cost of living because you can't even be in a professional role here, and own or rent a home unless you have another higher income. partner." This may indicate geographic segregation that may benefit white community members who own homes, and negatively impact community members of color who rent.
Alienation or Assimilation
That said, both indicated that when they stood up for prejudice against them, they felt alienated from other staff members. I don't feel important or valued as a person from a diverse background.” This was further validated by participant 4: “It's not a super culturally sensitive place to work. My friends of color don't feel like they have an equal voice.' This is consistent with Lave and Wenger's thoughts on legitimate peripheral participation, in that employees of color are seen as 'newcomers' who do not have access to resources and networks of the 'old-timers' (Lave & Wenger, 1991).
There was also a feeling among the staff of color that they had to go above and beyond their white colleagues, and that certain allowances were provided based on the color of one's skin. How she is treated in public with her husband and children is very different from how she was treated with her white parents growing up. This is consistent with the literature on discourse models and assimilation, where being seen as typical can confer greater participation and.
In contrast, when she is with her husband and children, she is unconsciously seen as atypical. ABC survey no place for youth hate analysis on racism found related findings, showing that black students were found to be stopped in the hallways by teachers more. An ABC High School student is quoted in the document, "You're seen as black before you're seen as yourself." This was further supported by publicly available discipline data, which showed that black students had disproportionately more disciplinary infractions than their peers.
Potential Sources of Resistance to Equity Efforts
Interestingly, there was a persistent theme among staff of color that they felt that white staff saw them as part of the problem of working with students of color. Tajfel and Turner (1979) describe this as the "out-group", where regardless of the actors in the. Two teachers of color were accused by other white staff of coding diverse students because they were successful in their class.
Regarding the validity of the data collected in the interviews, two main challenges were identified. First, white women (6/10) predominated among the surveyed individuals, and only three of the surveyed individuals were black. This prevented me from answering the second project question: What are the perspectives and experiences of black staff in the ABC school district? While white staff shared their thoughts on what they heard or observed about the experiences of black staff, these perspectives and staff of color did not specifically share experiences.
Secondly, the vast majority of people interviewed (6/10) came from the region or were married to someone from the region. What is missing is a larger perspective of colored staff, and white staff, who are not originally from the region. Likewise, I was unable to interview employees of color who had resigned or been removed from their positions within the organization.
Social Capital Development and Mentorship
Similarly, the way the staff member engages in the organization may be seen as "atypical" because of their discourse pattern. Efforts can be devoted within the district to building social capital among black staff. Social capital theory is the idea that the strength of one's social network and community has a correlation with upward career mobility, one's health and educational outcomes (Chetty et al, 2022).
We're literally on our own now." While social capital is important for everyone, it's especially important for employees of color who may lack close similarities culturally, physically, or financially with their peers. In a community of practice where even a new white employee can come to the organization with more social capital, due to their ability to navigate the dominant discourse model and be seen as an "old-timer", the importance of conscious opportunities to build social capital is crucial for employees of color. As Gee states , people are often unaware of these various exclusions due to their discourse model, but when exposed to these simplifications, they can learn and grow past it (Gee, 2006).
ABC schools can look at creating mentoring programs that partner black staff with peers who have strong social capital within the organization. Within a community of practice, there are boundaries of practice that require participants to have a sustained history of social learning to properly engage in CoP (Wenger et al, 2015). If ABC viewed mentoring as a practice of the white community of practice that exists, this, according to Lave and Wenger (2011), would improve the participation of black staff in the CoP, increase their access to resources and opportunities and better. put the staff member in the CoP on the path to being seen as an "old timer".
Local Pathways to Teaching
MPDE has found that districts offering alternative education pathways can improve the diversity of their workforce through this method. Participants indicated that there have been past examples of district leaders attending hiring fairs in Boston that targeted employees of color, resulting in a few hires. This was experienced as positive, but when asked whether these people stayed for a long time, they indicated that this was not the case.
Deploying resources locally on talent development within the diversity of the community can be more fruitful in the longer term.
School and Community Branding
Therefore, creating an appeal or connection to the area for people of color or from different cultural backgrounds can create a better anchor for longevity for black staff employed. That said, interviewing a larger number of staff of color would be necessary to gain a broader understanding of the perspectives and experiences of staff of color at ABC. Changing the narrative of diversifying the teaching workforce: A look at historical and contemporary factors informing the recruitment and retention of teachers of color.
Most of the colored staff are from here or are married to someone from here” -Participant 1 90% of participants were hired because they knew someone in the school system. These participants, along with others, indicated that most of the staff of color, and staff in general, are from the area. Newer younger people or people of color who do not have strong family ties here cannot afford to live here and never stay." - Participant 4.
100% of black participants indicated that they felt alienated even after being there for some time. Two of the black staff (Participant 3 and 6) indicated that if you understand the system and don't rock the boat, you can be successful. 80% of participants are very concerned about all the turnover of administrators in the district and do not feel supported.
Discourse Model)
I think they need to look at the long-term viability of the pay scale, health care and cost of living, because here you can't even be in a professional capacity and own or rent an apartment unless you have another higher-income partner." -Participant 4 They indicated that nothing doesn't change, and as an employee of color, they felt they were always looked at as representing their race.
