ABOUT ITOC
Context
Research has repeatedly established that teachers of Color play an instrumental role in the success of students of color. Even so, while students of Color make up almost 50% of the national public school student population, teachers of Color comprise just 18% of teachers. Teachers of Color also leave the field at an alarming rate of 24% more per year than their white counterparts. Despite an increased focus on recruitment and retention, research has illuminated that teachers of Color are often neglected in their teacher preparation and professional development, racialized professionally, and overlooked for leadership roles in schools. These factors all serve as barriers in their retention and professional growth.
Who we Are
ITOC is an annual three-day professional development to facilitate the growth, success and retention of teachers of Color who work in public schools serving students of Color, with on-going structures of networking and continued site-based support. A unique collaboration between the disciplines of Teacher Education, Educational Leadership, and Ethnic Studies, this national conference rigorously selects approximately 100 ITOC Fellows each summer to cultivate their racial justice leadership capacities as educational change agents.
Institute Story
After facilitating a workshop for teachers of Color at a social justice teacher conference in 2010 with standing room only, we realized that this population of teachers was in high need of a separate and safe space to process their racialized experiences and engage in responsive professional development- and a two hour workshop was not enough. Teachers of Color who are committed to racial justice need a place to strengthen their praxis and realize their potential as leaders in schools serving communities of Color. We decided that by bridging our interdisciplinary expertise, we could develop cutting-edge professional development to support the growth of teacher leaders of Color through critical race frameworks. We aim to create a community of like-minded educators who can effectively navigate the racialized context of urban schools and lead racial justice school reform efforts.
Mission
We serve educators with advanced racial literacies who demonstrate potential for racial justice leadership in public schools. Using critical race frameworks, ITOC is intended as a community building, professional development space for teachers of Color to explore the racial climate of their schools, receive leadership training to navigate these realities, and strategize how to create racially transformative classrooms and schools.
Approach
There are three key approaches we take to supporting the growth and success of teachers of Color:
Research has repeatedly established that teachers of Color play an instrumental role in the success of students of color. Even so, while students of Color make up almost 50% of the national public school student population, teachers of Color comprise just 18% of teachers. Teachers of Color also leave the field at an alarming rate of 24% more per year than their white counterparts. Despite an increased focus on recruitment and retention, research has illuminated that teachers of Color are often neglected in their teacher preparation and professional development, racialized professionally, and overlooked for leadership roles in schools. These factors all serve as barriers in their retention and professional growth.
Who we Are
ITOC is an annual three-day professional development to facilitate the growth, success and retention of teachers of Color who work in public schools serving students of Color, with on-going structures of networking and continued site-based support. A unique collaboration between the disciplines of Teacher Education, Educational Leadership, and Ethnic Studies, this national conference rigorously selects approximately 100 ITOC Fellows each summer to cultivate their racial justice leadership capacities as educational change agents.
Institute Story
After facilitating a workshop for teachers of Color at a social justice teacher conference in 2010 with standing room only, we realized that this population of teachers was in high need of a separate and safe space to process their racialized experiences and engage in responsive professional development- and a two hour workshop was not enough. Teachers of Color who are committed to racial justice need a place to strengthen their praxis and realize their potential as leaders in schools serving communities of Color. We decided that by bridging our interdisciplinary expertise, we could develop cutting-edge professional development to support the growth of teacher leaders of Color through critical race frameworks. We aim to create a community of like-minded educators who can effectively navigate the racialized context of urban schools and lead racial justice school reform efforts.
Mission
We serve educators with advanced racial literacies who demonstrate potential for racial justice leadership in public schools. Using critical race frameworks, ITOC is intended as a community building, professional development space for teachers of Color to explore the racial climate of their schools, receive leadership training to navigate these realities, and strategize how to create racially transformative classrooms and schools.
Approach
There are three key approaches we take to supporting the growth and success of teachers of Color:
- Health and Wellness: There is a physical, emotional, and psycho-social toll that can come with working in and trying to change school systems fraught with racial inequity (Smith, 2007; 2014). In a profession with high rates of turnover, attending to the needs of the holistic needs of teachers of Color can improve their sustainability and success, as well as that of their students. In addition to providing balanced, healthy meals throughout the conference, ITOC offers workshops on healing & self-care, meditation & yoga, non-violent communication, and restorative approaches to conflict that are intended to support the social-emotional and physical health of teachers and their students.
- Leadership Development: ITOC fellows are committed to advancing racial justice within schools and their surrounding communities, and are selected for their potential and interest in serving as change agents. Because teachers of Color are underrepresented in school administration and are often overlooked for formal leadership roles, they come to ITOC seeking explicit mentoring related to organizational change. A strand of ITOC is focused on school-based or community change, such as teacher organizing, shifting racial climate, cultivating a restorative justice program, or developing school or district-wide Ethnic Studies programs. We also provide explicit workshops sharing models of youth-led transformation.
- Community Building: A key contributor of justice-oriented teacher of Color attrition is the racial and ideological isolation they face as politicized and racially minoritized educators. The change they seek to make is far more effective when facilitated through collective action. Another focus of ITOC is the development of community partnerships and teacher networks. Through explicit community building exercises, intimate workshop and working group spaces, and models of classroom based, family engaged, and teacher peer-relationship building, ITOC fellows are cultivated as a community of racial justice leaders.
