On Tuesday (11/09) our practicum class attended a portion of the Teachers of Color and Allies Conference (TOCA from now on). The overall atmosphere of the whole conference was very positive, super-charged even. It was very encouraging to see so many like-minded people and educators with the shared of goal of racial equity and social justice in education.
I will address my reflections and thoughts on TOCA chronologically, both for my own benefit and that of my reader. I was already familiar with some of Professor Gary Howard's work from another class and he was a very enjoyable and proficient keynote speaker. The issues he raised about school rankings, or more importantly what "we" consider as good schools in the rankings was very interesting and thought provoking. The various facts and theories he advanced throughout his presentation actually went pretty far in answering some of the questions I have had about the issue of race in USA schools.
Following the keynote speech, I selected the 'Eugenics' breakout session run by 'Facing History and Ourselves'. From a purely historical perspective their session was very interesting and they ran a very effective little icebreaker activity at the start to get everybody involved. This icebreaker revolved around a very speedy two question interview that could only last 2-3 minutes. The questions that they provided for the interview were very good and allowed for a wide breadth of discussion. They distributed information on seminars and various Internet librairies that I will certainly keep an eye on for future use in my own classrooms and future CU classes. I would have appreciated more time with this group, as it was very clear that the two presenters were very rushed by the 60-minute format that the conference had set out for them.
The last part of TOCA that I was able to partake in before having to leave to attend other classes was not so enjoyable or enriching. The "At the Table with Dr. King" musical and historical experience was not to my liking. Although I am very curious about Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement, I feel that a more formal presentation would have been more beneficial. I appreciate that this format is designed for schools and not colleges. However, from conversations with my fellow practicum students, my reaction to the performance was not necessarily indicative of everybody there. To each their own.
To conclude this post, I greatly appreciated the opportunity to attend and learn from TOCA and hope to be able to attend again.
Thank you
