Michele McCombs, a second-grade teacher for Kent City Schools, believes the came at just the right time for her to be that ‘teacher/leader’ who develops a support system of inclusiveness for the LGBTQ+ community.
“Being a brave teacher means harnessing strength and courage to show up and do the best that I can,” said McCombs. “On different days that may mean different things for meeting the needs of students and families. Sometimes that can be a challenging situation.”
Whatever their reasons for attending, local teachers collaborated with colleagues to develop plans for beginning or continuing the journey of bravery in the classroom.
“Some attendees may have felt the need to shun political correctness and find ways to safely navigate through content that some may consider controversial curriculum,” said Todd S. Hawley, Ph.D., professor of Social Studies Teacher Education in the School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies. “Brave teaching is about telling the truth and allowing the whole truth to guide your teaching, no matter the content.”
For the second consecutive year, Hawley, along with Sonya Wisdom, Ph.D., associate professor of Science Education, offered the three-day workshop so that pre-K through 12th grade teachers could develop portraits of their own practice as brave teachers, create individual, context-specific goals, and leave with resources and examples of specific pedagogical approaches for how to enact brave teaching in their classrooms.
“I decided to pursue education to help students see their full potential and learn in a way that is most comfortable and true to them,” said Joshua Gunter, a seventh- through twelfth-grade social studies teacher who was particularly interested in taking actionable steps toward bravery in spaces that discourage it.
Speakers for the workshop included:
- Kristen Duncan, Ph.D., assistant professor of Secondary Social Studies Education, Department of Teaching and Learning, Clemson University
- Mr. Matt Jablonski, Teacher, Writer, and Agitator, Elyria City Schools, Elyria, Ohio
- Karen Tollafield, Ph.D., co-chair of GLSEN, Northeast Ohio, Educator Trainer, GSA Coordinator
- Adam Jordan, Ph.D., associate professor, associate department chair, and director of Undergraduate and Certificate Special Education Programs, College of Charleston
Made possible by a $25,000 grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, Hawley and Wisdom’s workshop focused on brave teaching methods that support all students and encourages teachers to look inward and draw on their own personal and professional strengths to teach courageously.
“The workshop is a place to learn how to advocate for marginalized students, speak up against injustices in education, and learn about the resources needed to become a brave teacher,” said Sheena Zadai, a local high school English teacher who was inspired to become a brave teacher after attending ɫҹ’s May 4th Voices for Change: 2019 Educators Summit Teacher Workshop. “Even if you consider yourself a brave teach you can still learn things and make great, professional relationships that you can take through the school year and bounce ideas off others, I think is going to be really invaluable.”