Learning from Roundtable Participants

To guide the discussion, we posed a set of questions along three themes: curating and implementing culturally responsive materials; redefining and building digital equity; and bolstering educator support. We had three main questions:

1. What types of content and materials do students and teachers need most right now?
2. How do practitioners define digital equity and cultural responsiveness, and to what degree do they factor into the challenges or opportunities for accessing these materials?
3. What are the biggest barriers to accessing and teaching these materials and what solutions are educators using to meet these challenges?

The conversation explored both broad context and nuanced pieces to this narrative, in some cases either underscoring or challenging our previous thinking. Overwhelmingly, we heard from educators that this moment is indeed unlike any other and that many of the challenges it presents could be used as opportunities to improve if teachers had the time and support they needed. By and large, the educators we spoke with do not want to simply see the inequities of in-person education recreated digitally. Rather, they want to see remote and hybrid learning used to fully engage all students. Below are three key takeaways from our conversation on how to do that, and what it might take.

In order to truly capitalize on this moment, said the participants, we should:

1. Expand definitions of curriculum “quality” to include representation, relevance, and inclusion.

Participants honed in on the mismatch between the content and perspectives of instructional materials and textbooks and many students’ lived experiences. In many cases, maintaining the status quo during the pandemic means students are continuing to learn from materials that don’t reflect their perspectives or identities, but those materials are now digital. Even before the pandemic, this type of content invalidated and failed to represent many students’ identities and realities, and sustaining the use of these materials as the goal during the pandemic sends a strong message to students. Part of the challenge of working toward a more inclusive definition, said the educators, is time and collaboration. So much of the work to build better, more relevant materials is done in silos by individual teachers and school leaders in different districts, across different states—many without the time and support from their administrations that they need. Now, with the COVID-19 closures putting even greater strains on teachers’ time and capacity and students struggling to engage, finding ways to develop better materials is both more important than ever and increasingly more difficult.

As participants noted, some districts are becoming more aware of this issue but few real changes are being made to address them. Gholdy Muhammad, an associate professor of education at Georgia State University, explained that state standards need to better align with the goals of CRE. “People are talking about CRE more and more, but the standards we still use were not written to reflect the histories, identities, and liberation of Black and Brown people.” The question she posed, echoed by others in the group: Is it ethical to keep learning standards as they are?

People are talking about CRE more and more, but the standards we still use were not written to reflect the histories, identities, and liberation of Black and Brown people.

While the standards for what makes resources high-quality vary slightly from state to state, few standards include cultural relevance or representation in their definitions. As Muñiz has written, CRE is integral to effective, engaging pedagogy and resources for everyone. One possible opportunity to create more inclusive materials is through the use of open educational resources, or OER. Unlike proprietary textbooks, OER are free to use, adapt, and reshare, making them more accessible and collaborative than other texts. With shrinking school budgets and difficulty getting physical materials to students, more teachers and leaders are looking to OER as one possibility. While openness doesn’t guarantee inclusion, these resources could be one way to help redefine quality texts.

2. Reconceive what digital equity means and what it looks like in practice.

Traditionally, digital equity has simply referred to the divide between students who have access to wireless internet and the physical devices needed to participate in online and virtual learning, and those who don’t. Prior to COVID-19, it was often talked about in the context of physical learning environments; which schools have 1:1 devices for children, or which schools rely on federal programs such as E-rate to provide internet in their buildings. As New America’s Open Technology Institute describes in its recent report, issues of connectivity and device access is an urgent and worsening problem during COVID-19.

But the definition of digital or tech equity ought to be expanded, said roundtable participants, to rethink the goals and opportunities for using instructional technologies. As Antoinette Dempsey-Waters, a history teacher in Arlington, VA, suggested, in addition to getting devices to all students, we ought to also focus on whether instructional technology has students’ actual interests in mind. Are we using tech as a tool to prepare students for paths and careers that are viable and attainable for them, or are we simply using it as another inequitable measure of ability? After all, access to technology that doesn’t serve students isn’t all that useful.

Martin Cisneros, director of technology at Berryessa Union School District in San Jose, CA, said that before he considers adopting new technologies, he asks, “how does this tool advance student agency?” Particularly at a time when nearly every student, teacher, and school leader is relying on technology for every part of their day, the ways in which that tech aids or hinders student capacity is critical. As with instructional materials, reframing the discourse around digital equity means thinking of the role it plays for students as equally important to their access to it. We ought to be concerned with what tech tools actually do for students, in addition to which students have them. This type of goal shifting also requires a mindset shift: technology is a tool to be used toward the goal of responsive, equitable learning, rather than the goal itself.

… reframing the discourse around digital equity means thinking of the role it plays for students as equally important to their access to it.

The instructional technologists and leaders in the group urged others to use every opportunity to ask these questions of the tech tools they’re using. With more people building this dialogue, we might create more awareness and intention around true digital equity.

3. Provide teachers the support and learning they need to deliver digital equity and culturally responsive learning experiences.

Teacher learning and support was at the forefront of discussions of both CRE and digital equity. From those currently in the classroom to those at colleges of education, the message was clear: teachers need support now more than ever. While they’re being asked to wear multiple hats and play different supporting roles for students, families, and school leaders, teachers themselves are in need of supports that are, in many cases, decreasing. Some of the biggest challenges we heard were strains on teachers’ time, capacity, and opportunities for professional learning to help them meet both the new and growing needs of remote learning. With more demands and often fewer instructional and prep hours, teachers are having to do more with less time and energy. This, combined with the mental and emotional toll of the events of 2020 has severely reduced capacity for many. On top of this, many teachers were not masters of instructional technology before the pandemic started and now must quickly learn, adapt, and implement new tools to do their job.

Beyond technological support, another key need we heard is teacher professional learning that prepares educators, particularly white educators, to teach inclusive, representative, and equitable content effectively. Adina Sullivan-Marlow is the coordinator for teacher effectiveness and preparation at the San Diego County Office of Education, and a founder of EquityEDU, a nonprofit that supports more equitable education for all students. As she put it, “we can’t leverage this moment for change without teachers, and teachers can’t fully participate until they have the support they need to do so.” If educators do not have the guidance and capacity to address the obstacles brought on by the pandemic, this moment will be a challenge rather than an opportunity.