6.9: Creating Change in the Classroom
First Name Basis Podcast
Jasmine Bradshaw
5 • 629 Ratings
🗓️ 5 July 2022
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Classrooms should be places of growth, discovery and change, and as parents and caregivers we need to support teachers in fostering a positive environment for students.
And Patrick Harris II is a teacher who knows first-hand how important that is.
Patrick is one of my teaching idols, and he recently released a book about being a teacher titled “The First Five: A Love Letter to Teachers,” where he talks about what it looks like to try to make change from within and the importance of creating school communities where our kids feel safe, empowered, loved and encouraged to figure out who they are. Whether you’re a teacher, parent or caregiver, this book is one you’ll want to read.
Patrick is a Black queer writer, storyteller, and middle school humanities teacher. He has won multiple national teaching awards for his leadership and innovation in the classroom. Teaching and creating is only part of who Patrick is. He is a big brother, a cat dad, lover of all things horror, a WWE fanatic and is obsessed with scenic hikes.
In this episode, Patrick and I discuss:
- Why teaching is political.
- How we can reframe our focus away from what students want to do as a career and instead help them see who they want to be now.
- Tips for finding a school that fits your family’s values.
- What parents and caregivers can do to support teachers who are trying to make change at school.
Press play and I promise your appreciation for teachers and perspective on what a classroom should look like are going to change forever.
Bite-Sized Black History is a program that empowers you to teach the little ones you love about brilliant Black Americans who have been largely overlooked by our history books. We have two different seasons featuring 12 different people in each season, and each season comes with a workbook with illustrations to color and reflection questions to discuss.
Each week we round up our favorite resources to give you a deeper understanding of the featured episode topic. And Fam Favorites is the only place you can access our mini segment “Ask Jasmine” where I answer one of your pressing questions. Sign up to get Fam Favorites in your inbox!
Articles, Studies, & Podcasts Referenced in the Episode
Patrick’s book, “The First Five: A Love Letter to Teachers”
Patrick’s Instagram @presidentpat
Patrick’s Twitter @presidentpat
Patrick’s Facebook
Patrick’s website
Patrick’s podcast, The Common Sense Podcast
@blackgirlthatreads on Instagram
Song Credit: “Sleeper” by Steve Adams” and “Dive Down” by VYEN
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the First Name Basis podcast, Season 6, Episode 9, Creating Change in the Classroom, |
| 0:07.6 | with Patrick Harris II. |
| 0:16.5 | Teaching our children to be inclusive and anti-racist starts with us within the sacred walls of our home. |
| 0:24.7 | First-name basis is designed to empower you with the confidence you need to be a leader in your family and a change maker in your community. |
| 0:32.7 | Together, we will wrestle with hard questions and use the answers to create the world we want, |
| 0:38.8 | a world that reflects our values of inclusion, compassion, and courage. |
| 0:44.1 | I'm your host, Jasmine Bradshaw, and I am so excited to be on this journey with you. |
| 0:50.2 | Hello, First Name Basis, fam. |
| 0:52.2 | I am so glad you are here. I'm so glad you're here because today |
| 0:56.5 | you're going to hear an amazing interview with one of my teaching idols. His name is Patrick Harris, |
| 1:02.8 | and I have been listening to him since before First Name Basis was even a thought. So as many of you know, |
| 1:10.4 | I used to be a teacher and I was in a program called |
| 1:13.0 | Teach for America. And Patrick also did Teach for America. And after I finished, I heard about this |
| 1:21.3 | podcast where these two teachers were going to sit down every week for an entire school year |
| 1:26.1 | and talk about their experience as teachers. |
| 1:29.4 | So this podcast was called The Common Sense Podcast, and you can actually still hear it today. |
| 1:34.0 | And the two hosts were Patrick, who you will hear from in this interview, and Antonia, who has |
| 1:40.3 | an amazing Instagram account where she reviews books. It's called Black Girl That Reads. And I, when I tell you, these two were my teacher idols. Have you ever seen |
| 1:49.3 | that meme where it's like me listening to a podcast? And it's like a little kid. It's like a little |
| 1:53.9 | boy, I think. And he's like laughing next to a picture of these three girls laughing. These |
| 1:59.5 | three girls are laughing in a photo and he's |
| 2:01.1 | sitting at the base of the photo laughing with them. That's how I felt listening to this podcast |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jasmine Bradshaw, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jasmine Bradshaw and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.