EP158 We got this: Cornelius Minor on teachers as agents of change
Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers
Angela Watson
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 24 March 2019
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"We live in a specific kind of America that offers an okay education for some kids, and then a totally subpar education for other kinds of kids. That our country—and specifically our education system—has been defined by intergenerational inequity really bothers me. And so much of my message is around how we disrupt that, how we can begin to look at the things that have plagued us for generations and begin to take those things apart.
We cannot be okay with the way things are. It's just too dire for too many kids. We can't make excuses by saying, 'Well, this is how we've always done it,' or 'I'm just a teacher. What power do I have?'
Yeah, I'm just a teacher, and we have a whole lot of power. The most important thing to me is to be able to step back, look at my practices, customs, and traditions, and do the kind of action research that's going to lead to change. That really matters a lot to me.
I don't have to wait for city hall to say, 'Let's do this thing.' I can look at the inequitable outcomes in my school, in my department, in my class, and I can address those things in a really intentional way using action research or inquiry."
Listen to this week's episode for more from Cornelius Minor on re-writing the teacher hero narrative and disrupting the status quo.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to episode 158 of Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers. I'm your |
| 0:06.3 | host Angela Watson and I'm here to speak life, encouragement, and truth into the |
| 0:12.0 | minds and hearts of educators and get you energized for the |
| 0:15.0 | the mind and hearts of educators and get you energized for the week ahead. |
| 0:16.7 | Today I'm talking with Brooklyn educator Cornelius Minor |
| 0:20.2 | about his new book called We Got This. |
| 0:23.0 | We're discussing how teachers can be agents of change. |
| 0:26.0 | Visit truth for teachers.com to get the transcript |
| 0:29.0 | or to share your thoughts in the comments. |
| 0:32.0 | A big thanks to advancement courses for sponsoring today's show. You |
| 0:36.6 | could earn graduate credits or CEUs through over 200 online PD courses in 19 different subject areas. Everything is totally 100 online P. D. |
| 0:45.0 | everything is totally online and self-paced. |
| 0:46.0 | And right now you can save 20% off each course with the code Truth 20. |
| 0:51.0 | That's just 120 dollars per graduate credit hour. |
| 0:55.7 | To learn more, visit advancement courses. |
| 0:57.6 | com slash truth. |
| 1:00.8 | So today I'm super excited to be sharing this interview with Cornelius Minor. |
| 1:05.7 | He is a staff developer with the Teacher's College Reading and Writing Project. |
| 1:10.4 | He's just released a new book called We Got This, Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be |
| 1:16.0 | who our students need us to be. |
| 1:18.8 | In this interview, he and I are going to be discussing some of the key themes that I pulled out of his book, particularly |
| 1:25.0 | his thoughts on rewriting the teacher hero narrative and disrupting the status quo in our classrooms |
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