Part 1: The Incident

1. What
On a Friday towards the end of the year, first thing in the morning, my
crew was getting ready to go to the park. In the classroom before heading to
the park, one of my white students, Sarah, got out her sunscreen to bring to
the park with us. Sarah had been giving her sunscreen to some of the
students but not everyone. Once we got to the park, Sarah continued to give
sunscreen to some of the other students, but still was not giving her
sunscreen to everyone. A couple of my black students came up to me and
began to tell me that Sarah was not sharing her sunscreen with them, as her
mother had told her that black people are not able to burn and therefore do
not need sunscreen. The girls were very confused and hurt that Sarah would
not share her sunscreen with them. I called Sarah up to come talk to me and
explained to her that regardless of skin color, we are all equally affected by
the suns harmful rays and that even though it may not always show in the
same way, we are all capable of being sun burnt. Sarah told me that she was
just doing what her mom had said and was not sharing her sunscreen
because her mom told her she did not need to share her sunscreen with
those girls. Sarah began to tear up and went to sit by herself.
Once we got back to the school, I sat all the girls down with me to have
a talk about what happened. Just as I had done with Sarah, I explained to all
of my girls that regardless of our skin color, the sun affects us all equally. I
used this as an opportunity to also discuss with the class the regardless of

our skin color, we are also all affected by one anothers words. This turned
into a good discussion between my students and many of the girls took the
opportunity to apologize to one another for possible harm they may have
inflicted with their words. I brought the conversation to a close and continued
on with our day. However, once we went out to the next recess, I saw Sarah
was still visibly upset. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me that
some of the other black students had called her mother a racist. I explained
to Sarah that by her mother sending her to this school, she was not racist.
Our school is incredibly diverse, which is one of the best parts about it. As a
charter school, Sarahs mother had proactively chosen to send her daughter
to this school and to be surrounded by this diversity. We called the other girls
over to talk to us and explained the same thing to them. Again, there were
some tears shed and apologies were shared on both sides. After that, we
never heard about the incident again.
2. Emotions
Teacher (myself):
Shocked
Confusion
Sadness
Empowered
Frustration
Uncomfortable
Taken aback
Nervous
Student (Sarah):
Confusion
Hurt
Defensive

Embarrassed

Students (Black students)

Anger
Confusion
Frustration
Defensive
Sadness
Shocked
Disrespected
Belittled
3. Why
Teacher Perspective (Myself)
Up until this point in the year, I had never dealt with any issues of
racism. My classroom is incredibly diverse, with approximately 30% white
students, 30% black students, 30% Latino students, and the remainder being
a medley of other ethnicities. Character education is as important as
academic education at my school and my students are taught daily how to
respect one another and themselves. Up until this point in the year, racial
differences had never caused problems in our classrooms.
However, since we never had any racial issues in our classroom, this
also meant that I never discussed race with my students or took the time to
discuss and celebrate our differences. I figured since it wasnt an issue, I had
an easy excuse to never discuss this seemingly taboo issue that I was
nervous to deal with in my first year. While I knew it was important to have
these discussions and know let it remain a taboo issue, I was too nervous in
my first year to broach the subject.

When we had the issue that day, I was shocked and taken aback and
didnt quite know how to deal with it. Since I had never dealt with this topic
before, it was awkward for me to figure out how to discuss this issue with my
students. I was immensely frustrated with Sarahs mother for appearing to
be so ignorant about the suns affects on people regardless of skin color. I
was frustrated with Sarah for following those seemingly ignorant directions
and not sharing her sunscreen with everyone. I was embarrassed in front of
my African American students because it was the first time that I felt like our
racial differences had been drastically clear.
Once I had worked through the issue in my head and figured out how
to discuss it with my class, I felt somewhat relieved. I even began to feel a
bit empowered to finally have those conversations with my students and
make it clear that it wasnt a taboo issue or something that we werent
allowed to talk about. I was nervous about how parents may respond after
hearing about this incident and even more nervous about how Sarahs mom
may have responded. However, I found it very important to have a frank and
honest discussion with my students about what happened and what it meant
for us.

Student perspective (Sarah)

I knew we were going to the park on Friday and I was very excited. I
told my mom and she told me I should bring sunscreen. She told me that I
was allowed to share with my classmates, but that I only needed to share

with the other white girls. My mom told me that since their skin is already
darker, my black friends didnt need to use my sunscreen because they dont
burn. This made sense to me, since when I get burnt, the sun is just making
me darker. I didnt think anything of it.
When I got to school that day, we had a bit of class and then started to
get ready to go to the park. Ms. D let me put sunscreen on before we started
to head down and everyone was doing their own thing getting their stuff
ready. I shared my sunscreen with my friends and some of the other girls. We
went down to the park and some more of my classmates asked to borrow my
sunscreen. When some of my black friends asked to borrow my sunscreen, I
told them that I wasnt allowed to let them use it because they didnt need it
so I didnt want to waste it. They got really made at me and told me they
were going to tell Ms. D on me. I was confused and hurt. I didnt know what I
did wrong, but I was nervous that I was going to get in trouble since
apparently I had hurt my friends feelings somehow.
Ms. D called me up to talk to her and explained to me that everyone
gets hurt by the sun no matter what his or her skin color is. I was confused
again because this is not what my mom had told me. I felt bad for making
my classmates feel bad. I was also embarrassed because I didnt think I did
anything wrong. I told Ms. D I was just following my moms directions. I didnt
know what to do so I decided not to share sunscreen with anyone else. I
apologized to the girls who I did not share with. Even though I apologized,
they said that my mom was being racist.

When we got back to school, Ms. D asked me why I was still upset. I
told her that the girls had called my mom racist. Ms. D explained to the
whole class that since we are a charter school, our parents want us to go to
this specific school, which means they want us to be around all of the kids
who go here. This made me feel better, but I was still embarrassed that all of
the attention was on me for something that I never meant to do. The girls
apologized for calling my mom racist and told me that they understood now.
At the end of the day, we all felt better with each other.

Students perspectives (Black students)

On Friday, we were going to the park. We were very excited and were
all laughing and playing with our friends that morning. Ms. D told us it was
time to start getting ready so we all went to our backpacks to get our hats,
water bottles and whatever else we needed. Some of the other girls were
putting sunscreen on, but we forgot to bring our own. We saw that Sarah was
sharing with people so we figured we would wait till we got to the park to ask
if we could use some.
When we got to the park, Sarah continued to let people use her
sunscreen. We asked if we could use some. Sarah told us that she wasnt
allowed to share with us because our skin was already black and therefore
would not burn in the sun. Her mom told her that she didnt need to share
with us. We were very confused because we had used sunscreen before and

had also been burnt by the sun before. We were hurt by what Sarah told us.
We went and told Ms. D, as we did not think Sarah was treating us fair.
Ms. D called all of us to come talk to her. She explained to us all that
no matter what skin color you have, we are all equally affected by the suns
harmful rays. Sarah started to cry and walked away. We followed her to talk
to her and she apologized to us. We accepted her apology but told her that
her mom was being racist by not letting us use her sunscreen. We walked
away from Sarah to go play by ourselves.
When we got back to school, Ms. D again talked to all of us about what
happened. She explained to the whole class once more that just like the sun
affects everyone in the same way, we are also all affected by each others
words in the same way. Also, since this is a charter school, our parents
purposefully wanted us to go to this school, which means they would want us
to be surrounded by all of the different races. We all felt better and decided
to apologize to Sarah for calling her mom racist.

Part II: Critical Analysis of Incident

4. Brainstorm Meaning:

Race had not yet been discussed or touched on in the classroom

Students families may not be completely educated about different
races and similarities and differences between their own race and
others
Students hadnt been taught that it was okay or safe to discuss race
and their differences with one another
Students didnt understand the similarities and differences between
themselves and other students
Sharing can often times lead to issues
Students should have all supplied their own sunscreen or other
necessities
Sharing as a class wasnt clearly explained

5. Select one meaning

While this incident was clearly a mix of multiple meanings, the most
important meaning that stands out to me is that race had not yet been
discussed or touched on in the classroom. Because of this, race was made
into a sort of taboo subject that we did not discuss. Also, students were not
helped to be made aware of their similarities and differences. Finally,
because of this reason, students possibly did not have a complete
understanding of other races.
While this incident initially sprang from a misunderstanding that was
shared in the household and then carried into the classroom, in the long run,
it was one that could have been prevented by me. According to research
done by Moll, Amanti, Neff and Gonzalez, by simply understanding what is
happening at home and what funds of knowledge our students bring into the
classroom, we are better situated to teach to all of our students: an
important aspect of the teachers participation in the household research
became the more sophisticated understanding they developed about the

children and their experiences (Moll, et al, 136). It was my responsibility to

have an understanding of what sort of experiences and education my
students are receiving at home to supplement their school learning and to
use that in my classroom. I had been too nervous or did not think it was
important enough to discuss race and racial differences in my classroom. By
not ever discussing the issue, I was never made aware of what my students
already understood (or possibly misunderstood) in terms of race. If I had
taken the time to understand and utilize my students funds of knowledge, I
would have been better situated to prevent this sort of situation from
happening by discussing it before it became an issue.
This situation also occurred because race had become a non-issue in
our classroom and may have even come off as taboo. I had never once taken
the time to sit down with my students and discuss our similarities and
differences, especially in terms of race. Because of this lack of discussion or
awareness, it is possible that certain unconscious biases or stereotypes had
arisen. In her article about unconscious biases and unintentional racism, Jean
Moule explains that because people are more likely to act out of
unconscious or hidden bias, knowing that you have a bias for or against a
group may cause you to compensate and more carefully consider your
possible responses or actions (Moule, 5). Since my class had never
discussed raise, it is highly likely that a number of my students had
unconscious or hidden biases. Since they were unaware of these, they were
then unaware of their actions or the affects of their actions on other

students. Sarah was not aware that her knowledge was misguided and
possibly offensive, and therefore she unconsciously hurt others around her.
This was not her fault, though, since she had never been taught otherwise.
She was simply going off what she knew.

6. Connections to Teaching as Leadership Principle(s)

While this incident didnt necessarily relate to my students progress or
gains in the classroom in terms of academics, it clearly still related to the
classroom (and outside of the classroom) and my role as a leader in that
classroom. Because of that, a couple of the Teaching as Leadership Principles
stood out to me. These include the idea of Investing Students and Their
Families and Executing Effectively. By focusing on these principles, I am
better able to understand this incident and what I could have done to avoid
it.
The first TAL impact principle that I could have focused on was that of
Investing Students and their Families/ Influencers in Working Hard to Reach
the Big Goal. Again, this incident didnt necessarily have to do with reaching
the Big Goal, but by investing students and specifically their families, I could
have avoided differences in message between what is happening in my
classroom compared to at home. In this particular instant, I did not create a
team with my students families, but instead steered clear of race
discussions. By investing students and their families, I would have created a

better team and network of support, which could have provided the
opportunity to have those more sensitive discussions around race and to
make sure we were all on the same page. This principle also talks about
using role models, which families and influencers are. By setting positive
examples about how we relate to other races, this incident could have been
avoided.
The other TAL impact principle that relates to this incident is that of
Executing Effectively. In my practice and execution, I never felt it necessary
or felt comfortable enough to touch on race or to explicitly discuss it. As the
principle of Executing Effectively states: for highly effective teachers, every
action, large and small, is taken because it contributes to the goal of student
learning (TAL Impact Model). Again, while this wasnt necessarily academic
based learning, it was cultural learning. By having the courage and
confidence to explicitly discuss and teach about race, I could have cleared up
confusion or unconscious biases or racism. Throughout most of the year, I
never effectively executed a discussion or lesson related to race, and
because of that we hit an issue that sprang completely from confusion and
misunderstanding.
By focusing on the TAL Principles and thinking about them even
outside of academic learning and education, I will better be able to reach my
students as a leader.

7. Actions

As I came to realize, my main issue that caused this incident to arise

was a lack of direct and clear communication between my students and me
and amongst families. By not feeling the need or not having the confidence
to discuss these taboo issues such as race and racial differences, I found
myself and my students caught up in a complete misunderstanding that hurt
feelings across the board. Because of this realization, I have a handful of
ideas that I look forward to implementing in my years to come as an
educator.
My first action that I will take will be an immediate, open and lasting
discussion on race and similarities and differences in my classroom. While I
had been told time and again to have these sorts of discussions with my
students, I never did. This happened for a few reasons. For one, as was
mentioned above, I never had issues in my class up until this incident.
Because of this, I never felt the pressing need to have discussions about race
in my class. Second, I was nervous and felt insecure about having these
kinds of discussions. Coming into my class as a privileged, white female, I
felt out of place to have discussions about race with my students. It may be
because I was afraid to accept my privileged status and did not want to rein
that over my students. However, as we learned from Johnson, having
privilege doesnt mean someone is a bad person they have no reason to
feel guilty about it, because they didnt do anything. But now it is there for
them to deal with (Johnson, 107). While I may have not asked for this
privilege, it is my duty now to use it in a beneficial way to help overcome the

oppression my students may be suffering. With this knowledge, I can now go

confidently into my classroom, willing and open to have these discussions
with my students.
I also look forward to creating more of a team with my students
families outside of just academic support. While I am extremely proud of and
happy with the relationships I built with my students families this year, a lot
of it was based off of academic support. While I did build good, personal
relationships with the families, I never once let that relationship revolve
whatsoever around race. While I do not intend on making our relationships
solely about race, I do intend on finding ways to have more open and honest
discussions with my families about race and racial similarities and
differences. One way that I can do this is by having monthly or so get
togethers with families after school. This can be a time for my families to
come together to unite as a team. By doing this, not only will these families
have the opportunity to connect with each other on a more basic level, I will
also have the opportunity to connect with them. Also, by making this more of
a regular occurrence, families will be able to plan for the times that they can
attend and will know that they will be able to attend in the future. I also
envision this as a possible sort of potluck or something along those lines,
where families can bring something important to who they are or their
culture to share with the rest of the group and to provide more context about
their background. This will also give me a better outlook on not only theirs,
but also their childrens funds of knowledge (Moll, et al).

A lot of what my action plans come down to is open and honest

communication. This year, I waited for an incident to happen to finally have a
discussion about race. I can hope to avoid these incidents in the future by
having the confidence and know-how to have these frank and open
discussions right off the bat. These discussions will not only involve the
students, but also their influencers and role models. By continuing to work as
a team and a network of support for our students, we will be able to connect
and influence them not only in the classroom, but also outside of the
classroom, which will help to create the sort of transformative and enduring
change we hope to see.

8. Reflection of Learning
By taking the time to reflect on this critical incident in my first year of
teaching, I learned a lot. One of the basic, most important things that I
learned from this process was just how important communication is. I also
learned how important it is for me to truly accept my role as a leader in the
classroom and that the values that I set forth really do hold so much sway in
what happens in our room. Through analyzing an unfortunate incident that
happened in my classroom this year, I am able to learn and grow from it.
While at the time I may have wished that the incident never happened,
instead of just passing it over and attempting to forget about it, I am able to
take the time to step back and critically analyze what happened and what I

could do to prevent this from happening in the future or to better respond to

those sorts of incidents.
As educators, we are told that we need to be culturally responsive.
According to Ana Mara Villegas in her essay entitled Preparing Culturally
Responsive Teachers: Rethinking the Curriculum, Villegas explains it this
way teacher educators must articulate a vision of teaching and learning in a
diverse society and use that vision to systematically guide the infusion of
multicultural issues throughout the preservice curriculum (Villegas, 20).
Being a culturally responsive teacher means to embrace the culture and
different backgrounds of our students in the classroom and to use it to guide
your instruction. In terms of being a culturally responsive educator with
regards to my critical incident this year, I did so retroactively. I waited until
an incident occurred to finally embrace and recognize the cultural differences
amongst my students. While culture isnt all about race, a large part of it is.
By ignoring my students race up until this point, I was not responding to
their differences and different needs. Instead of responding to incidents, I
would like to be the kind of teacher who proactively works with these sorts of
issues. While I wish to be a culturally responsive teacher, in my mind I almost
see that to mean retroactively responding. I have seen now how a retroactive
response can have a negative affect and instead wish to proactively deal
with these sorts of situations.
As was explained before, one of the main ways that I will be a
proactive culturally responsive educator is by creating a safe, comfortable

space for my students to discuss taboo issues such as race. I will even go so
far as to say I wish to create a space where my students feel comfortable in
sharing not only what they know and what they bring to the table, but also to
share their questions and confusions. It is possible that if Sarah had felt more
comfortable to share what she knew (or didnt know) in this setting, that we
could have avoided this situation. It will take a lot of practice and work to
create a space where my students will feel safe to share what they dont
know. However, I want to be a leader in a classroom where not only do
students feel like they can share what they dont know, but other students
feel safe and confident to help guide that student given their backgrounds
and experiences. As Freire discusses in Pedagogy of Freedom, the teachinglearning process, together with the work of research, is essential and
inseparable aspect of the gnostic cycle (Freire, 15). My classroom will be the
sort of space where my students will be learners and leaders. They will feel
confident and safe to teach their peers given their own cultural background
and identity. Again, as Villegas puts it, this will look like involving all
students in the construction of knowledge, building on students personal
and cultural strengths, helping students examine the curriculum from
multiple perspectives, using varied assessment practices that promote
learning, and making the culture of the classroom inclusive of all students
(Villegas, 27). I will lead the sort of classroom where students will feel as if
their culture is embraced and as if their voice is important.

While my school is a charter school, it is still a public institution. When

thinking about the purpose of public schooling, I go back to a quote shared
by Timothy McMannon from Yale President A. Bartlett Giamatti: the purpose
of education is to lead us to some sense of citizenship, to some shared
assumptions about individual freedoms and institutional needs, to some
sense of the full claims of self as they are to be shared with others
(McMannon, 6). It is important as educators to create an environment where
students feel as if they are important citizens and can stand as individuals.
While the motto for my school is we are a crew, not passengers, I still wish
to create a sense of individuality amongst my students and belief in whom
they are. So as Giamatti puts it, while we must create a sense of citizenship
amongst our students, it is equally important to base that in a sense of
individual freedoms (as well as individual understanding). This takes me back
to my critical incident in that my students werent necessarily seen as
individuals with individual needs, but were instead seen as a group based on
skin color. I plan on going back to this notion of creating a team out of
strong, independent individuals who all bring something important to the
table.
All in all, I have learned a lot about myself through this process. One of
the main things I learned was that I can negotiate those situations and that it
is important for me to have confidence in who I am and the cultural
background that I bring in. While I may not share the same cultural identities
as my students, it is equally important for me to embrace and recognize my

own if I expect my students to do the same. If I am going to be the leader of

my classroom, then I need to show my students that it is good and important
to embrace who you are and what you bring to the table. This means having
the confidence to accept my place of privilege and to work to turn over
places of oppression. As Johnson explains, one of the main forms of racism
that is proliferated from white people is not outright racism, but instead the
opposite: thats all thats required of most white people for racism to
continue- that they not notice, that they do nothing, that they remain silent
(Johnson, 106). Instead of just refusing to remain silent in the face of racism,
I will continue to proactively work against it, starting in my own classroom.

References
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage.
Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 1998. Print.
McMannon, Timothy J. "Introduction: The Changing Purposes of Education
and Schooling." The Public Purpose of Education and Schooling. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997. Print.
A. Bartlett Giamatti, A Free and Ordered Space: The Real World of the
University (New York: Norton, 1988), p. 213
Moule, J. (2009). Understanding Unconscious Bias and Unintentional Racism:
Acknowledging our possible biases and working together openly is essential
for developing community in our schools. Phi Delta Kappan, January 01,

2009. Accessed on March 21, 2010 at

http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k_v90/k0901mou.htm
Moll, Luis C., Cathy Amanti, Deborah Neff, and Norma Gonzalez. "Funds of
Knowledge for Teaching: Using a Qualitative Approach to Connect Homes and
Classrooms." Theory into Practice 31.2 (1992): 132-41. Print.
Villegas, A. M., & Lucas, T. (2002). Preparing Culturally Responsive Teachers:
Rethinking the Curriculum. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(20), 20-32.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ 0022487102053001003
Johnson, A. G. (2006). Privilege, Power and Difference. Boston, MA: Mc-Graw
Hill.