ep. 203: Learning & Unlearning with “Abbott Elementary”
What are real-life teachers learning from the hit mockumentary sitcom "Abbott Elementary"? Cristen talks to Brown University senior and future teacher Jada Wooten about Black teacher representation and what education equity looks like inside and out of the classroom. Then elementary ed associate professor Dr. Sara Jones tells the backstory to her college seminar on "Abbott" and her own journey of unlearning the white-savior teacher trope (aka “Dangerous Minds”-itis).
guests:
Jada Wooten
Dr. Sara Jones
sources:
Bryant, Jake; Ram, Samvitha; Scott, Doug; and Williams, Claire. K-12 teachers are quitting. What would make them stay? McKinsey. Mar 2, 2023.
Frank, Toya Jones et al. Exploring Racialized Factors to Understand Why Black Mathematics Teachers Consider Leaving the Profession. Educational Researcher. Aug/Sep 2021.
Hale, Jon N. On Race, Teacher Activism, and the Right to Work: Historicizing the ‘Red for Ed’ Movement in the American South. W. Va. L. Rev. April 2019.
Jones, Sara. This course uses ‘Abbott Elementary’ to examine critical issues in urban education. The Conversation. Mar 22, 2022.
Mertz, Adam. A Century of Teacher Organizing. What Can We Learn? The Labor and Working-Class History Association.
Sullivan, Emily Tate. Our Nation’s Teachers Are Hustling to Survive. EdSurge. Mar 30, 2022.
Terada, Youki. Why Black Teachers Walk Away. Edutopia. Mar 26, 2021.
Will, Madeline. The Gender Pay Gap Is a Problem for Teachers, Too. Education Week. Mar 13, 2023.
Wong, Alia. The US Teaching Population Is Getting Bigger, and More Female. The Atlantic. Feb 2019.
Wooten, Jada. What ‘Abbott Elementary’ taught me about AP African American Studies, Black educational equity. The Brown Daily Herald. Feb 16, 2023.
