It’s a persistent problem in schools across Indianapolis, the state, and the nation: Too few teachers look like their students.

America’s teaching force is disproportionately white and female, even in districts like Indianapolis Public Schools, where just under half of students are black, nearly a third are Hispanic, and about one-fifth are white.

At the annual conference Thursday of the teacher training and advocacy group TNTP, I moderated a panel on addressing the systemic barriers and unconscious biases that educators of color face — from their own formative school years, through college and certification, and into the classroom.

The dynamic group of four panelists — an equity expert, a politician, a school leader, and an administrator — offered thoughts on dismantling the structural barriers that many educators face, with the goal of fostering more inclusive classrooms for both teachers and students.

From his experience as the principal of Camden High School in New Jersey, Alex Jones underscored the importance of students having teachers who come from backgrounds similar to their own.

“One of my coworkers coined a phrase where he said, ‘We’re looking for this Wakanda factor. … You know, when people see “Black Panther,” now students believe they can do these great things that we saw as part of Wakandan society as things that people of color can achieve,’” Jones said. “So, we want to make sure we’re putting people in front of our students that our students can say, ‘This is someone who has had similar experiences to me, this is someone who I can relate and connect to, and this is someone I can see myself growing up and being like.’”

Read the whole story at Chalkbeat.

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