Strand 8 TBTS: Advocacy

Advocacy: Thinking Behind the Strand

Effects systemic change for students, families, and communities in ways that are responsive to multiple and intersecting inequities.

As teachers, we are always striving to work in the best interests of our students, both as individuals and collectively. Our advocacy work happens constantly in many subtle and nuanced ways: recommending to a student and their family that the student needs summer school for enrichment or remediation; suggesting that a student take up a particular instrument for band; encouraging a student to apply for a particular college; suggesting a student speak to a social worker about a situation at home. In each case, we make a judgment about what is best for a particular student and from a place of care and support, advocate for steps the student might take next.

Working alongside

The tricky part of advocacy has to do with our role and position as a teacher. Our profession both affords and assigns us formal and informal power and influence. Families, students, and community members look to us for guidance and expertise. When we offer a student advice or we make suggestions to a family about how to best support their child, our words carry significant weight because of the position we hold. Thus we must be extremely judicious, responsible, and thoughtful in our role as advocate.

There are times when we think we may know what is best for a student or family, when, in fact, we don’t have a full understanding of the student or the situation. Especially in crisis, circumstances can change quickly, and we may not have considered the student or family’s perspective as the situation evolves. In such instances, our advocacy can come across as condescending, paternalistic, and/ or disrespectful, as we may have assumed a position of superiority over our students, their families or communities. Thus, it is critical that we are constantly aware of racial, cultural, religious, and class differences when acting as an advocate for our students, their families and communities.

We must be avid and respectful listeners in our work as advocates. Even in the most challenging situations, such as a student who is being abused or bullied, or a family that is homeless and whose child is struggling in school, we must always listen first. What do they want for themselves? For their child? How can you help them take steps towards that end?

Sometimes, our most powerful role can be facilitating a student or a family to connect with those more expert resources—a social worker, after-school programs, college-preparatory support. And if you don’t know, reach out and ask! Every school has seasoned and skilled educators who know the network and the local context. Seek out their support and/ or connect your students and families to those in the know. Does the student and/ or family know their rights? Do they know what they are entitled to receive with regards to support? Are there resources, within and outside of the school, that can be helpful to the student or family?

But most importantly, listen first and work responsively to support your students and their families.

We must ensure that the ways in which we advocate lead toward reciprocal transformation, that is, it opens new opportunities of engaging with self and society. Our modes of advocacy can surely take up different forms, however we must adopt a participatory and dialogic ethos when doing so. Advocacy can be construed as a critical care practice that is not merely an intellectual pursuit, but an active one that reckons with disruptive logics to redress inequities.

Advocating for equity

Advocacy hearkens back to taking a critical inquiry stance. Advocacy is about taking responsibility and being accountable for our practice and the material effects of our practice on our students and in our immediate professional context. Advocacy can have many dimensions and can take many forms, for instance political advocacy, academic advocacy, or racial advocacy. Being an advocate does not mean we must be a brazen activist, but it does entail developing our own form of activism that is mediated by a sociopolitical consciousness, addresses injustices, and supports the welfare, interests, and success of our students.

Being an advocate is continually expanding the opportunities to learn from our students, families, and communities. To be an effective advocate, we must be attentive to our role and the how our role affects the spaces we enter. As mentioned previously, it is important to listen intently to cultural mediators and not impose ourselves if spaces are meant to serve certain purposes. Establishing sustaining relationships with community organizations working with youth can be a great way to learn about opportunities to better reach and respond to our students. Additionally, being an advocate entails seeking opportunities to learn more about the complex context of schooling and how institutional racism is endemic and still shapes policies and practices.

When advocating for students, it is important to ask: For whom am I advocating? For what purposes am I advocating? How do I gauge my effectiveness of advocating? What are the limits to advocating and the problem of speaking for others? Being an advocate requires time, commitment, and patience. However, when our experiences to advocate accumulate, we will be able to reflect on this “wisdom of practice” (Shulman, 2004) and refine practices that are useful, relevant, and contextual for students.