Roberto Germán [00:00:01]:
Welcome to Our Classroom. In this space we talk about education, which is inclusive of but not limited to what happens in schools. Education is taking place whenever and wherever we are willing to learn. I am your host, Roberto Germán, and our classroom is officially in session. Welcome back to our classroom. Good to be back with you. After being busy doing four schools in six days in Massachusetts, writing workshops, professional development, parent workshops. Then I came back and was sick with the flu.
Roberto Germán [00:00:46]:
I thought I got over it a couple days later, still battling. So pardon that I've been gone. But today I want to start with a moment. Not a solution, not a strategy, but a moment. Recently, during one of our teaching and truth masterclasses, the room went quiet. Not because people had nothing to say, but because what was said landed heavy. An immigration lawyer named Beth asked a question that many educators are holding right now, often silently. What do we tell families who are afraid to send their children to school? And that question has stayed with me.
Roberto Germán [00:01:30]:
And today's episode is really about sitting with it. Beth shared that some of her clients, parents without documentation, were keeping their children home. In some cases, teenagers were being pulled out of school entirely and sent to work instead. Not be it because education didn't matter to them, but because safety suddenly felt uncertain. That moment clarified something important for me. This isn't a technical problem. It's a human one. Across the country, educators are teaching in the middle of legislative shifts, immigration enforcement fears, censorship, and rising emotional distress among students.
Roberto Germán [00:02:27]:
For many families, especially immigrant families and families of color, school no longer feels like a guaranteed place of protection. And when that happens, the usual scripts stop working. And one of the things Lord Endicott returning to in the masterclass was this. Educational inequities are not accidental. They are not evenly distributed. From the criminalization of literacy for enslaved Africans to English only policies targeting multilingual learners, to the weaponization of the so called model minority myth. Schooling in this country has always been shaped by race and power. So when educators say, I just want to stay neutral, we have to be honest about what neutrality often does.
Roberto Germán [00:03:29]:
Neutrality doesn't remove harm, it usually reinforces it. Teaching the truth means holding two realities at the same time. We believe in education and we recognize how schooling has failed many communities. That tension isn't a flaw, it's the work. Another through line from that session was this. Educators are not meant to do this alone. Over and over, people shared that it was. Well, they said that it wasn't workload that pushed them closest to leaving the profession.
Roberto Germán [00:04:11]:
It was isolation. And just as consistently, they shared that community changed everything. But we also named an important distinction. Being around people is not the same as being in community. Venting is not the same as growing. Affirmation without challenge is not supported. What educators are craving right now is a place to think clearly together, especially when the stakes feel high. Makes me think about the De La Soul song.
Roberto Germán [00:04:45]:
You know the stakes is high, right? Vibrations. Anyways, best question never resolved neatly. And that's actually the point. Teaching the truth doesn't mean having the the perfect script. It means listening deeply, building trust with families, communicating proactively, understanding legal and ethical boundaries, making decisions rooted in care, not fear. It also means having people you can turn to and ask, what would you do here? What am I missing? How do I stay human in this moment? That kind of reflection doesn't happen in isolation. It doesn't happen in one off workshops. Near the end of the masterclass, the conversation shifted not to answers, but to sustainability.
Roberto Germán [00:05:51]:
How do we keep showing up with integrity when the ground feels unstable? The answer wasn't a program. It wasn't a product. It was community with structure. Spaces where educators can workshop real scenarios, deepen culturally sustaining pedagogy, build shared language, and be held with both care and accountability. That's where growth actually happens. I want to say this gently and honestly. If you left that masterclass or this episode feeling affirmed and unsettled, if you're holding tension, you don't want to carry a loan. If you're committed to multicultural education but unsure how to move forward in this climate, you're not behind.
Roberto Germán [00:06:47]:
You're paying attention. Some educators from that session chose to stay connected through Multicultural Classroom Gold, not because. Not because they had everything figured out, but because they wanted a place to keep thinking, learning, and showing up with intention. And that's the spirit of the space. So if you're looking for community, not noise, not performative certainty, but real people asking better questions together, the door is open. Teaching truth. Lead with courage. Belong to a community that gets it.
Roberto Germán [00:07:32]:
Come through. Pull up. Learn more about My Classroom Gold. Check us out at multiculturalclassroom.com/Founding-Member no pressure, just an invitation. We are teaching in truth when the ground feels unstable and it's hard, but it's also deeply necessary. So thank you for being here. Thank you for staying human in your work. Wanted to keep this brief but still offer challenge and encouragement.
Roberto Germán [00:08:11]:
So until the next time, keep leading, keep loving, keep learning. As always, your engagement in Our Classroom is greatly appreciated. Be sure to subscribe, rate the show, and write a review. Finally, for resources to help you understand the intersection of race, bias, education and society, go to multiculturalclassroom.com Peace and love from your host, Roberto Herman.
