NENC/America Amplified Special: Lessons Lost: The Struggle To Talk About Race In Some New England Classrooms

By Morgan Springer, Vanessa de la TorreOctober 8, 2020

Teacher Mugabo Thierry Uwilingiyimana sits for a portrait at his remote teaching desk at home in Burlington, Vermont. (Elodie Reed/Vermont Public Radio)
One of Mugabo Thierry Uwilingiyimana's lesson plans, based off Robin Wall Kimmerer's book "Braiding Sweetgrass." Uwilingiyimana is licensed a science educator, and he says he likes to bring an integrated approach to the classroom. (Elodie Reed/Vermont Public Radio)
Mugabo Thierry Uwilingiyimana and his dog, Zoey, stand for a portrait in Red Rocks Park, just down the road from his house.(Elodie Reed/Vermont Public Radio)

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What we don’t learn in school can matter as much as the lessons we do learn. This week on NEXT, we talk to teachers and students about the harm of omitting stories and cultures from curricula — and how we can do better. It’s the final show in a special series on “Racism in New England,” produced by the New England News Collaborative and America Amplified.

Guests:

Derek Johnson, an elementary literacy coach who recently left Springfield School District in Vermont.

Adaeze Okorie and Grace Landry, co-founders of New Hampshire for Anti-Racist Education. The group’s mission is to understand and undo the effects of systemic racism in the state’s education system. Okorie and Landry attended public school in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Mugabo Thierry Uwilingiyimana, sixth-grade math and science teacher in the Winooski School District in Vermont.

Fiona Hopper, social studies teacher leader and coordinator of Wabanaki studies in Maine’s Portland Public Schools. She is beginning work on an Africana studies curriculum in the district.

NEXT Wants To Hear From You … On The Election:

Our regular NEXT programming is back next week with host Morgan Springer. And with Election Day less than a month away, we’d like to hear from you.

What issues are motivating you to vote in the general election?

Leave a voicemail on our comment line: 860-275-7595. Or send us an email at next@ctpublic.org. Your comments may be featured on our show.

Credits:

Hosts: Peter Biello of New Hampshire Public Radio and Traci Griffith
Coordinating Producer: Morgan Springer
Producers: Jane Vaughan of New Hampshire Public Radio, Lydia Brown of Vermont Public Radio and Daniela Luna.
Executive Producer: John Dankosky of America Amplified
Executive Editor: Vanessa de la Torre
Music: “TracPhone,” “The Samo,” “Stay Down,” and “One Call Away” by Latrell James.

Additional support: Connecticut Public, New England Public Media, Vermont Public Radio, Maine Public Radio, New Hampshire Public Radio and CAI Cape and Islands. America Amplified and the New England News Collaborative are funded, in part, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.