Spiritual Leaders Care

Jeanetta Williams, Utah NAACP president, has a radio show on a KCPW, a public radio station. On one of her programs about a year ago she had some minority guests talking about education. At the time I was teaching a multicultural class at BYU (Brigham Young University). I called into the show and asked what they felt was the most important thing I could tell my students they needed to do to make a difference for diverse students. Overwhelming the answer was: CARE.

Hector Montenegro reinforced this principle at the recent UABE Conference when he stressed the importance that the #1 characteristic of an effective education leader is love for children---for ALL children. All includes those children who are poor, who don't speak English, who are from a different ethnic background, who have learning challenges, and even those who are belligerent.

That word ALL is even more critical when we consider the fact that our diverse student population is exploding while the diverse educator population is declining. The majority of those entering the education field are white middle class females. We obviously need to address this scenario, but while it is being addressed, all teachers, including white middle class, must have this #1 important characteristic--the ability to CARE for ALL children....OR they need to be strongly encouraged to leave the education field.

To CARE does not mean to feel sorry for the children. In fact, it means quite the opposite--which will be addressed in another blog.