Bronwyn
Harris


Bronwyn is a writer, editor, teacher and tutor in California, and the author of Literally Unbelievable: Stories from an East Oakland Classroom. She is a veteran of the Oakland Unified School District, where she was an elementary classroom teacher and passionate advocate for her students and their families. You can find more information about Harris and her work at bronwynharrisauthor.com.

Articles by Bronwyn

Labeling Black Male Students “Angry”

A white educator shares her journey with understanding implicit racial bias in teaching.

A Teacher Who Looks Like Me

A white educator reflects on this reality: Most teachers in the United States are white, which means that many children of color don’t have academic role models who look like them.

Violent Truth Is Much Scarier Than Simulation

An active shooter training video produced in southern California leaves one teacher feeling offended and traumatized.

Partners in Grief

In Oakland, Calif., there are a lot of homicides especially for a fairly small city of about 400,000 people. Last July, there were seven homicides in seven days. Victims ranged in age from 15 to 84. Six of them occurred near the school where I taught. One was a friend of many of my former students and a cousin of a little girl I mentor.

Conversations Move Us Beyond Bias

I recently confronted my prejudices. After teaching for many years in a low-income, high-violence area of Oakland, Calif., I decided to do some private tutoring. I sought to avoid the stress of politics in the district and the uncertainty of having a new principal every year for over eight years. Although I had outlasted all of the teachers I had started working with, I felt guilty because this was the population I wanted to serve.