Essential Question: How will you develop your identity as an anti-racist, humanizing teacher working for social justice?
Artifact 1
Educator Self-Portrait
Artist Statement
Ms. M is a freckly teacher with slightly rosy cheeks and eyes that arc like rainbows when she smiles. Her roots extend deep into the PNW ground. Born and raised in Seattle, she grew up on a street in the Wallingford neighborhood called “Sunnyside”, and she carries that name in her heart, seeking out the sunny side in all her endeavors. She was raised in Catholic schools, the only daughter of a dad who left the church because he believed Religion led to suffering in the world, and a mom who converted to Catholicism then cantored Sunday mass for most of Ms. M’s formative years. Influenced by her parents’ vastly different views on faith, Ms. M became adept at planting one foot in tradition and one foot in polite rebellion. She is both idealistic and cynical, faithful and changeable. In her eyes, one can see shades of forest green, specks of burnt orange, hazel-hued wonder, and an indomitable spirit inherited from a long line of strong and unapologetic women.
In the classroom, she is calm and easygoing. She takes things in stride. Her classroom is a safe space for students to be completely, authentically themselves. She prides herself on seeing the unique gifts and boundless potential of every student. Ms. M is deeply influenced by the work of Dr. Gholdy Muhammad who outlined five pursuits in education: identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and joy. Ms. M believes in the importance of growing all five of these pursuits within her classroom by creating a new set of window panes through which students can understand themselves and the world. Ms. M is ready to tear-up outdated curricula and practices and forge a new way that better serves the needs of each of her students. She believes that developing socially conscious communities in education is the path to justice.
In this self-portrait, Ms. M is seen smiling serenely with laugh lines etched in her face. She is calm and self-assured. She sits on a mountain of torn-up curricula that she discarded from her classroom. Next to her head, a quartet of stained-glass window panes depict symbols that represent her identity as an educator. In the upper left corner, the Space Needle, mountains, and leaves from a tree, highlight the place where she is from. In the upper right corner, a cross symbolizes her Catholic identity with a nod to the red and white colors of the Jesuit college where she is getting her Masters in Education. In the lower left corner, a book sits open with beams of radiant rainbow light emanating from the pages to symbolize her love and support of her LGBTQIA+ students. In the lower right corner, a raised hand shaded in multiple skin tones symbolizes her love and support of her BIPOC students. Inspired by the words of Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, “we have been watering some children’s futures and not others”, and in homage to her rainy Seattle roots, a series of raindrops depicting words important to her educational journey (joy, unearth, love, uplift, identity, genius, question, action) fall across the page and water a flower blossoming into the five pursuits. Notably, the colors used to depict Ms. M are mostly muted, and the torn pages of curricula are in black and white. All other elements are in bright pops of color to show that Ms. M finds vitality and joy in her students and in the diverse perspectives, narratives, and histories she brings to her lessons. She is dedicated to putting her students’ genius at the heart of her work.
AI Use Disclosure
Night Cafe and Open Art were used to help with ideas for what stained glass windows, similar to those found in Catholic churches, might look like with contemporary symbols. AI was prompted to create an image with the Space Needle, an image with a cross, an image with a book, and an image with a hand. The ideas for what symbols to use, the color scheme, and all other artistic elements were of the artist’s own devising.
References
Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. Scholastic.
OpenAI. (n.d.). Night Cafe [Large text-to-image model]. Create Somethihttps://creator.nightcafe.studio/studio?open=creation&panelContext=%28jobId%3AT5T7cJ9PAR0p6pSOFIdc%2Coutput%3A%2Fjobs%2FT5T7cJ9PAR0p6pSOFIdc%2FT5T7cJ9PAR0p6pSOFIdc–1–4eeaq.jpg%29ng Amazing – NightCafe Creator
Meghann McDonald 
