Chapter 4: Hidden in Plain Sight: Life Lessons Taught by Gifted Black Girls to their White STEM Teachers

Thought leaders in education offer white educators who desire to be effective teachers of their Black students crucial advice: commit to becoming a student of your students (Ayers, 2004; Emdin, 2016; Michie, 2012). How does a teacher do this? In order to become a student of one’s students an educator must seek to understand students’ multifaceted identities and acknowledge their agency. Teachers must be willing to immerse themselves in students’ cultural backgrounds, educational histories, and future goals. A study of one’s students also necessitates a critical examination of the social contexts in which they learn: the classroom, schoolhouse and community (Ladson-Billings, 2011). In short, educators must allow students to become their teachers. This advice is especially important for teachers of Black female students gifted in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) whose brilliance and potential go unrecognized in many classrooms.