Liz Kleinrock: How to teach kids to talk about taboo topics
Liz Kleinrock: Cómo enseñar a los niños a hablar de temas tabú
Liz Kleinrock creates curricular content for K-12 students around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
with my fourth-graders.
con mis estudiantes de 4º grado.
una nueva unidad,
list everything they know about it,
haciendo una lista con lo que saben
that every teacher has nightmares about.
todo profesor tiene pesadillas.
had just asked the question,
de hacer la pregunta:
because their skin is the color of poop."
porque su piel es del color de la caca".
my entire class exploded.
la clase entera estalló.
no puedes decir eso, es racista!".
that's racist!"
to freeze this scene in your mind.
esta escena en su mente.
of nine- and ten-year-olds,
Abby has said something wildly funny,
es algo muy divertido
for saying something offensive.
algo ofensivo.
sitting there completely bewildered
completamente perpleja
understand the weight of what she said
el peso de lo que había dicho
reaccionaban de esa manera.
like, about to have a panic attack.
tener un ataque de pánico.
decisions all the time.
todo el tiempo.
pero ¿cómo?
and reprimanding her for her words.
y reprendiéndola por sus palabras.
for another subject,
off the word "poop."
de la palabra "caca".
is often not the easy thing to do.
es a menudo lo más difícil de hacer.
this moment to be over,
este momento terminara,
would help me escape the situation,
me ayudarían a escapar de la situación,
of a teachable moment to miss.
aprendizaje muy importante.
for what felt like an eternity,
lo que sentí una eternidad,
to face my class, and I said,
para enfrentar a la clase, y dije:
looked at each other, all confused.
unos a otros, confundidos.
have looked at people with dark skin
miraron a personas de piel oscura
as an excuse to dehumanize them.
como excusa para deshumanizarlos.
about race and racism in the first place
sobre raza y racismo en primer lugar
why comments like this are hurtful,
estos comentarios son hirientes,
that people with dark skin
con piel oscura
with respect and kindness."
con respeto y amabilidad".
teachable moment.
realmente aterrador.
in the conversation,
en la conversación
and the rest of the kids
como el resto de los chicos,
really marinate with my students,
calando en mis estudiantes,
have assumptions just like Abby.
estudiantes tienen prejuicios como Abby.
go unnoticed and unaddressed,
pasan desapercibidos y sin abordar
to take a step back
dar un paso atrás
convierte algo en tema tabú.
what makes a topic taboo.
an official list of things
una lista oficial de cosas
over and over, growing up:
at family get-togethers.
en reuniones familiares.
are religion and politics.
la religión y la política.
often are such huge influencing factors
son grandes factores de influencia
identities and beliefs.
identidades y creencias.
when these things come up in conversation.
que surge al conversar sobre estas cosas.
in the language of equity,
fluidas en el lenguaje de la igualdad,
no ser políticamente correctas
as soon as they open their mouths.
tan pronto como abran la boca.
towards holding conversations
para mantener conversaciones
with destigmatizing topics
around race, for example,
sobre la raza, por ejemplo,
fluidamente este lenguaje
to be fluent in this language
sentirse libres y cómodos
free and comfortable
feel that sense of security.
los estudiantes sienten esa seguridad.
in front of my fourth-graders
could actually have life-long implications
tener implicaciones de por vida
of the students in my class.
de estudiantes en mi clase.
that this type of comment is acceptable.
que este tipo de comentarios es aceptable.
in front of all of her friends,
delante de sus amigos,
of her first conversations on race
a su primera conversación sobre la raza
from ever engaging on that topic again.
en ese tema nuevamente.
is not teaching them what to think.
las escuelas no es enseñarles qué pensar.
and strategies and language
estrategias y lenguaje
to practice how to think.
cómo pensar.
how we teach kids how to read.
enseñamos a los niños a leer.
into letters and sounds
las palabras en letras y sonidos
their fluency by reading every single day,
su fluidez leyendo cada día,
lots of comprehension questions
preguntas de comprensión
entendiendo lo qué están leyendo.
understanding what they're reading.
kids about equity
sobre la igualdad
in the exact same way.
a survey every year,
mis estudiantes una encuesta cada año,
around equity and inclusion.
sobre igualdad e inclusión.
from one of my kids,
de uno de mis niños,
there's some humor in here.
"¿Qué es 'race' [raza o carrera]?"
cars, people and animals
gente o animales
cuál es más rápido y cuál gana".
at her question, "What is racism?"
"¿Qué es el racismo?"
someone dark-skinned a mean name."
a alguien de piel oscura un nombre malo".
that she's beginning to understand.
que empieza a comprenderlo.
of having these conversations,
capaces de tener estas conversaciones
that these types of conversations
with our students,
para nuestros estudiantes,
first through fifth grades,
into a first-grade classroom
en la clase de primer grado
like mass incarceration.
como el encarcelamiento masivo.
can understand the difference
primer grado puede entender la diferencia
people getting what they need.
que tiene lo que necesita.
of these things in class together.
en clase juntos.
between fair and equal --
entre lo justo y lo igual...
en cumpleaños.
understand the difference
también entender la diferencia
are foundational concepts
conceptos fundamentales
in the United States.
that kindergarteners or first-graders
los niños de kínder o primer grado
conversations around racism,
conversaciones sobre racismo,
niños pequeños
many different components
componentes diferentes
similares y diferentes,
when other people don't.
hay otros que no lo tienen.
with students at a young age,
con estudiantes jóvenes,
some of that taboo feeling
sentimiento de tabú
una edad posterior.
about these things in schools
cosas en las escuelas
un campo de minas.
if parents or families
padres o familias
these conversations in schools?
conversaciones en las escuelas?
that students have said to me
que los estudiantes me han dicho
and whisper to me,
que vino y me susurró:
use the term LGBTQ,
usar el término LGTBQ,
and I'm too embarrassed to admit it."
mucha vergüenza admitirlo".
and come up to me and say,
fin de semana y me dijo:
this movie about Australia,
esta película sobre Australia,
if they have racism there, too."
racismo allí también".
comfortable having these conversations
estén cómodos con estas conversaciones
talking about it and asking questions,
sobre ello y haciendo preguntas,
their own lives and experiences
la llevan a sus vidas y experiencias
estos grandes temas.
kind of nervous
podrían sentirse incómodos
or asks a question
o hace una pregunta
something to my attention
soy una experta en algo
to be an expert in something
o en lo que no soy una autoridad.
or I'm not an authority on.
tuve un estudiante que vino
about the LGBTQ community.
la comunidad LGBTQ.
to give them an appropriate answer.
darle una respuesta adecuada.
to a representative of a nonprofit
un representante de una organización
about that very same issue.
nuestra clase sobre el mismo tema.
that we don't have all the answers,
no tener todas las respuestas
un largo camino por delante, también,
have a long way to go, too,
about issues of equity.
temas de igualdad.
I wrote a lesson about consent.
sobre consentimiento.
this was very exciting
that seemed very taboo and scary
parecía muy tabú y aterrador
that was accessible for young learners.
para los estudiantes jóvenes.
is so strongly tied to sex,
fuertemente ligada al sexo,
a taboo subject,
considerado un tema tabú,
physical boundaries
diferentes límites físicos
intelligence it takes
y emocional que conlleva
and tone and body language
su tono y lenguaje corporal
enseñadas explícitamente,
to be explicitly taught,
like reading and math.
for students of one single demographic.
estudiantes de un solo grupo demográfico.
and making observations
hacer observaciones
of any race or ethnicity
de cualquier raza o etnia
or zip code should be learning in schools.
postal, debería aprender en la escuela.
of these conversations
estas conversaciones
when their textbooks
profesores, sus libros de texto
of people like women or people of color.
de mujeres o gente de color.
a mi clase de tercer grado
who think they're too young
piensan que son muy jóvenes
of my 25 students,
de mis 25 estudiantes,
of having these conversations,
tener estas conversaciones,
as a right and not as a privilege.
como un derecho y no un privilegio.
para saber sobre esas cosas
to know about these things
are happening where we live.
pasando donde vivimos.
in the future."
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Liz Kleinrock - EducatorLiz Kleinrock creates curricular content for K-12 students around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Why you should listen
Liz Kleinrock specializes in creating engaging and accessible units of study for all ages of learners. She began her career in education as an AmeriCorps volunteer teacher in Oakland, California in 2009, and she has since served as both a classroom educator and diversity coordinator in Los Angeles, California. She also works with schools and districts throughout the United States to develop workshops and trainings that support culturally responsive practices that fit the needs of specific communities.
Kleinrock's teaching practice gained national attention in 2017 after her classroom became the subject of a documentary short produced by Fluid Film. In 2018, she received the Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Teaching, and her lessons on teaching consent and personal boundaries to students have gained international attention through media outlets such as CNN, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post and NPR. Kleinrock has published articles with Heinemann Publishing and Teaching Tolerance on destigmatizing privilege, trauma-informed teaching and cultivating relationships with students and families. She is writing her first book.
Liz Kleinrock | Speaker | TED.com