Segregation in American schools:
Understanding What we don't see.
Hindsight is 20/20. We now realize that segregation was wrong, and are surprised how obvious and long it took to change. Just recently in our history, we denied access to education based on race, gender, or learning disability. Rulings like 1954 Brown v. Board of Education and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 changed that, advancing equal access for all children in public education. However, while legal segregation was dismantled, systemic segregation persisted.
So, are we as blind to our actions as those who came before us, and will future generations look back and think the same about us?
Looking at the evolution of public education.
Public education in America was not always racially segregated by law. At its conception, known as the Common School Movement (1800s), the common school was intended to provide free, tax-supported public schooling for all children. This was the beginning of public education; however, access for all children varied, and later legal segregation within schools became more common. For Indigenous students, the Indian Reorganization Act (1934), the Indian Education Act (1972), and the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (1975) slowly changed legal segregation and assimilation policies. With additional ongoing amendments over the years and our best intentions moving forward, the education system adopted a colorblind philosophy in an attempt to avoid emphasizing racial discrimination and began treating all students equally. This was our first attempt at equity. With our new blinders on, we pushed forward; however, segregation can take many forms.
At its core, it is an attempt to categorize, and categorization is a powerful learning tool, but when does categorization become segregation?
Segregation vs. Categorization
Categorization
·What it is: A neutral or even useful process of grouping things, people, or concepts based on shared characteristics as a way to learn based on categorization.
· Purpose: To make sense of complexity, aid decision-making, or organize information (e.g., categorizing books by genre).
· Example: Grouping students by learning style to tailor education.
Segregation
· What it is: A specific kind of categorization that enforces separation, often with unequal treatment or limited access based on group membership.
· Purpose: maintain power, imbalances, or exclude access.
· Example: allocating “a culture” to its own space within a school with limited access or unequal treatment creates segregation.
Segregation is an act of categorization, but with segregation, what doesn’t fit gets pushed out. We often think of segregation solely in terms of the segregation of race or gender. However, at its core, it is separation based on ideas, ideas about ourselves, “who we are,” and the stories that shape us. These stories reflect the values, beliefs, and behaviors that hold a people or nation together, and thus, make us different; our culture. So, beyond what we think is obvious, “race,” do we segregate based on ideas?
Now that we have a framework of the difference, let’s assess.
One of the least obvious of the five examples of systemic segregation in education is a lack of diverse curricula. Even with our culture-based classes, what would it take for us to understand it to be systemically segregated?
Examples of systemic segregation are:
Latino culture, Black history, or Indigenous knowledge is only taught in elective classes, or during heritage months, or in one classroom led by a single teacher...
And students from other classrooms, grades, or tracks don’t have access to that content regularly...
Then that culture is being treated as separate or marginal, not as a valued, integrated part of the school’s broader educational curriculum.
With the absence of Indigenous culture represented in our other subject areas, we create limited access, separation, and thus, marginalization. Whether intentional or not, limiting the representation of culture in other classes creates systemic segregation and impacts our students’ academic performance. Culture can be understood as the lens through which our students see and make sense of the world. It is an important learning tool used to process new information; with its absence, we not only take away the tools our students need to process information, but we also impact our students' understanding of self-worth within academic subject matters.
Self-worth and academic success.
Our students are no different than other students in the sense that our students fall in the vast population’s IQ majority. So, if the majority of our students, upon graduation, are smart enough to obtain careers in teaching, management, or administration, meaning good jobs with benefits, why do we see so many ending up in lower-level service jobs? Sure, there are a lot of factors at play, and it’s good to slowly identify each and develop targets to address each one, but one area that is very important and often overlooked is the perception of oneself.
Who you are and how people view you within learning spaces impact student perception of what they are capable of. With the lasting impact of assimilation, and what Native students often hear about their culture in educational settings, if we too segregate culture within schools, we further impact our students’ perception of worth, not just in our classes, but outside of school as well.
As a school district and teacher, knowing these factors, what can we do to address them?
Teacher toolbox
1. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP)
Adapt curriculum content to reflect the histories, texts, values, and perspectives of diverse cultural groups.
Affirm students' identities by allowing them to see themselves reflected in the materials.
Encourage code-switching and value students' home languages and dialects.
2. Place-Based and Land-Based Learning
Use the local geography, community knowledge, and indigenous connections to land as sources of learning.
Invite elders or cultural practitioners to share local history, practices, or ecological knowledge.
3. Funds of Knowledge
Recognize and build upon the skills and knowledge students bring from their homes and communities.
Create assignments that connect school subjects to students' lived experiences, such as cooking, farming, music, or oral storytelling.
4. Storytelling as Method
Use narrative-based approaches to teaching and learning.
Honor oral traditions, particularly in Indigenous and other non-Western epistemologies, as valid and rigorous.
5. Inclusive Assessment
Move beyond standardized testing to include performative, visual, and oral assessments that align with diverse cultural expressions.
Allow students to demonstrate learning in ways meaningful to their cultural background.
6. Relational Teaching and Community-Building
Emphasize relationships, trust, and interdependence in the classroom.
Use restorative practices and collaborative norms that reflect communal rather than individualistic values.
7. Cultural Protocols and Respect
Integrate cultural protocols into classroom routines (e.g., opening a session with an acknowledgment of country or territory).
Show respect for sacred objects, stories, and knowledge systems, especially when teaching about Indigenous or spiritual content.
8. Language Revitalization and Integration
Support bilingual or multilingual learning that includes heritage or Indigenous languages.
Incorporate proverbs, idioms, and cultural metaphors to deepen understanding and cultural connection.
9. Collaborative Curriculum Design
Involve families, elders, and community leaders in curriculum development.
Co-create learning outcomes with students that reflect their cultural aspirations and values.
10. Critical Consciousness and Cultural Justice
Facilitate discussions on colonialism, systemic inequality, and cultural erasure.
Encourage students to critique dominant narratives and explore alternative worldviews. There is no one true way to go about building a Substack. This is your playground; experiment with it. If you’re having fun, your readers will too.