“What if we could get better at handling racially charged situations by breaking down our past encounters?”
That’s the question posed on “Truth Be Told” – a series of radio programs coming up Monday mornings at 11 a.m. in April, on KQED-FM, a local NPR affiliate here in the Bay Area. It sounds like a program worth knowing about, tuning in, or listening to later when its available online.
Based on the series’ description, and familiarity with KQED, PRI, and producer/host Joshua Johnson, I’d expect this program to be quite useful for teachers and students. The ability to have honest and productive conversations about race in the U.S. is essential to our future, and a vital skill for teachers who should aim to develop and continually improve their cultural competence and responsiveness. This program might also be suitable for older students to listen to on their own. Radio content is a great way to differentiate or enrich instruction for students who are old enough and mature enough to handle this content somewhat independently. Allowing students to listen on their own, outside of school, or in class using earphones, can be a great follow up to a reading or discussion, and for English language learners, the ability to pause and listen again can be quite helpful. You can use audio content with a full class of course, but in those cases, I recommend sticking to shorter clips rather than long programs.
They’re also soliciting stories to share, so check this page out as well.