Welcome to the Cultural Curriculum Chat, Jebeh Edmunds here, and I’m sharing my impactful conversation with Mrs. Nita Creekmore. Nita is an instructional coach who resides just outside Atlanta, Georgia. She has been in education for 18 years with a Bachelor’s in English Master’s in Elementary Education and is an educational specialist in supervision and leadership. Nita believes that relationships always come first and building relationships is foundational. She also believes in the importance of self-care and diverse reading habits, allowing students of all ages and backgrounds to transform the world. I am so excited to share this transformational chat with you all!
Nita’s Background in Multicultural Education
Before Nita began her teaching, as a student teacher, she collected a lot of books and at that time, multicultural education was only taught through learning history, but Nita believes that books are the gateway to helping us learn things. She read a book on dance by Debbie Allen and began to look at children’s books and literature critically. As her career went on, she began to want to learn about her students’ identities more, where they came from, and to value and celebrate them, which in turn, became a habit.
Nita’s Take on the Current State of the System
Even now, Nita notes that there is still a lot of work to be done in multicultural education. She says that educators must understand that “it’s not just something we add onto the plate; this is the plate. It’s the thread, it’s the threat that builds our kids’ confidence.”
Nita also noticed how especially in Georgia, teaching about colonialism, dressing up the part, colonial outfits and hats and aprons, but there are still under or non-represented cultures; what about Native and Indigenous People? What was happening at that time, where were your people and ancestors at this time? Schools aren’t teaching the voices of everyone, educators are still teaching the majorities rather than the minorities of these periods. And this is where literature is the key, literature is the connection from kids to other cultures and other worlds, teaching them how to be empathetic human beings.
The Role of Teachers
Nita says that teachers have to get out of their comfort zone. Educators need to ask their kids the question, ‘Whose voices aren’t heard?’ despite how uncomfortable it may be. Educators are just as responsible for bringing up these issues as kids, who rely on educators like us to bring these topics to them and ask them, ‘How do you feel about this? Why is there no representation here?’
Nita says that teachers should also be in a constant state of learning, learning about new cultures and new worlds to bring back to their students and impact students and communities alike. That is where everyone becomes threaded and together in multiculturalism. When we thrive, our students thrive.
Nita also shares with us her brand, Love, Teach, Bless, with a tagline that says Inspired Educators Inspire Educators. She shares with us that after 13 years of teaching, she began sharing the things that inspired her. The tagline comes from a community standpoint, as sometimes in a journey when your spark goes dim, who is there but your community to keep that fire going?
Nita’s Book Recommendations
Literacy is Liberation: Working Toward Justice Through Culturally Relevant Teaching by Kimberly Parker discusses working toward justice through culturally relevant teaching.
Street Data: A Next-Generation Model for Equity, Pedagogy, and School Transformation by Shane Safir and Jamila Dugan which makes you reimagine how you take data and what data you take for your students and the book centers equity. Nita says she chose these books because when educators are taking data and assessing tests, they are looking at it through a singular lens. When it comes to multicultural education, it needs to be looked at through a multicultural lens to obtain multicultural data.
If you want to learn more about Nita, follow her and her brand on Instagram at Love, Teach, Bless.
Thank you so much for listening to this installment of the Cultural Curriculum Chat. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, subscribe to my YouTube channel at Mrs. Edmunds’ Cultural Corner for more podcasts, videos, and other multicultural and educational content.
See you next time!
You can find more information about Nita Creekmore below:
https://love-teach-bless.com/
Nita Creekmore on Instagram @loveteachbless
