Written by Amber D. Dodd
Photo: Jamela Joseph\Howard\YouTube
If all teachers are coerced in America’s education system, the problems that precede the current teacher crisis are complex for those vulnerable to this country’s history of discrimination. It will be.
Connecting the dots may seem far-fetched, but Jamela Joseph (above), a second-year doctoral student in the Howard University School of Education’s Doctor of Education program, has learned from colonial-era slave laws. It draws a direct line to the treatment of black female teachers today. , she defined this concept as “American K-12 Parasite Syndrome (APS).”
During Howard Research Month in April, Joseph shared research identifying the types of harmful systems that impact the experiences of Black teachers. “In terms of indoctrination and surveillance and conditioning, I saw a lot of the adjustments that happened in the colonial era and how those same adaptations were similarly tailored and packaged,” she said. .
Joseph’s American K-12 Parasitic Syndrome Identification
Joseph focuses his research on four similar aspects: the denial of personhood, bodily autonomy, labor exploitation, and violence and punishment. In his research, Joseph created a comparative analysis of policy and practice that created a definition of “American K-12 Parasite Syndrome (APS).”
“The American K-12 education system has taken on the form and function of a parasite, reinforced by the policies and practices of the American education system that profit from the exploitation and unpaid labor of teachers; Mental and emotional harm is caused, energy, passion, and motivation for education within the American system.”Read more…
