I was beginning to ask the right questions

Abstract

Leslie Reich taught ninth-grade English at a school in Los Angeles after participating in Teach for America’s Summer Institute. Leslie attributes her social justice leanings to growing up in a family that emphasized public service. As a new teacher, she recognized that she needed to first learn the intricacies of the community in which her students lived and began to pursue diversity and inclusiveness learning. She asked questions of her students and their families, engaged in dialogue with her colleagues, and read as much as she could on issues related to diversity, inclusiveness, and culturally sustaining pedagogy.