I Am Still an Educator with Shalelia Dillard - The Exit Interview: A Podcast for Black Educators

Episode Description

Welcome to Episode 4 of the Exit Interview with Asia Lyons and Kevin Adams!

This week we hear Shalelia Dillard share her story. It is a similar refrain for Black educators who have experienced institutional alienation and rejection within the education system. We invite you to listen and take in her story of optimism, belief in schooling as an equalizer and in her own brilliance and talents to provide a quality education for children generally, only to see her confidence and professionalism come under attack by the same forces that permeate our system.

But, as we have seen during the life of this podcast, the process has been liberatory while still painful. Shalelia has discovered that most dangerous of discoveries: that it is possible to continue to be an educator without teaching in a school. She shares her inspirational path and reminds us of what it means to be not an industry artist, but an artist in the industry.

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More about The Exit Interview: A Podcast for Black Educators

Amidst all of the conversations about the recruitment of Black educators, where are the discussions about retention? The Exit Interview podcast was created to elevate the stories of Black educators who have been pushed out of the classroom, main or central office. The podcast asks guests to share their education journey, the "last straw" that made them decide to leave education, and, most importantly, what they are doing now that they have left the traditional education sphere.