Coaching Out a Teacher’s Savior Mentality
“You cannot fix a problem until, and unless, you can see it.” - Isabel Wilkerson
Comments that surface a teacher’s savior mentality come up from time to time in coaching meetings, and it can be challenging as a coach to know how to respond. I’ve never had any coach training that helped me think through what a helpful response would look like, so here I’ll share how I think about addressing a savior mentality in coaching.
A savior mentality (rooted in a white savior mentality, but possibly held by people of any racial/ethnic background because of its ubiquity in our culture) positions oneself as rescuing typically non-white students from their circumstances, their communities, or themselves. Unfortunately, most teachers with a savior mentality have positive intentions of wanting to “help” students who are less well-off, but the effect is that teachers end up creating dependent learners, or lower their expectations of students, or perpetuate racist narratives about students and their communities, or increase their chances of conflict with students in the classroom. (If this concept is new to you, check out the article The White-Savior Industrial Complex or explore the white savior trope in film.)
And while a teacher’s intentions may be good, the impacts of a savior mentality are harmful for students. As such, instructional leaders have a responsibility to address it.
4 tools for instructional leaders to address a teacher’s savior mentality
We have to do the work ourselves as coaches. Before supporting teachers in challenging and changing their (white) savior mentality, coaches and leaders have to engage in the internal and cooperative work of reflecting on where we support narratives to kids needing to be saved by our work. This work should be done both personally and on the organization level. Unpack how whiteness and class impact the decisions you make as a school leader. Since Western and white cultures tend to be highly individual, and many students of color come from more collectivist cultures, reflect on how that dynamic may create a savior mentality in your thinking. Consider reflecting on these questions:
Where do (or have) you use language that has a deficit-lens of students, especially of students of color? This might include language like:
“If they just had a chance to get out of their community, they’d be better off”
“These students don’t work hard enough to improve their grades, their life circumstances, etc.” or “students are lazy”
Or just the phrase “these students” in general
Why have I developed a deficit-oriented thinking in certain areas? What is the root of this thinking?
How can I practice seeing and naming a white savior complex in my everyday life (in school, in media, in movies, etc.)?
Practice seeing it, reflect on where that mentality has invaded your own thinking
Where do I fall on the individualism/collectivism scale? Where do the majority of the students in my school fall, and how do I know? How does this dynamic impact my work as an instructional leader?
This quote from Gholdy Muhammad is a good one to discuss: “This ideal of collectivism is in direct conflict with schools today, as schools are largely grounded in competition and individualism. This is perhaps one major reason why students of color often do not reach their full potential in schools - because schools are in disharmony with their histories and identities.”
When we see/hear a savior mentality, we have to address it. This is the hard work. As coaches, we worry a lot about keeping a strong rapport with our teachers. But just like with students, we can hold the highest expectations of our teachers. With your support, when teachers say or do something that demonstrates a savior mentality, they can grow and do better. Of course, we don’t want to respond with “Don’t say that,” since all conversation will end there. Instead, make a plan for how you’ll respond when you hear a savior mentality in your coaching conversations. I’ve found these phrases and questions to be helpful, starting with exploring the teacher’s thinking more in depth first:
Go deeper: “Tell me more.”
Name the saviorism: “When I hear you say X, it comes across as Y (a savior mentality).”
Explore impact: “What could be the impact on students when we think this way as teachers?”
Imagine a different way of thinking: “Let’s consider a different framing.” “What if we assumed that instead of students being lazy, that students want to be successful? What if instead of blaming the students, we look at where the system isn’t working well for students?”
Encourage further teacher self-examination and growth on the topic. After we’ve named and discussed an action or comment as coming from a savior mentality with a teacher, we want to make sure to follow-up. In that same conversation, teachers may be excited to learn more and coaches can give support around going deeper right away. For other teachers, they may need some time to reflect on their own before being open to continue the discussion or private learning. And for even others, they may never want to address the issue with you again. You can’t control that, but at least you set a clear ground as an instructional leader that a savior mentality is destructive and will be addressed in your building. For teachers who are open to further learning, consider sharing:
Teachers can reflect on where they and their students fall on the collectivist/individualist spectrum. Reading more from Zaretta Hammond’s post is a helpful starting point.
For a more scholarly article, teachers could read and discuss (with your or someone else) this article, “I Can’t Be Racist - I Teach in an Urban School, and I’m a Nice White Lady!” There’s plenty of helpful information to discuss, even for teachers who don’t identify as white ladies.
Teachers could read one of the suggested books below and dialogue with someone about what they read.
Whatever path forward you choose, make sure to take time to follow-up on the conversation about a savior mentality in a future coaching meeting.
Set and act on a vision of student brilliance. In their book Street Data, Shane Safir and Jamila Dugan write, “We have retained a vision of what is possible when we build classrooms and schools and systems around students’ brilliance, cultural wealth, and intellectual potential rather than self-serving savior narratives that have us ‘fixing’ and ‘filling’ academic gaps.” Yes! This is the vision we can build with teachers we support. The important part is not only growing the vision of student brilliance over students that need ‘fixing,’ but also acting on it. Consider:
How can your coaching meetings with all teachers build a vision of student brilliance?
How can you meet each teacher where they are at and support their growth of acting out a belief in student brilliance in their classrooms?
Because of how deeply intertwined in American history and thinking the white savior mentality is, the work of addressing and challenging the savior mentality is an on-going process. Let’s continue the work together, inspired by the words of activist Lilla Watson, “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”