TRIBE

The Initiative for Educator and Learner Excellence

What is the T.R.I.B.E. Initiative?

The T.R.I.B.E. Initiative is an association of black and black-supportive educators, students, administrators, and community & business leaders who are committed to establishing educator and learner excellence.

What We Believe

We are a community of leader-learners and learner-leaders. We believe that teachers are our primary leader-learners, setting an example of continued learning through professional and personal development. Students are our primary learners who set examples for their grade-level and below grade-level peers by striving for community and personal excellence. In essence, all our leaders learn, and all our learners lead.

Our Primary Goal

We strive to provide our children with equitable opportunities to develop skills and achieve the content knowledge/skills and learning priorities that will position them to lead the world in innovation, education, faith, professionalism, governance, and wealth-building. In order to accomplish this goal, we commit to actions and policies that ensure learning cultures:

1. 1. promote creativity, innovation, and collaboration.
  2. develop the attitudes, beliefs, and skills needed for success.
  3. include structures that ensure learners develop positive relationships within the black community.

How We Demonstrate Our Commitment

We demonstrate our commitment to our community and our goals by positively impacting the Black Community in education through beliefs and practices that show a commitment to the five essential qualifiers of educational excellence in communities:

1. 1. powerful teaching,
  2. personal relationships,
  3. eternal investments,
  4. sincere belief, and
  5. communal elevation and development.

Each of these elements is described in greater detail below.

Commit to Improving Education for Our Children

Teach powerfully by preparing meaningful lessons that transcend basic classroom learning. Encourage students to be their best, do their best, and want the best for their families, friends, and community. Encourage students to make a difference locally and globally by being responsible, character-driven members of their communities.
Relate personally by regularly interacting with one another and personally engaging with one another. Build relationships that support student growth and ensure their safety. Conduct emotional and academic check-ins.
Invest eternally by giving time to help students learn, succeed, and reach personal goals. Value personal learning and growth. Ensure students have the best, most prepared teachers in their classrooms.
Believe sincerely that teachers have the power to impact students in positive ways. Believe that students want to, can, and will succeed. Believe that all students come as their best selves and that it is our job to help them grow.
Elevate communally by first elevating the character of our children. Help students to think beyond the here and now. Raise the quality of standards and practices that ensure each student is his/her best self and gets the most out of his/her time with us.

Pass the Torch

With powerful teaching through positive, personal relationships with teachers who invest eternally and who sincerely believe in students’ potential, we can elevate the whole community by elevating our children. This dream is the greatest responsibility of every generation that passes the torch forward.

Black education professionals are already engaged in and committed to T.R.I.B.E.’s tenets, but they are not always collaborating. The Black Kitchen is a safe place to meet. Let’s be a community that fights for the education of our children. Join the conversation and become a part of the movement to build tomorrow’s leaders through education.

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