The Grow Your Own Collective: A Critical Race Movement to Transform Education

This article introduces a strategy to diversify the teaching workforce through decentering teacher education as the primary stakeholder in the preparation of diverse teachers. The article expands the focus on teacher recruitment and retention by proposing a model that counters the educational context of White supremacy through Grow Your Own (GYO) programs. Using a critical race theory (CRT) orientation to educator development, this article introduces the national Grow Your Own Collective (GYOC) as an advocacy and support network for locally tailored collaborations to recruit, prepare, place, and retain culturally rooted teachers of color. In clarifying how GYOC applies CRT as an operational framework for preparing teachers to teach within historically underresourced school systems, the article defines GYO programs, shares nationwide models, and argues that collaborations between community-based organizations, districts, schools, and higher education partners are essential to disrupt institutionally racist practices. The article ultimately argues for a reconceptualization of teacher preparation processes to more fully recognize and address institutionalized racism at the K–12, collegiate, and community levels.