The Minor Collective LLC (Minor Collective) is a left-of-center educational training and consulting firm that works against perceived inequity in school system structures and classrooms, and advocates for unorthodox teaching methods such as outdoor education. Founded in 2018 by husband-and-wife team Cornelius and Kassandra Minor, it hosts virtual events and discussions online, and provides in-person coaching and development curricula for educators. This group receives public dollars from both the New York City Department of Education and Chicago Public Schools, as well as private fundraising through Patreon. ¹

People

In addition to co-founding Minor Collective, Cornelius Minor works as a staff developer at Columbia University’s Teachers College. He is a former Brooklyn Public Schools educator and the author of We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be. ²

In an interview with Learning for Justice, Cornelius Minor said that teachers who embarrassed students for not turning in homework or speaking too loudly in the hallways were exercising “violence towards kids.” ³ Minor also opposes the idea of limitations to spaces or contexts of conversation when developing “racial consciousness” in children. He stated that when teaching, “Every book I pick up is an opportunity to talk about race.” ⁴ He has also stated that “school as we do it now is sexist, is racist, is ableist.” ⁵

In an interview with the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development’s Sarah McKibben, Cornelius Minor said that “it is now profitable for people to be talking about anti-racism,” but lamented that “people are slapping the word ‘anti-racism’ on their normal racism and then selling a bunch of products.” ⁶

Cornelius has also stated that grading should be more “human,” an approach he believes will make it “anti-racist, anti-homophobic.” He also advocates for the recognition of multiple forms of literacy; the student who can write fluently to express ideas is not to be considered as superior to the student who has to draw or build a model to express the same idea. He also rejects the idea of a student “falling behind” in learning objectives as simply a “social construct” since educational standards can vary based on which lawmakers are in Congress setting those standards. ⁷

Kassandra “Kass” Minor is the lead staff developer for Columbia University’s Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. She is an advocate of “outdoor learning,” co-hosting a virtual learning event on this technique in September 2020. ⁸ Kass Minor also opposes “tracking,” the term for separating students based on academic ability. She has stated that “When students are labeled as ‘not smart,’ we send them the message that they are not full human beings.” ⁹

Coaching and Professional Development Sessions

Minor Collective offers tiered coaching sessions, with varying pricing depending in the amount of coaching received. The packages are offered menu-style: the purchaser can choose up to three different topics, and Minor Collective will develop and customize a presentation. Extra development modules can be purchased a la carte. Possible topics include “Writing Class is Not About ‘Assignments’ It Is About ‘Experiences’” and “Building Inclusive Spaces: study groups in your school community that explore different perspectives on building inclusive spaces when difference is salient.” Packages must be purchased for a minimum of three days, although Minor Collective offers single-day sessions outside of New York City. ¹⁰

1.  ^[1] Patreon. “The Minor Collective.” Patreon Website. Undated. Accessed January 3, 2022. https://www.patreon.com/TheMinorCollective
2.  Linkedin. “Cornelius Minor.” Linkedin Website. Undated. Accessed January 3, 2022.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/cornelius-minor-56348b31
3. Gaffney, Carrie. “When Schools Cause Trauma.” Learning for Justice. 2019. Accessed January 3, 2022. https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/summer-2019/when-schools-cause-trauma
4. “Who Do We See? Using Books to Have Conversations About Race.” Youtube. September 23, 2020. Accessed January 3, 2022.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSV1cddHiCs&t=10s
5. “We Got This: Cornelius Minor on Teachers as Agents of Change.” Youtube. March 24, 2019. Accessed January 3, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkT3b-uhYgs&t=11s
6. “EL Live: Interview with Cornelius Minor.” Youtube. October 27, 2020. Accessed January 3, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhtjoOFvtyI&t=26s
7.  “EL Live: Interview with Cornelius Minor.” Youtube. October 27, 2020. Accessed January 3, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhtjoOFvtyI&t=26s
8. Newhouse, Cara. “How Outdoor Education Can Bring Curiosity and Connection to Education in Tough Times.” KQED. October 6, 2020. Accessed January 3, 2022.   https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56735/how-outdoor-learning-can-bring-curiosity-and-connection-to-education-in-tough-times
9. Gaffney, Carrie. “When Schools Cause Trauma.” Learning for Justice. 2019. Accessed January 3, 2022. https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/summer-2019/when-schools-cause-trauma
10. Smore. “The Minor Collective.” Smore Website. Accessed January 3, 2022. https://www.smore.com/5tcks-the-minor-collective