Implicit Bias
This seminar is designed for groups who seek to learn where their ‘blind spots’ are. Implicit bias can be described as an automatic and unconscious associations people make between certain groups of people and stereotypes about members of that group. In many cases, these unconscious associations can influence one’s behavior, causing individuals to respond/act in ways that are unintentionally discriminatory. Decades of research has shown that implicit biases exist in the absence of overt bigotry, and greatly shape our social interactions and decision-making processes, even in spite of good intentions and the existence of nondiscriminatory policies, practices and standards. After learning where our ‘blind spots ’are, we will work to begin the journey of continuous self-reflection and disrupting our individual biases.
Introduction to Systemic Racism
This seminar is designed for groups who value diversity, but also seek a better understanding of race and racism in the history of the United States. It introduces groups to the idea that racism is a systemic, institutionalized problem that requires strategic structural and cultural mindset shifts to dismantle.
Confronting Systemic Racism
This in-depth seminar is designed for groups who long for a deeper understanding of systemic racism and how it manifests in education. Groups will create a shared language for their school/district to effectively talk about racism and how it functions in the larger society, engage in a comprehensive socio-historical interrogation of institutional racism in the United States, and explore frameworks for moving toward antiracist transformation.
Building Capacity for Courage Conversations
This seminar prioritizes the impact of race and other dimensions of identity on student learning and achievement disparities. Engage in collegial, thoughtful and tough conversations about race and racism, how each impacts the culture of schools, and practice employing strategies for identifying and addressing policies, programs and practices that negatively impact students.
Critical Cultural Competency
This seminar is designed to help groups cultivate space safe spaces and to be reflexive about how culture shapes individuals, schools and other institutions that we engage with each day. Together, teams will deconstruct and contextualize power dynamics, develop skills that foster cultural mindset shifts, identify and begin to develop plans to disrupt old patterns that reinforce inequitable practices, and understand the importance of multiple perspectives/voices in creating inclusive environments of belonging.
Social Group Identity, Power & Conflict
This workshop is designed for those who want to learn more about how all social identities, including race, gender, socioeconomic status, religion, ability, and language (to name a few) intersect to create very unique lived experiences. Specifically, intersectionality – the interconnectedness and simultaneity of oppression – will be explored as a valuable analytic/methodology in building inclusive school communities and achieving equitable outcomes for all students.