Equity and Access Training Opportunity

Last week, I mentioned a number of summer learning opportunities for educators, including the district offered Red Apple classes. One particular Red Apple class that might be of interest to many of you is the Access and Equity training. This particular session will address questions such as: Why do some students experience success at school while others back away from challenge? and Does our educational community unknowingly have beliefs or use behaviors that inadvertently create inequity and deny students access to learning? Conversations will focus on how our district can work towards eliminating gender, racial, and class-based achievement gaps by addressing areas such as access; pedagogy and curriculum; and student, teacher, and community identities. Time will be spent exploring recent research in these areas through group work, individual reflection, and small and large group discussions.

If we truly believe that we as a district are seeking "To educate and prepare each student to succeed in a changing world," these are the ideas we need to explore and the conversations we need to have.

The Access and Equity training will be offered twice this summer: June 20-23 (at New Tech) and August 8-11 (at CTE). Like other Red Apple courses, graduate credits will be offered at a small cost through Augustana and USF.

I urge to you to consider this training as part of your summer learning. Once you've decided to do it, register here. ;-)

Bringing Mirrors and Windows into the Classroom

The following excerpts come from "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors" by Rudine Sims Bishop, and were referenced in our Curriculum Writing Meeting as we discussed diversifying the literature options in our curriculum.

“Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange...When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books...

When children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they see are distorted, negative, or laughable, they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society of which they are a part. Our classrooms need to be places where all the children from all the cultures that make up the salad bowl of American society can find their mirrors...

Children from dominant social groups have always found their mirrors in books, but they, too, have suffered from the lack of availability of books about others. They need the books as windows onto reality, not just on imaginary worlds. They need books that will help them understand the multicultural nature of the world they live in, and their place as a member of just one group, as well as their connections to all other humans."

Think on it.

Diversifying the Literature in our Curriculum - Starting the Conversation

Thank you to the Curriculum Writing Teams for the thoughts, ideas, questions, and concerns expressed last night at our curriculum writing meeting! For those of you not on a CWT this round, we started a conversation about diversifying the literature options in our curriculum. Maybe it would be better described as barely started, as it is a rather lengthy conversation to have!

Please remember that this conversation is NOT a cry to throw out all of the classic literature. It is, rather, a conversation to help us make choices regarding literature options that will best benefit student learning.

The "Challenge Yourself" image above came from the website The Educators' Spin on It, and one of their posts includes a tip about how to diversify the literature in your classroom with classics in mind:

"Do you have any books featuring diverse characters that are not primarily about race or prejudice? Consider your classic books, both fiction and nonfiction. Do any contain hurtful racial or ethnic stereotypes, or images? If so, how will you address those stereotypes with students? Have you included another book that provides a more accurate depiction of the same culture?"

When we look at the texts we want to teach, keep, or add as options, we need to be aware of the stereotypes involved. One small change we can make is to look at supplemental materials to pair with classics and Shakespearean plays. There are many ways to bring in the missing voices through background-building informational texts (like those found at KidsInBirmingham1963, for example) or a version of Romeo and Juliet from another culture.

We are all coming to this conversation from our individualized backgrounds, so the road ahead may not be an easy one. It is, however, an important journey as we look at what is best for our student population. Our students who are use to finding mirrors in literature need windows just as much as our students who are use to finding windows in literature need mirrors.

I'm looking forward to continuing this conversation as we revise our curriculum options!