Welcome to the first month of our Reading & Inquiry Series! There are a lot of materials in this email, but here are some quick tips that can help guide you through them:
  • Set a day and time for your group to meet - during lunch, before school, after school. If you start with a group of 2, that’s great! If 20 folks at your school are interested now, even better! The goal is to grow our work.
  • Send this month’s Primary Article to your group. You could even send this to a broader group of your colleagues - maybe it will pique someone’s interest!
  • Prepare yourself to facilitate by reading through our Summary, Norms, and Discussion Protocol. If you have a large group, maybe ask a colleague to help facilitate.
  • Pass the Hat at the end of your discussion and collect donations for BYP 100 this month.
  • ​​​Complete the Feedback Form.
  • ​Prepare yourself for September by setting a date and time, inviting colleagues, and looking out for our next Discussion Guide on September 1.

Overview


For our first month’s topic, we are addressing the bigger “why” of this whole project. There are many reasons why white teachers need to talk about race. Most importantly, racism has a harmful effect on students in individual and systemic ways. If we believe in equity in education, then we have an obligation to fight racism. Specifically, white teachers have a responsibility to fight racism because we are the beneficiaries of white supremacy. This month we want to look at our own beliefs, our growth, and our intentions when it comes to our anti-racist work. This conversation is built to welcome everyone, regardless if you are coming to this work with years of anti-racist training or you are just starting to think about how race affects the classroom. We have included a primary article (with accompanying podcast) as well as discussion questions.
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Even though school may not be fully in session for some teachers, try to find a few teachers with whom you can have this discussion: maybe it’s over a lunch break or in between PD sessions. Find a teacher with whom you’ve already started this conversation and each of you invite someone new! Hopefully you can have this conversation before the end of August - but if it happens in September, no worries!

Norms

As you facilitate this work with your peers, it is important to keep some norms in mind. You can open your sessions by reviewing these (and more, if you’d like to add) with your group.

This BAR-WE Inquiry series was designed with the understanding that it is not the sole responsibility of people of color to educate white people about race. White people must take responsibility for our own growth to be anti-racist educators and community members. It also matters how we approach this work, so please keep the following norms in mind while engaging in these discussions:

  • Please approach this inquiry series as a learner. We all have room to grow with our understanding of race in our schools and communities. No one is an expert who has come to explain race to others; we are striving to be in dialogue with one another to learn and grow collectively.
  • The inquiry series does not take the place of anti-racism or diversity trainings that school districts can and should offer. When done well, such trainings are valuable. Nevertheless, we believe that any one-off training is inadequate, and this inquiry series is designed to encourage the ongoing reflection on race in our teaching and in our schools.
  • As white people engaged in this work, it is important to maintain humility around the topic of race when in dialogue with our colleagues of color. The goal will never be to explain to a colleague how they should feel about race; rather, we want to learn how to be productive allies in the work towards racial justice in education and society.
  • Keep the focus on RACE. It is easier to shift the conversation to colorblind versions of the topics; nevertheless, we must persevere through any discomfort to identify how race is central to our work and advocacy for justice in our schools.
  • Finally, as you keep in mind the ongoing nature of this work, please expect and accept non-closure. It is OK to “hang in uncertainty” and not rush to quick solutions. We believe sustainable, meaningful growth will result from the commitment to reflection.

Suggested Discussion Protocol

In our experience, we have found conversations about racism and white supremacy to be most fruitful when primarily done in small groups (4 or fewer people). This makes folks more willing to share, and also gives each person more time to talk and process. We have also found it productive to use a protocol for these conversations - and have someone serve as a timekeeper during each segment.
  • 10 mins - If you have the time, give everyone a chance to write and reflect on the article and questions at the start of the session. You can also ask people to do this in advance and bring their reflections with them. We don’t recommend starting without giving everyone time to reflect individually first.
  • For the rest of the protocol, it is recommended that you split into groups of 2-4 people, so that everyone can have a chance to share and discuss. If you have limited time, use smaller groups.
    • 3 mins - Person 1 shares their reactions and reflections on the article and questions
    • 5 mins - others ask questions of Person 1 and Person 1 answers
      • Key point: Other group members should limit their reactions to each Person’s reflection with ONLY questions, not statements. This can be hard at first, but we’ve found it to be a fruitful structure for conversation.
    • Rotate through the group members following the Share-and-Question structure
  • End with open discussion - however much time you have.
    • If you have a larger group, this would be the time to bring the small group discussions back together.

Primary Article

10 things every white teacher should know when talking about race by Angela Watson

Guiding Questions

  • Why should educators have conversations about race and white supremacy in the first place?
  • In what ways have you already been working towards an anti-racist classroom and school?
  • What ideas from this article and podcast feel new and/or challenging?
  • What are some next steps you can take towards building an anti-racist classroom and school?

Feedback Form

We want to know who is using these resources, what they find useful, and any recommendations for improvements in the future. We hope that one person in your group can take a few minutes to fill out our feedback form to let us know how it went.

Pass the Hat

In addition to being accountable to our colleagues and students of color, we believe it is important to be financially accountable to people of color who are doing this work on a daily basis. Each month, we will recommend an organization led by people of color, in education and beyond, doing the work of pushing for justice.
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At the end of each monthly discussion, pass a hat (or a box) and collect donations for the designated organization. You can then have one group member go online and donate in the name of your school. If you want, you can add “Building Anti-Racist White Educators” after your school name.

This month, we encourage you to donate to BYP 100, an organization that pushes for freedom and justice for all Black people through “building a network focused on transformative leadership development, direct action organizing, advocacy, and political education using a Black queer feminist lens.”
You can donate here.

If you are looking to buy refreshments for your session, we recommend supporting businesses owned by people of color, especially Black-owned businesses, if at all possible. In Philly, we recommend Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse, Franny Lou’s Porch, and Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books.

Further Reading