How does it work?
We will e-mail you a monthly set of 2-3 articles for you to read and 3-4 reflection questions to respond to. We ask that you meet with one or more white educators peers (at your school or not!) within the month, discuss the questions, and commit to integrating the reflection from the Inquiry into your teaching practice. We will also include a suggested discussion protocol for you to follow to help you facilitate a rich and productive conversation.
After your discussion, fill out our reporting form and let us know how it went!
Who is “we”?
We are a group of educators affiliated with the Teacher Action Group in Philadelphia, PA called BARWE: Building Anti-Racist White Educators.
Why should I do this?
It is not the responsibility of people of color to challenge white supremacy. It is the responsibility of those of us who benefit from white supremacy every day. This is one small way to work to fight white supremacy in your school and community, and to overcome your own racial biases.
This work also supports your professional growth. Building an anti-racist classroom will improve every aspect of your practice.
How will this actually help fight racism?
It’s certainly just a small piece of a much larger puzzle. We do not believe reading and talking is enough, but we believe meaningful action starts with educating ourselves and pushing ourselves to keep anti-racism consistently on the “front burner” of our teaching practice. We also believe that creating anti-racist schools will require getting more white educators on board with this work - and one goal of these conversations is to bring more white educators into the work.
What if we miss a month?
Missing a month is fine - each month is stand-alone. Our goal is for these monthly readings and discussions to be manageable and a supplement to your current work, not an additional burden. Use them in a way that works for you, knowing that the more you engage, the more you will get out of it.
Do I have to be white?
This resources is intended for white educators to talk to other white educators. All are welcome to participate with the understanding that is is not the responsibility for people of color to help white people unpack their baggage around race. That being said, people of color are welcome to participate in any groups having these discussions with our materials and hold those discussing their practices accountable for their words and actions. Additionally, we recognize that every person identifies differently particularly with the term “people of color” and we call anybody who feels the need to have discussions with our resources to take part in this series.
What if we have some really difficult/painful conversations?
Those conversations are important. We call you to be conscious of your language, and embrace difficult conversations with compassion and thoughtfulness. We have also found that setting groups norms from the start can be helpful. If you are worrying about facilitating those conversations, contact us and we will be happy to support you.
How do you keep your conversation accountable to people of color?
We call you to listen actively to your colleagues of color in your day-to-day work and to follow through on the anti-racist work you say you are going to do.
What if I don’t know anyone I can meet with?
Email us! We can help you find a group! You can also certainly use our readings and questions to do individual reflection, but our hope is that you will take the opportunity of this Inquiry Series to reach out to colleagues and bring them into this work.
We will e-mail you a monthly set of 2-3 articles for you to read and 3-4 reflection questions to respond to. We ask that you meet with one or more white educators peers (at your school or not!) within the month, discuss the questions, and commit to integrating the reflection from the Inquiry into your teaching practice. We will also include a suggested discussion protocol for you to follow to help you facilitate a rich and productive conversation.
After your discussion, fill out our reporting form and let us know how it went!
Who is “we”?
We are a group of educators affiliated with the Teacher Action Group in Philadelphia, PA called BARWE: Building Anti-Racist White Educators.
Why should I do this?
It is not the responsibility of people of color to challenge white supremacy. It is the responsibility of those of us who benefit from white supremacy every day. This is one small way to work to fight white supremacy in your school and community, and to overcome your own racial biases.
This work also supports your professional growth. Building an anti-racist classroom will improve every aspect of your practice.
How will this actually help fight racism?
It’s certainly just a small piece of a much larger puzzle. We do not believe reading and talking is enough, but we believe meaningful action starts with educating ourselves and pushing ourselves to keep anti-racism consistently on the “front burner” of our teaching practice. We also believe that creating anti-racist schools will require getting more white educators on board with this work - and one goal of these conversations is to bring more white educators into the work.
What if we miss a month?
Missing a month is fine - each month is stand-alone. Our goal is for these monthly readings and discussions to be manageable and a supplement to your current work, not an additional burden. Use them in a way that works for you, knowing that the more you engage, the more you will get out of it.
Do I have to be white?
This resources is intended for white educators to talk to other white educators. All are welcome to participate with the understanding that is is not the responsibility for people of color to help white people unpack their baggage around race. That being said, people of color are welcome to participate in any groups having these discussions with our materials and hold those discussing their practices accountable for their words and actions. Additionally, we recognize that every person identifies differently particularly with the term “people of color” and we call anybody who feels the need to have discussions with our resources to take part in this series.
What if we have some really difficult/painful conversations?
Those conversations are important. We call you to be conscious of your language, and embrace difficult conversations with compassion and thoughtfulness. We have also found that setting groups norms from the start can be helpful. If you are worrying about facilitating those conversations, contact us and we will be happy to support you.
How do you keep your conversation accountable to people of color?
We call you to listen actively to your colleagues of color in your day-to-day work and to follow through on the anti-racist work you say you are going to do.
What if I don’t know anyone I can meet with?
Email us! We can help you find a group! You can also certainly use our readings and questions to do individual reflection, but our hope is that you will take the opportunity of this Inquiry Series to reach out to colleagues and bring them into this work.
