• Connect with other educators at your school
    • Think about who you have already been in conversation with regarding race and anti-racism. Think about who the leaders are at your school and who has strong relationships with their fellow educators. (See the Bringing in Coconspirators: Antiracist Relationship Map.)

  • Contact school leadership/administration
    • It’s important to be in communication with your school leadership regarding the BARWE group. Having support for the group can help with recruitment and scheduling. Also, BARWE work shouldn’t exist in a vacuum or replace schoolwide antiracism trainings. If you think administration might be resistant to the group meeting, think ahead about questions they might ask and resources you can share.

  • Invite the whole school to participate
    • Every staff member should know that the group exists and that everyone is invited to participate.  Share BARWE’s mission in an email that invites folks to join. Make clear that although this group is geared towards getting White educators to play a more active role in antiracism work, all are welcome to participate. Make yourself available for questions and concerns from fellow educators. You could even send a link to our website, barwe215.org, so folks can see an example of the type of work a BARWE group might do.

  • Set a day and time for your group to meet 
    • Use a Doodle poll if necessary. Think about what time will work best for your school. It can be hard to schedule meetings during the day and before school because teachers are busy. If possible, after school meetings might get the best attendance. Holding virtual meetings will likely be necessary during the coming school year. Virtual meetings can also allow more flexibility in meeting times. Your school may opt to do virtual meetings permanently. 

  • Start with an orientation meeting 
    • Use the August 2018 discussion guide for this initial meeting. It addresses the “why” of the project and facilitates conversations to get to know each other and create a common vision. 

  • Prepare yourself to facilitate 
    • Read through our Summary, Norms, and Discussion Protocol. Maybe ask a colleague to help facilitate. Prepare for any hiccups by reading the troubleshooting guide. If meeting virtually, familiarize yourself with the meeting platform you are using. If you have a large group, we suggest using a platform such as zoom where you can create smaller breakout rooms. You may want to create and share norms for virtual meetings.