Welcome to the November installment of the BARWE yearlong inquiry series. In the past 2 months, we’ve heard from folks having these conversations in schools and organizations from Vermont, North Carolina, California, Ohio, Massachusetts and New Jersey!
If this is your first month, please start with Section 2: Facilitation Information.
If you have already participated in a previous month's discussion, we are glad you are continuing the work! Start with Section 1.
Information regarding norms, discussion protocol, and pass the hat can now be found in Section 3: Inquiry Tips & Information.
Don't forget to give us feedback!
If this is your first month, please start with Section 2: Facilitation Information.
If you have already participated in a previous month's discussion, we are glad you are continuing the work! Start with Section 1.
Information regarding norms, discussion protocol, and pass the hat can now be found in Section 3: Inquiry Tips & Information.
Don't forget to give us feedback!
Section 1: November inquiry
Overview:
As educators, so much of who we are dictates how we teach, what we teach, and where we see value. In looking at who we are, it is important to spend time reflecting on our own racial identities. This month we are focusing on whiteness, looking at its history and connecting to our personal experiences. If we are going to commit to creating classrooms rooted in social justice, we must be comfortable analyzing and discussing our own racial identities. Note, this month’s featured resource is a podcast. The transcript is available as well, but please remind your group to listen ahead of time.
Primary Article: The Code Switch Podcast, Episode 1: Can We Talk About Whiteness?
(Podcast Transcript)
(Strongly Suggested Readings: White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack and Helms’s White Racial Identity Development Model)
Guiding Questions:
Additional Readings:
As educators, so much of who we are dictates how we teach, what we teach, and where we see value. In looking at who we are, it is important to spend time reflecting on our own racial identities. This month we are focusing on whiteness, looking at its history and connecting to our personal experiences. If we are going to commit to creating classrooms rooted in social justice, we must be comfortable analyzing and discussing our own racial identities. Note, this month’s featured resource is a podcast. The transcript is available as well, but please remind your group to listen ahead of time.
Primary Article: The Code Switch Podcast, Episode 1: Can We Talk About Whiteness?
(Podcast Transcript)
(Strongly Suggested Readings: White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack and Helms’s White Racial Identity Development Model)
Guiding Questions:
- What is whiteness? What privileges come with this racial identity?
- When did you first recognize whiteness?
- How does whiteness affect our practices, relations, and expectations in the classroom and the school community?
- What can our students, whether they are students of color or white, learn from our acknowledgement and analysis of whiteness?
Additional Readings:
Section 2: Facilitation Information
If this is your first month participating in the inquiry series, welcome! There are a lot of materials in this email, but here are some quick tips that can help guide you through them:
- If your group is just starting this month - we recommend that you start with the August materials, and then pick up with the current month. Find all past month resources on our website.
- 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 Overview, Norms, and Discussion Protocol. If you have a large group, maybe ask a colleague to help facilitate.
- Complete the Feedback Form.
Section 3: Inquiry Tips & Information
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:
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.
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.
Here are a few takeaways from previous meetings:
Thank you all for you feedback so far, please keep it coming!
Don’t forget the snacks!
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.
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.
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.
Here are a few takeaways from previous meetings:
- “What would it mean if we taught more holistically across disciplines for example: when we sanitize the African American experience in history class, how then can we expect the students to be able to fully understand the Harlem Renaissance literature we read in English class? So much about context.“
- “It made a lot of teachers take pause and think about what we do...when we have a culture of low expectations for children of color, [it] is so detrimental to their learning and their self-image and success!”
- “What happens when we shift from a focus on diversity to a focus on equity?”
Thank you all for you feedback so far, please keep it coming!
Don’t forget the snacks!
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.