Don't forget to give us feedback!
Overview:
Welcome back to the new school year!
In recent years, we have designed the 9-month inquiry series around a particular theme: accountability, partnership/risk, white supremacy culture/Black joy to name a few. While that approach has been focused and fruitful, this year we will be approaching the series with more flexibility.
We are educating young people in a context where the historical truth about racism and liberation movements is under attack. There are many ways to fight back. At BARWE Core, we are thinking about this present moment from a variety of angles and our inquiry series this year will reflect that. At times, we may offer resources to understand what Critical Race Theory (CRT) actually is, tools to investigate legislation in your own state, stories from the front lines, and ideas about how to take action. At other times, we might share a resource that encourages reflection or action around an issue that becomes salient. In other words, our series will likely reflect the shifting context in education at both the local and national levels.
As always, if you have any thoughts or suggestions for us, please share them in the additional comments section of our feedback form!
Primary Resource: In lieu of a resource, this month, we offer a journal prompt to guide your discussion. We hope that this journal prompt will establish the norm that antiracist inquiry is focused on race. In particular, we as white folks need to locate ourselves in the story, not to center ourselves but to recognize our relationship to power and how we use it.
Meeting Flow:
Overview:
Welcome back to the new school year!
In recent years, we have designed the 9-month inquiry series around a particular theme: accountability, partnership/risk, white supremacy culture/Black joy to name a few. While that approach has been focused and fruitful, this year we will be approaching the series with more flexibility.
We are educating young people in a context where the historical truth about racism and liberation movements is under attack. There are many ways to fight back. At BARWE Core, we are thinking about this present moment from a variety of angles and our inquiry series this year will reflect that. At times, we may offer resources to understand what Critical Race Theory (CRT) actually is, tools to investigate legislation in your own state, stories from the front lines, and ideas about how to take action. At other times, we might share a resource that encourages reflection or action around an issue that becomes salient. In other words, our series will likely reflect the shifting context in education at both the local and national levels.
As always, if you have any thoughts or suggestions for us, please share them in the additional comments section of our feedback form!
Primary Resource: In lieu of a resource, this month, we offer a journal prompt to guide your discussion. We hope that this journal prompt will establish the norm that antiracist inquiry is focused on race. In particular, we as white folks need to locate ourselves in the story, not to center ourselves but to recognize our relationship to power and how we use it.
Meeting Flow:
- Relationship-Building: You might have folks find a photo on their phone that represents their summer joy and turn and share it with a partner.
- Norming:
- What is BARWE? (Check out our Home Page and About Us page)
- What are the BARWE norms? Are there any we want to add?
- Who is in the room today?
- Journaling (Suggested Time: 8 minutes):
- Journal Prompt: Think of the first time race was particularly salient for you in your teaching/classroom. (or other work context if your group is not at a school)
- Journal about it. Use the questions below to help you. Do not feel contained by them.
- What happened? Who was involved?
- Locate yourself in your story. How did you act/respond/interact? What did you think of your responsibility then? What do you think of it now?
- What emotions did/do you associate with this experience? Are they positive or negative?
- What questions does the experience raise for you?
- Pair Share (Suggested Time: 12 minutes):
- Have participants pair up. You may choose from a variety of formats for this. We suggest the following:
- Person 1 shares their journaling. They may read directly to challenge themselves not to self-edit or they may summarize. (Suggested time: 4 minutes)
- Person 2 offers thoughts or questions in response (Suggested time: 2 minutes)
- Person 2 shares their journaling. They may read directly to challenge themselves not to self-edit or they may summarize. (Suggested time: 4 minutes)
- Person 1 offers thoughts or questions in response (Suggested time: 2 minutes)
- Have participants pair up. You may choose from a variety of formats for this. We suggest the following:
- Group Discussion/Debrief:
- What emotions did this exercise bring up for you?
- What questions did this exercise bring up for you?
- How did reaching back to this early experience shed light on your journey over time?
- What antiracist commitments does this exercise lead you to make?
Facilitation Reference Guide:
Feedback Form:
As we grow in year six, 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 reflections from previous meetings:
- Set a day and time for your group to meet - Make sure to send reminders. If you’re meeting in person, snacks are always a good idea!
- Send this month’s Primary Article to your group. Look through the additional readings to see if there is another reading that might be better suited to your group and its interests.
- Prepare yourself to facilitate by reading through our Norms and Discussion Protocol.
- Pass the Hat and collect donations for the Teaching Artists Guild this month.
- Complete the Feedback Form.
- Prepare yourself for next month by setting a date and time, inviting colleagues, and looking out for our next Discussion Guide on October 1st.
Feedback Form:
As we grow in year six, 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 reflections from previous meetings:
Thank you all for your feedback so far, please keep it coming!
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.
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 the Teaching Artists Guild (TAG), “a practitioner-led community which raises the visibility and development of artists who teach.”
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.
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 the Teaching Artists Guild (TAG), “a practitioner-led community which raises the visibility and development of artists who teach.”