Leading Equity E-Book

Sheldon L. Eakins

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 301

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Transform your school and your classroom with these best practices in equity That the typical modern classroom lacks equity will come as no surprise to many educators. But few resources explain how to remedy that situation in the here and now. Leading Equity delivers an eye-opening and actionable discussion of how to transform a classroom or school into a more equitable place. Through explorations of ten concrete steps that you can take right now, Dr. Sheldon L. Eakins offers you the skills, resources, and concepts you'll need to address common equity deficiencies in education. You'll learn about: * Things you can do today to advance the cause of equity in your classroom, from reconsidering your language choices to getting to know yourself and your students * Using social justice as the basis for your advocacy for equity * How to promote a decolonial atmosphere and model vulnerability and humility for your students and colleagues Ideal for educators and educational leaders at all stages of their careers, Leading Equity will help you improve your ability to offer an equitable environment to all of your students.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Preface

I'm No Longer an Ally, and Here's Why

Not Doing Anything Is Not Doing Anything

What Are Your Motives?

Becoming a Disruptor

Acknowledgments

About the Author

CHAPTER 1: Know Your Biases and Recognize Your Position of Privilege as an Educator

Dialing Things Back

Assessing Your Affinity Bias

Steps to Building Relationships

Your Bias Is Showing

Implicit Bias and Me

Implicit Bias Analysis Guide

Implicit Bias Talk Moves

Recognizing Your Privilege

Preparing the Ground: Self-Reflection

Mitigating Implicit Bias

Reflecting on Implicit Bias: A Weeklong Journaling Exercise

Conclusion

CHAPTER 2: Get to Know Your Students

Let's Start with Names

The Power of Names

Strategies for Learning Students' Names

Cultural Storytelling in Action

Tech Tools for Cultural Storytelling

Integrating Student Interests

Five-Minute Relationship Boosters

Embracing Differences Activity

How Confirmation Bias Impacts Our Relationships with Students

Constructing Positive Affirmations

Avenues to Authenticity

Conclusion

CHAPTER 3: Spend Time with Students Outside School Settings

The Invitation

Relationship Building: Understanding Your Students' Learning Styles

Relationship Building: Understanding Your Students' Environmental Contexts

Learning About Culture First

Bringing Cultural Knowledge into Our Classrooms

The Trust Process

Conclusion

CHAPTER 4: Check Your Current Language Practices

“They Robby”

Language

Setting Classroom Norms for Dialogue

Becoming Mindful of Microaggressions

Reducing Stereotype Threat

Arming Yourself to Debunk Stereotypes

Conclusion

CHAPTER 5: Promote a Decolonial Atmosphere

Coloniality in Education Today

Decoloniality

How Can I Begin to Decolonize My Classroom?

Making the Shift Away from Banking

Transitioning from Oppression to Elevation

Conclusion

CHAPTER 6: Adopt an Advocacy Mentality

Commit to Understanding What It Means to Be an Advocate

Commit to Establishing Your “Why”

Commit to Educating Yourself

Commit to Recognizing When Race and Social Inequities Are Present in the Classroom and Beyond

Commit to Addressing Equity Issues Intentionally and Proactively

Commit to Supporting Student Advocacy

Five Simple Ways to Introduce Students to Advocacy

Empowering Students to Advocate for Learning Supports

Further Supporting Student Advocates

Questions to Spark Students' Thinking About Race, Equity, and Social Justice

Commit to Connecting with Other Equity Advocates

Conclusion

CHAPTER 7: Educate Yourself

What Interests Your School Stakeholders?

It's Not Just About Race

The Few, the Proud

Has This Been Your Experience?

Cultural Taxation

How Does Educating Yourself Look?

Finding the Right Literature

Design Your Own Professional Development

Conclusion

CHAPTER 8: Model Vulnerability and Humility

How Can I Smile When My Cup Is Empty?

The Unintentional Battle Between Us and Them

Get Comfortable with Discomfort

Staying True to Your Values

Conclusion

CHAPTER 9: Recognize How to Build on Students' Assets

Moving from Deficit-Based to Asset-Based Teaching

Components of Asset-Based Pedagogy

Asset-Based Mindset Anchor Chart

Funds of Knowledge

Advanced Courses

Classroom Dynamics

How Should We Refer to Students Who Are Struggling?

Additional Asset-Based Instructional Methods

Implementing UDL at Your School

UDL Lesson Plan Tuning

UDL Lesson Plan Tuning Protocol (45 Minutes)

Conclusion

Asset-Based/Culturally Diverse Lesson Planning

Classroom Resources and Curriculum Audit

Notes

CHAPTER 10: Use Social Justice as the Basis for Advocacy

Advocacy Work at Your School

Advocacy Work Outside of School

The Three Ps of Advocacy

When Your Colleagues Believe That We Don't Have an Equity Problem

Identifying Equity Issues

Five Tips for Taking a Stand in the Classroom

Profile of a Compassionate Leader

What's Next?

Conclusion

Note

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Illustrations

Chapter 10

Figure 10.1 Which one are you?

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Begin Reading

Index

End User License Agreement

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Praise for Leading Equity

“Dr. Sheldon Eakins has written a masterpiece! The topic of equity is by far the hottest topic in education today. Countless educators are writing about equity inclusive of what it is and what it is not. In Leading Equity, Dr. Eakins has gone beyond theory. This book is introducing ten actionable steps that a teacher can implement in the classroom immediately. At the proverbial end of the day, this is what teachers are looking for – strategies and solutions that they can take immediate hold of.”

—Baruti K. Kafele, Retired Principal, Education Consultant, Author

“When I think of people who are leading the way in the work of Equity, Sheldon Eakins immediately comes to mind. Leading Equity is the book I wish I would have had when I began my career in education. It is thought provoking, moving, and helps the reader grow into a better human and educator. This should be required reading for anyone working with kids.”

—Todd Nesloney, Director of Culture and Strategic Leadership at TEPSA, bestselling author, international speaker

“Dr. Sheldon Eakins' Leading Equity book is the culturally responsive actionable guide that every teacher needs! Stemming from his impressive scholar/practitioner background, it engages critical topics like asset-based pedagogy, decolonizing the classroom, acknowledging privileges/biases and embracing humility and discomfort with lesson plans, case studies, and prompts for all to engage and apply. It is comprehensive in scope and relentlessly committed to more just classrooms, schools, and societies.”

—Emily Affolter, Ph.D., Prescott College Faculty in Sustainability Education

“Leading Equity is a must read for educators and school leaders. Amidst so much controversy and politicization, it's easy to forget how vital questions of identity are to ensuring equitable and positive schooling outcomes, yet Sheldon Eakin's text invites us in accessible, welcoming ways to consider how we can help students navigate the complicated terrain of race, identity and culture in classrooms, while supporting educators to reflect productively on our own identities and responsibilities in the classroom. This is a real contribution to how we approach our diverse classrooms in the present era.”

—Michael C. Domínguez, Associate Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies, San Diego State University

“Dr. Eakins takes us on a profound journey of self-reflection and improvement, weaving together real-life stories and practical reflection activities to help us recognize and understand our privileges and biases. Sheldon guides us through the often uncomfortable admission that is necessary for us to embrace the challenge of self-reflection so we can better understand, connect with, and support our students, colleagues, and community members.”

—Jeff Gargas, COO/Co-Founder, Teach Better Team

“Leading Equity by Sheldon Eakins is an evergreen AND relevant book ‘for the times’ as it accomplishes inclusivity and access for all educators, including equity skeptics! In the opening paragraph of chapter one, Sheldon isn't shy about addressing the elephant in the room—instead, he writes, ‘Sometimes, when we hear the word privilege, we default to the popular term, White privilege. The reality is, though, we all have some form of privilege.’ I appreciate his honesty for colleagues who already understand this but are made to feel otherwise. In current troubling times, teaching teams need warm and truthful feedback—we also need to learn how to be inclusive and collegial to raise equity for vulnerable students. Through the powerful reflective activities found in this book, Sheldon expertly provides what schools need to begin and sustain equity efforts!”

—Jorge Valenzuela, Education Coach, Author and Advocate

Leading Equity

Becoming an Advocate for All Students

Sheldon L. Eakins, PhD

Copyright © 2022 John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

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FIRST EDITION

This book is dedicated to all the educators who continue to go above and beyond the call for their students despite everything happening within their personal and professional lives.

Preface

And what did you do?

—Anonymous

I have spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to be an advocate. It is a concept that I find intriguing as many of us have different thoughts regarding what it means. An advocate recognizes that we do not live in a just society. Advocates are not satisfied with the status quo and are willing to speak up on behalf of others. I know it sounds good on paper, and I do not say this to you as if I have always been on my game when it comes to doing advocacy work in education. I've made mistakes; I've missed opportunities; I'm not flawless in my approach because many situations I have faced have caught me off guard and have left me without the words or mental preparation to respond. I believe we are all on a journey in which there is no end or final arrival.

This book will help guide you in your daily approaches to becoming a better advocate in education. For more than a decade, I've interacted with many educators who have asked questions about what language they can use to address their concerns. See, for some of us, doing this work may mean that we might have to place our professional relationships at risk. It might even cause us to jeopardize our jobs and positions in our school's community. I get it; it's not always fun to tell peers that what they said or did negatively impacts a particular group of people.

We live in a world where being nice is often the preferred approach to communication. Unfortunately, racism, discrimination, and bigotry exist. My thoughts are, Should we be so concerned about being nice and about other people's feelings when they didn't consider a nice approach to us or others when they said what they said? For example, in some areas of the United States such as the Midwest and the South, being nice is a cultural standard. Calling someone out goes against the unwritten protocols in communication, but being nice doesn't always equate to change. Compromising our beliefs regarding what is right and what is wrong does not equate to change. However, I hear you, and I want to help. My goal is to provide multiple ways for you to interact with others to teach you strategies to address injustices tactfully. Some of us are bolder than others and have more experience dealing with implicit and explicit instances that negatively impact our schools. Some of us are brand new to the concept of equity and want to learn how we can develop our advocacy skills. Finally, some of us are in leadership positions and have a more significant impact on leading change. However, creating staff buy-in is a challenge. No matter where you are in your journey toward equity, I'm here to increase your knowledge and confidence in this work. However, before we get started, let's talk about the word ally.

A common question that I get involves some form of “Sheldon, I want to do better. I want to help others and be an ally. I want to be a voice and support my peers, colleagues, students, and parents. Nonetheless, situations occur, and I don't necessarily know the terminology. What should I say?” I like to give educators the tools and resources necessary to ensure equity at their school. I try to give the language they need and provide them with examples of situations by saying, “This is what I said. This is what I would say in these types of situations,” to help folks out. As I started thinking about many of my experiences as an educator and as an individual doing this work, I started thinking about that word, ally.

I'm No Longer an Ally, and Here's Why

I remember doing my student teaching. I'm not going to tell you how long ago it was, but it was a while ago. Let's say that. I was a young lad. I remember going to one of the schools, and I recall being in a teachers' lounge and just kind of listening to some of the teachers as they talked about the school and some of the students. I'll be honest. I didn't feel very comfortable with how some of the teachers were talking about the students. “This is a brand-new environment; who am I?” I thought to myself, I'm just a student-teacher. I don't have any clout.

I listened to some of the staff members make some negative comments about some of the students who were labeled as troublemakers or students who weren't seen favorably by some of the other staff members. I remember not saying anything. I just figured, You know what. I'm new here, and even though I don't like what I'm hearing, I'm just going to walk away and not engage in this conversation. I left the staff lounge, and I don't think I went back there throughout the rest of my student teaching.

I shared this story with one of the professors at my university. I used to love talking to this woman because she was one of those individuals who spoke her mind, and she didn't hold back. As I'm sharing this story, I'm smiling. I was like, I walked away because I didn't want any part in this conversation. I'll never forget what she said to me. She said these five words, “And what did you do?” See, when I was at that school and I was developing my teaching skills, I thought I was doing the right thing by just walking away and not engaging in the conversation. I had been student teaching at the school long enough to know who they were discussing, but I was a student teacher. I wasn't even certified. It was my last year in college. I was brand new. No one knew who I was. Who was I? I thought the right thing was just to walk away and not say anything.

Not Doing Anything Is Not Doing Anything

I saw the disappointment in her face because I responded, “Well, I didn't do anything. I left.” At that moment, I came to the realization that not doing anything was not doing anything. Does that make sense? Not doing anything was not doing anything at all. Let me interject. Sometimes, we have opportunities when we overhear something or witness something. We may be in a staff meeting, and the things that are being said and discussed make us feel like we should raise our hand and speak up. We may think, Let me stop this. However, sometimes, our positionality and confidence may hinder us. I feel like the phrase imposter syndrome gets thrown round a lot. We start to wonder, Who am I to be in this space?

I'll never forget those five words the professor said to me, “And what did you do?” Those words had me thinking, Oh man, I didn't do anything. I thought I did the right thing by not responding and just walking away. What I realized is I could have said something. I could have said something such as, “You know what? I know I'm new here. I know I'm not even staff, but I must be honest. I'm a little disappointed because I'm really excited about being an educator. I'm a candidate right now, and it's kind of disappointing to hear the negativity being spoken to our students.” I could have left it there. I could have gone even further and said, “I haven't been here long, and I don't know the student's back story. However, he's a human being, and I think he deserves a chance. If we take the time to create that relationship, maybe we wouldn't feel that way.”

The thing about the term ally, to be honest, is that allyship isn't precisely what's needed right now at this moment. Furthermore, allyship can become very performative. Sometimes I hear the question, “Will things change when it comes to equality or when it comes to folks being treated fairly or the end of racism? Will that happen in our lifetime? Or will these things continue from generation to generation to generation to generation?” I think the reason things continue to be the way they are, especially for those who want to end things, is that we never say or do anything to change the way we think about others. It is ineffective to say, “Yes, what's happening is wrong,” but we don't do anything about it. If we just say, “I wish that things were different, but I want to be a safe space, so therefore, I'm an ally” or “I have a poster, and I have a sign or BLM flag in my classroom” or things like that, where's the action?

Unfortunately, a lot of the allyship can become performative very quickly. Now, you might have heard the term performative wokeness, but what does it mean? According to Lizzy Bowes (2017), “Performative wokeness is a superficial show of solidarity with minority and oppressed bodies of people that enables people to reap the social benefits of ‘wokeness' without actually undertaking any of the necessary legwork to combat injustice and inequality.” I like this definition because at the end of the day, the question that I have for you is, “Well, what are your motives?”

Yes, we're educators. We want to be there for our kids. We want to support them, and I think we can all agree that no matter what your views are, we want the best for our students. John Dewey said, “What the best and wisest parent wants for his child, that must we want for all the children of the community. Anything less is unlovely and, left unchecked, destroys our democracy.” I think we can agree that we want the best for our students as if they are our own flesh and blood, but what are your motives?

What Are Your Motives?

I did a training with a group of teacher candidates a while ago. A good professor colleague of mine invited me to lead the training, and he asked me talk about equity in education. After providing my lecture, I opened the floor for some Q&A. I love to do Q&A because when I prepare a lesson for some group with whom I'm going to work, I assume that I'm delivering information and engagement based off what is needed. I love to follow up with Q&A because maybe I missed something or maybe I didn't touch on a question or a topic that an individual in the audience might have had.

A young white woman raised her hand. She said, “I am finishing up my teacher program soon, and I am very into equity work. I want to be the best teacher I can be and be there for my students. Should I go to an urban school, or should I go to a suburban school?” I remember responding with, “I can't answer that question. What are your motives? I don't know you. I know nothing about you. I don't know if you are saying, ‘I feel like I can do good at an urban school, teach kids, and help provide a voice and advocacy work. Should I go to a suburban school, provide a voice, and teach our students in those schools about social justice.'” I went on to say, “The bottom line is, be your authentic self. Kids can tell when someone is putting on a show. Kids can tell when someone's motives aren't genuine. Just because you're an educator does not mean that your students, parents, guardians, and community know that you have the best intentions. You can say that in your opening welcome letter. You can say that in your weekly newsletters, but are you showing that through your actions? Whether you decide to work in a school that's primarily Black and Brown or at a primarily white school, I think at the end of the day, we're doing our kids a disservice if our intentions aren't genuine. Are you coming to a school because you feel like you need to save that community? Are you coming to the school because it's just another paycheck for you? Are you coming because you recognize that for our educational system to change and for us to develop future good citizens, we must respect each other and respect our different opinions? We must learn to help others. We need you to be there to support students in that manner and teach them those other life skills and prepare them for life outside your classroom.”

I don't believe in the phrase “preparing students for the real world” because school is the real world as well. However, preparing them with the skills they need to operate as adults is not indoctrination. It's just teaching your kids to be good people and good human beings. What are your motives?

Unfortunately, I sometimes get to the place of trying to figure out what's next. We live in a world, especially if you're in the United States, where the media dictates a lot of our beliefs. I have a newscaster friend who once told me the way the media selects stories. The mantra was, “If it bleeds, it leads.” It often takes a tragedy for folks to start to listen. We support various causes for whatever reason, but I always wonder sometimes if there is more that I can do as Sheldon Eakins? Did I do enough? Can I do more? Are there topics on my podcast that I haven't covered that I need to cover? Are there topics that I should cover more? I question myself a lot because as I say on my Leading Equity Podcast every time, “Welcome advocates.” I talk about being an advocate. I say it in my newsletters. I talk about advocacy, but sometimes I wonder, am I doing enough?

I believe that if I were to say that I'm an ally, I feel like that's a self-proclaimed title. I don't know a lot of people who call each other allies; maybe it's my circles that I hang around, but I don't know a lot of people who say, “Oh yeah, that individual is an ally.” I hear many people say that they are an ally to someone else. They give themselves that title, but if I were to ask one of their students or if I asked a parent who knows them or a colleague who knows them, what would their response be? Would they say, “Yeah, I believe that this person is an ally.” Then, I guess it also depends on the answer to the question, “Is that person okay with just being a safe space?” My good friend, Ken Shelton, always says, “Safe for who?”

Becoming a Disruptor

Years ago, I lived in Oregon, and I joined the NAACP because I wanted to join a national organization. I figured I wanted to be a part of the movement. I have absolutely nothing against the NAACP, but my experience in this national organization made me really think, Is there more that I could do if I'm not affiliated with a group or an organization? I signed up to be a member and started attending the meetings. We would talk about various initiatives that we were working on. One meeting, I looked at the chapter president, thinking, He seems a little frustrated. It seemed like sometimes he was hitting walls. He would say, “Okay, I just met with this individual” or “I met with this organization” or “I met with the city's this or that, but it still didn't produce the outcomes that we were hoping for.” Sometimes, it seemed like the doors would get closed in our faces.

We were advocating, organizing, and talking about different initiatives that we would love to see changed. A lot of the stuff was simple stuff. It wasn't even a big deal like passing new laws or mandates. Some of it was just simple strategies such as getting some new books at a school that could utilize books but didn't have the funding. (Crickets.) Some of it wasn't the biggest ask if that makes sense. You may not be aware that this is happening, but it seemed like sometimes (a lot of times rather) folks just didn't want to hear what we had to say. I believe the defense mechanisms for many folks in positions of power would be triggered when we would approach them with our concerns. Could it have been because we were affiliated with a national organization dedicated to civil rights and equality?

During my time as a member of the NAACP, a white supremacist named Dylann Roof went into a church and killed Clementa C. Pinckney, Cynthia Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel L. Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson. Nine innocent church members were worshipping. All of the sudden, our phones started ringing off the hook. “Can the NAACP come speak? Can you participate in this vigil? Can you do this? Can you do that?” I started thinking, Man where were you before this? It seemed like sometimes we were hitting walls, and then suddenly, tragedy happened, and people wanted to listen. They said, “Now, we want to hear what you have to say, but we want to hear what you have to say regarding this recent tragedy.” I hate that it takes tragedy sometimes for folks to want to listen. Even when they want to listen, often they want to listen to only what they want to hear. They say, “Just make your statement about what happened. We don't have a statement of our own, so we will just use what you say and second it.”

There's that level of comfort. I get it. Conversations at any level regarding race may be difficult for some of us. Again, I appreciate my time as a member of the NAACP; I just started to think that I might be able to do more as an individual versus my affiliation with a recognized entity. Sometimes, when people see those national organizations and people know what they represent, some folks automatically will start to get defensive, or they automatically think or assume that you have an agenda because you're with that group as opposed to me being Sheldon and advocating as a member of the community.

When you look at the definitions of ally and disruptor, according to Merriam-Webster, the definition for ally is “to join yourself with another person, group, et cetera, in order to get or give support.” See, nowhere does it say anything about actionable steps in that definition. I can get or give support, but how does that look? I prefer the term disruptor. You might hear people say co-conspirator, and I think advocacy and activism can be put in there as well. However, I like the term disruptor, because the definition of a disruptor is “to break apart; to interrupt the normal course or unity of; to break apart.” An advocate is a person who recognizes that we do live in an unjust society. Advocates are not satisfied with the status quo, and they're willing to speak up on behalf of others.

My final question to you is, “What are you?”

Acknowledgments

The idea of writing a book was a dream of mine, and the opportunity to publish this book came right at a time when I was dealing with personal challenges in my life. I could not have accomplished this goal without the support and prayers from Dr. Sawsan Jaber, Dr. LaWanda Wesley, Dr. Josue Falaise, Dr. Naima Duncan, Mr. Joe Truss, Ms. Mona Elleithee, Ms. Sandra Clough, Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, and Mr. Alex Horton. You are all influential people in my life. Thank you for allowing me to be vulnerable with you and lifting my spirits.

To my Leading Equity Center team, Sara Price, Popsy Kanagaratnam, Darlene Reyes, and Margaret Harris-Shoates, thank you for believing in me and Leading Equity. Sara, I can't thank you enough for helping me stay organized and editing my transcripts. Popsy, you have been with me since the very beginning, and your work with the Weekend Voice is priceless. Margaret, you are one of the most creative individuals I know. Thank you for all of the resources that you have designed for me. Darlene, you have done a phenomenal job working with our student affinity groups. I know that you will continue to do great things. Without the support of the Leading Equity Center (LEC) team, this book would not have been written. Thank you all for your roles in supporting this work and easing my writing stress while maintaining the LEC.

Furthermore, I would like to thank the students and staff at the Shoshone-Bannock Jr./Sr. High School. I learned so much from my time working with you. Thank you for embracing me and making me feel like a member of your community. The generosity and fellowship humble me. I truly believe the motto “We are a small school…but a big family.”

I would be remiss if I did not mention Ms. Jenny Magiera and the rest of the OVA family for the continued support of the Leading Equity Center. My experience in Chicago helped me develop the storytelling skills that have allowed me to confidently speak on stage and ultimately share my stories throughout this book.

I am thankful for the conversations I have had with Principal Kafele, Ken Shelton, Dee Lanier, Ron Madison, Jeff Gargas, and Jorge Valenzuela. I consider all of you as brothers and appreciate your perspectives of education that have inspired many of my thoughts for this book.

Writing is not my favorite thing, as I tend to write as I talk. It's often hard for me to translate my thoughts into readable content. That's why I always say that I podcast for a reason. I want to thank Tom Dinse for your honest feedback and editing of this book. I also thank Dr. Joel Boyce for your editing services.

To Amy Fandrei and the rest of the Jossey-Bass/Wiley team, thank you for believing in this work.

Finally, I want to thank my family. To my parents, Dr. Lewis Eakins and Ms. Denese Eakins. Thank you for your faith, prayers, and guidance. To my sister, Colleen, and my brother, Justin, thank you for being the best siblings anyone could ask for. To my two children, Laila and Sheldon Jr., thank you for never complaining when I had to write, for your patience, and for being the most amazing kids. Daddy loves you.