Equity 101: Starting the Equity Conversation
The word “equity” is everywhere these days– but what does it really mean? What if it means something different to me, to my colleagues, and to my community? A crucial part of the “equity conversation” is creating meaningful opportunities for people to connect to why equity matters to them. Connecting to their “why” helps people to individually and collectively define what equity means and looks like in their own context.
Schools, districts and organizations often name “equity goals”. But in order to set — let alone reach — equity goals, you need to create conditions for people to make sense of what equity means, why it’s important, and how to approach it together. Working with equity at the center requires people to authentically bring who they are and their life experiences to the table. This isn’t always easy in a professional setting, but it is a necessary part of getting people ready to lead for equity.
Learn some of the why, what, and how of NEP’s over 20 years of experience in initializing equity conversations in service of transforming the life trajectories of historically underserved youth and families. In our view – equity is a process, not just an outcome. Walk away with new insights and some concrete tools for getting the equity conversation started in your context
Focal Students: Equity in the Classroom
Moving from “big picture” conversations about equity to effectively changing classroom practices can be a big hurdle for schools and districts. At the National Equity Project, we’ve supported major shifts in classroom practice and gains for students by working with teachers to take a focal student approach: learning deeply from a few students to change practices to impact greater numbers of students. We use our signature Learning Partnership framework – drawing from the work of our colleague Zaretta Hammond (author of (https://crtandthebrain.com/) Culturally Responsive Teaching & The Brain (https://crtandthebrain.com/) ) (https://crtandthebrain.com/) – to guide this focal student approach.
Learning Partnerships enable educators to build trust with students across differences of identity (race, gender, class, family background, life experience, etc.) and leverage that trust in service of deeper ownership—and ultimately acceleration—of student learning.
Join us to explore:
* What learning conditions have we created that either inhibit or promote student success?
* What kind of relationships increase engagement and ownership of learning for students – especially those who have not been successful in schools and/or have a history of negative experiences?
* Why and how might we use a focal student approach in service of working toward equity?
* What does it mean to build a Learning Partnership between teachers & students? How can we get started in building that partnership?
This webinar is designed for teachers and anyone who supports teacher practice. You’ll be introduced to the National Equity Project’s Learning Partnership framework, hear some of our experiences with how a focal student approach can be most effective, and receive some practical resources to get you started.
Implicit Bias, Structural Racialization, and Equity
Increased interest in the topic of implicit bias provides an opportunity to open and deepen important conversations in our organizations and communities about equity, belonging, and ultimately justice. Most work on implicit bias focuses on increasing awareness of individuals in service of changing how they view and treat others. But to lead to meaningful change, an exploration of implicit bias must be situated as part of a much larger conversation about how current inequities in our institutions came to be, how they are held in place, and what our role as leaders is in perpetuating inequities despite our good intentions.
Our success in creating organizations and communities in which everyone has access to the opportunities they need to thrive depends on our willingness to confront the history and impacts of structural racism, learn how implicit bias operates, and take action to interrupt inequitable practices at the interpersonal, institutional and structural level.
