Antiracist Classroom Climate
Antiracist Classroom Climate
Glenn Singleton defines antiracism as:
Anti-racism can be defined as conscious and deliberate efforts to challenge the impact and perpetuation of institutional White racial power, presence, and privilege. To be anti-racist is to be active. Simply claiming to be non-racist and to ‘not see race in others’ passively allows racism to continue. Anti-racist schools move beyond the celebration of diversity and create communities in which it is possible for students to talk about how they experience unfairness and discrimination and to heal.
Ibram X Kendi defines antiracism as:
To be antiracist is to think nothing is behaviorally wrong or right -- inferior or superior -- with any of the racial groups. Whenever the antiracist sees individuals behaving positively or negatively, the antiracist sees exactly that: individuals behaving positively or negatively, not representatives of whole races. To be antiracist is to deracialize behavior, to remove the tattooed stereotype from every racialized body. Behavior is something humans do, not races do.
Video overview of PD resources.
Modules- 30-60 minutes each
Modules on the 6 best practices to address disproportinality
Available through LMS (under Curriculum "Six Best Practices to Address Discipline Disproportionality")
You must log into LMS through Apps page or MPS homepage prior to clicking link below.
All modules have a check for understanding at the conclusion of the module. Check for understanding must be completed for LMS enrollment to be updated.
Six Best Practices to Address Disproportionality PD Flyer
Defining behaviors
Talking about race
Engaging student voice
Vulnerable decision points
Re-entry after discipline
Universal Supports through an anti-racist lens
Modules on antiracism
Available through LMS (under Curriculum "Antiracism")
You must log into LMS through Apps page or MPS homepage prior to clicking link below.
All modules have a check for understanding at the conclusion of the module. Check for understanding must be completed for LMS enrollment to be updated.
History of Race in Milwaukee & America
Microaggressions
Multiple Perspectives
Allyship & Becoming Antiracist
Modules on Classroom Climate
Modules on Culturally Responsive Problem Solving
Available through LMS (under Curriculum "Culturally Responsive Problem Solving")
All modules have a check for understanding at the conclusion of the module.
Team Readiness Module (Available in LMS)
Participants will reflect on team processes and norms. Specific attentoin will be drawn to strategies and best practice to increase team readiness.
Reframing Deficit Mindsets (Available in LMS)
When teams and individuals engage in conversations about students, families, and communities ourbias can lead to making deficit mindset attributions that need to be reframed. These can be unfounded, untrue, or unalterable attributions about students, families, and the community.
Identifying Vulnerable Decision Points (Available in LMS)
While discussing data, students, and communities our bias shows up during what are called vulnerable decision points. How as a team and individuals can you identify when you are engaging in a vulnerable decision point? Identifying these is the first step towards interrupting them and engaging in culturally responsive problem solving.
Interrupting Bias within Vulnerable Decision Points (Available in LMS)
After you have identified vulnerable decision points within team meetings, how can you and your entire team work to interrupt your bias? There are strategies a team can engage with to ensure once bias is identified, you are able to interrupt bias and address the needs of students.
Non-MPS PD Modules
Understanding microaggressions (Dr. Newell and WI DPI)
School of the Art Institute of Chicago- Learn & Unlearn: An Anti-racism Resource Guide
School Professional Development (45-60 minutes with discussion)
Role of Bias within Discipline (Pear Deck Slides)
Session goes through what is bias, how it affects all of us daily, how we all play a role in systemic racism, and how we can become antiracist educators and improve outcomes for all students. Participants will reflect on their own biases, look at examples of systemic racism in society and education, and genuinely reflect on their personal next steps in the work.
Comprehensive Modules- 3-5 hours each
Universal Supports through an Anti-racist Lens within Classroom Climate 4-5 hours (Google Class Code kxl6jyn)
Self-paced module with various activities that can be completed in one day or over time. LMS updated upon completion of all aspects of modules and final check for understanding completed.
Participants will learn research-based best practices to adopt into your classroom to create an anti-racist classroom community and address issues of disproportionality of discipline and classroom community. Topics include the universal supports of relationships, expectations, pre-correction, re-direction, bias and vulnerable decision points, and what it means to be antiracist in the classroom. Activities will involve strategies for building relationships, creating expectations, teaching expectations, redirection strategies/classroom consequences, acknowledgement of students, bias, and strategies to build all universal supports through a lens of creating a antiracist classroom community.
Brave Space to Talk About Race- 4 total hours
Google Slides (force copy into your Google Drive)
Brave Space to Talk about Race is a 6 part professioanl development experience for groups of individuals. Each session is 45-60 minutes depending on the conversation. The power of the experience is with the conversation. There are no options to go through the professional development individually or self-paced. Schools interested in having the series facilitated can contact Jon Jagemann. The Pear Deck slides are available for any school or group looking to faciltiate the series with their team.
Participants will engage in research-based best practice and protocols to create a brave space in which they can have conversations about race and create an antiracist classroom community. Protocols from Glenn Singleton's Courageous Conversations about Race. and the work of other authors addressing antiracism education. Online sessions will have participants practicing various protocols and having conversations with collegues towards a shared journey in this work. Activities will involve building a community, four agreements when doing this work, research-based protocols for talking about race, conditions that must be present to create a brave space to talk about race, discussion of diversity and privilige in our universe, bias, Milwaukee segregation, and next steps.
Antiracist Administrator Resolutions
Antiracist Administrator Resolutions- 3-4 hours (Google Class Code rl253vc)
Self-pace modules that do not have to be completed at one sitting or in one day. LMS udpated upon completion of all aspects of modules and final check for understanding completed.
Participants will learn research-based best practices that admininstrators can adopt when addressing discipline in order to address issues of disproportionality of exclusionary practices. Topics covered include defining behaviors, building a school community, two-way partnerships with families, vulnerable decision points and bias, and re-entry of students after discipline. Activities will involve building a school community, defining behaviors, classifying behaviors on behavior referrals, bias, vulnerable decision points when assigning discipline, re-entry after discipline, and strategies to create disciplinary systems through a lens of creating a antiracist classroom community.
Or available below:
Introduction/Reflection
Reflect on "How diverse is my universe?"
Read "How Ibram X. Kendi's definition of antiracism applies to schools"
Building a school community
Watch video "Engaging student voice in school leadership"
Reflect on "What is one thing you can do in your role to embrace student voice school-wide in leadership decisions, school culture and school policies/practices?
Reviewing any of the following articles on relationships with families
Defining Behaviors
Watch video "define behaviors for discipline"
Review Parent/Student Handbook on Rights, Responsibilities, and Discipline
When ready complete "Defining Behaviors on Referrals" Indicate how you would define each behavior
Watch video "t-chart and pi chart"
Look at your school's T-Chart. Reflect on the following:
Are there any behaviors under classroom managed that should be under office managed or vice versa?
Under classroom managed, are there any behaviors that are "situationally inappropriate?" How could you as a school move towards a pi-chart and have an understanding school-wide of the role of situatinoally inappropriate behaviors?
Watch video on "Validate/Affirm, Build/Bridge (VABB)"
Reflect on VABB Scenarios and how you might validate/affirm and build/bridge
More resources from The Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning
Vulnerable Decision Points
Watch video on "What is Bias?"
Watch any additional optional videos on bias
Take the Harvard Project Implicit Test: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
You will select the test on "race" (fifth from top)
You will need about 15 minutes in silence with zero distractions or disruptions
Reflect on bias here: https://forms.gle/K7ZFrpFDX9p9xfrx5
Watch video "vulnerable decision points"
Vulnerable decision point reflection: https://forms.gle/gwJyFyfS2p6qdCUL8
Re-entry after discipline
Watch video "re-entry"
Additional videos/resources
Re-entry Welcome Conference- example conversations
Do out of school suspensions prevent future exclusionary discipline?
Summary
Read "How to be an antiracist educator" (ASCD)
Complete Check for Understanding
If you are interested in participating in a weekly book club at the district level please complete this form. Participants are required to obtain the book themselves through purchasing, Overdrive, or another online library. Book clubs will be created based on interest on an on-going basis.
Book studies and guides available.
Glenn Singleton- Courageous Conversations about Race
A powerful book focused to open one's eyes to race and systemic racism throughout education and society and introduces the reader to a set of protocols to use at all times going forward when talking about race. Book is activity and discussion based while looking at data with race, or addressing concerns of systemic bias throughout the school.
Dr. Bettina Love- We want to do more than survive
Written through the lens of her personal experience with years of being an educator, Dr. Love focuses on the premise of "if education does not work for all students, it doesn't work for any students." She asks the reader to reflect on ways we all engage in spirit murdering in our schools and how we can flip the narrative and embrace more freedom dreaming with the students we are educating.
Monique Morris- Pushout
Looking specifically at the criminalization of Black girls in schools and the disproportionality of discipline Black females face across the country compared to their White peers. Monique Morris looks at the policies, practices and cultural illiteracy that are causes these unequitable outcomes for Black girls and the effects this discipline has on the girls.
Ibram X Kendi- How to be an antiracist
Ibram X Kendi writes a narrative of his life starting as a child through his recent experiences with cancer and his reflection on racism, systemic racism and becoming an antiracist throughout his journey. Ibram X. Kendi bases his narrative on the premise that you are either antiracist, working to change the policies, practices, systems and institutions that promote racism and unequitable outcomes, or you are racist. There is no in-between, there is no being color bling or saying "I am not racist." Policies, practices, systems, institutions and individuals are antiracist or they are racist.
James Nelsen- Educating Milwaukee
Written by an MPS educator, the book traces the history and origins of the school chice, open enrollment Milwaukee and MPS segregation and artifacts of those historical pieces remain. James Nelsen aims to provide a historical lens for the environment in which MPS finds themselves today.
Anthony Greenwald- Blindspot
Book explores the hidden (and not hidden) biases everyone carries with them daily from a lifetime of exposure in society about age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, sexuality, disability status, and nationality. Time is spent to look specifically how our mind builds these biases and how our mind works to hide them from our own consciousness. The authors ask you to reflect on how these biases affect your likes and dislikes, your judgements, your relationships, you day to day interactions at work and home, and other aspects of our lives we take for granted.
Richard Milner- These kids are out of control: why we must reimagine classroom management for equity
Details specific practices, tools, beliefs, dispositions, and mindsets that are essential to better serving the complex needs of our diverse learners, especially our marginalized students. Goes into: what it means to be culturally responsive, how to decide what to teach, build relationships, assess student development, and four best practices for building classroom culture that is both nurturing and rigorous where all students are seen hear, and respected.