Inspiring Equity Action

Lead With a Flashlight Not A Club

After reading Chapter 4, participants will develop a system to consistently recognize, interpret and respond to confirmation bias and change aversion actions demonstrated by staff members when leading equity efforts. (Confirmation Bias, p.55/Change Aversion, p.59)
After reading Chapter 4, participants should identify and describe success areas that can support initial equity efforts (Building on Past Successes, p.61)
After reading Chapter 4, participants will work with peers, mentors, district personnel to identify models or examples of related equity efforts through readings, data, exemplars, or any manner that promotes self-reflection and possibility thinking. (Grow Methodically, p.63)

Cognitive Bias: This is the tendency of the human brain to process experiences in predictable ways.
Confirmation Bias: The human tendency to seek out, remember, and focus on information that supports one’s point of view.
Threat Aversion: The human tendency to respond to potential changes to habits and established routines as a threat.
Opportunity Framing: Proposing an alternative way to view a situation from the current reality to a vision of change that is posted as an opportunity.

Equity leaders can inadvertently come across in ways that block equity messages and generate resistance to change if they are not aware of the equity leadership behaviors that must be developed to transform policies and practices in settings that are unwilling to change.
Equity leaders must understand the threats of confirmation bias and change aversion while initiating changes to the system and site.

- Continue to reflect on your own mindset regarding race and privilege
- Begin to dismantle inequities for all students and staff (policies, practices, and procedures)
- Really listen to the voices of students, families and employees (what are their stories?)
- Go out and ACT NOW!

Thinking proactively regarding the equity proposals you are considering, where do you anticipate resistance and/or from whom given the fact everyone has a story and not everyone thinks the way you do? Do you see opportunities to implement Recognize, Interrupt, Repair (RIR)?
“Each time we engage someone, we are sharing our ideas, beliefs and opinions. Whether we are conscious of it or not, we are trying to influence that person’s way of thinking, quite often trying to sway them to our way of thinking.” (p.56) What conditions need to exist and which strategies can be used to initiate changes to the system and site.
Recall a time when you led with a club rather than a flashlight. Can you identify the confirmation bias and/or change aversion actions you encountered? What could you have done differently?

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