Chapter 5

Growing An Equity Culture

I Want You to Want To

Learning Targets

After reading Chapter 5, participants will be able to (using the Outward Mindset Model) identify common staff interests and positions.

Leaders may use S.A.M. from Outward Mindset to reflect and facilitate discussions. Leaders must be able to See Others, Adjust Efforts and Measure Outcomes.
Leaders cannot work to promote or protect an image of ourselves. We must focus on results over image and create an environment where employees can be vulnerable and innovative. https://youtu.be/aMMV5UJ4gH0

After reading Chapter 5, participants will become familiar with landmark legislation regarding the history of segregation in the American school system.
After reading Chapter 5, participants will be able to identify their staff’s or department’s individual resistance to change.

Equity Concepts

Equity Vision: This is the state of being able to study a situation and discern whether and how it promotes or suppresses equitable outcomes for students.
Leadership Acumen: This is an expression of leadership that is astute and measures that provides the restraint required to take meaningful action in a thoughtful manner.
Interests vs Positions: This is the ability to dig beneath the words people use and get to their interests: that is, their needs, fears, desires, or values that result in those words, rather than accepting statements of strict positions on issues.

Main Ideas

Equity leaders cannot be removed from the work. Equity leaders must work in collaboration with staff to plan for and implement sustainable change.
Equity leaders need to understand the difference between adult interests and positions.
Establish and communicate clear parameters.

Our Common Goal

To create inclusive and equitable learning environments for all

Our Call to Action:

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

Equity Leaders must inspire people whose fundamental view of equity does not match their own. We must have an equity eye that is equipped to identify inequitable practices. In order to develop equity vision, leaders must have a historical knowledge base. Leaders must develop the ability to take meaningful action in a thoughtful manner.

When leading a change movement, equity leaders must:

Presume positive intentions
Demonstrate empathy
Be sure that we ourselves can do whatever we are asking others to do

Guiding Questions

After reading Chapter 2, you conducted an “Equity Discovery Study”. Revisit your equity discovery study, what actions will you take as a result of the study?
Does your site/department currently engage in practices that unintentionally perpetuate inequitable practices? If so, how? Is this a response to prioritizing adult interest, employees or community? What are the unintended consequences of this practice? What practices can you put in place to challenge these policies and practices?

Equity leaders must have “a substantive knowledge base of institutional racism and school practices that result in inequitable outcomes for students.” (page 71)

Did you know that Mendez v. Westminster paved the way for Brown v. The Board of Education? https://youtu.be/SIMWdfSxoh8 or https://youtu.be/ihJKcxRKDRg

If your staff (either collectively or individually) is resistant to this work, can you identify which of the four categories it falls under? Once you determine the area of resistance, how can you plan to support your staff based on their needs?
1. Limited Knowledge: In what areas may the staff need to increase their capacity in order to confidently implement the new proposal?
2. Lack of technical expertise on how to deal with the new educational situations: What support will the staff need in order to move forward?
3. Anxiety about nor being able to navigate potential politics: Whose personal interests will be impacted by the new proposal?

A sense of loss of some sort (power, respect, prestige, autonomy): How will you empower your staff? What parameters need to be in place to meet the equity objective?

Page updated

Report abuse