Below are workshops, lectures, and training modules most frequently provided by Seattle Girls' School. Most modules can be adjusted to address students, parents and guardians, faculty and staff, administration, or boards. We have also customized or created new modules for schools, non-profits, and other organizations. Please contact Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee, Professional Outreach Specialist, if you have any questions about these modules or are interested in a custom workshop for your organization.
Affinity Groups: Why, What, and How
For Adult Audiences, 60 min - 3 hours
Many organizations utilize affinity groups to support members of the community, to increase sense of belonging for members of historically marginalized groups, and to improve overall inclusivity. And yet, affinity groups are often misunderstood and objections can arise. This session informs - what are affinity groups, what do they do, and how do they support people and communities? This session can also provide tools - how do we communicate what affinity groups are (and what they are not) and support them, whether we are members of affinity groups or not? Finally, this session can improve skills - how do we facilitate affinity groups well and avoid common pitfalls?
[The goals and length of the session is determined by clients in conversation with Rosetta.]
Beyond the Why and Into the How: Practical Steps Toward Inclusive Classrooms
For Adult Audiences, 2 hours - full day
We know the startling opportunity gap in education and society. We've learned about identity, culture, communication, and power and how they privilege some and disenfranchise others. We are convinced as to why diversity and inclusion are important, but we are unsure or unclear as to how this intention becomes positive impact on student lives. How do we turn commitment into action, and what are some strategies and best practices to become the educator with whom all children thrive?
Beyond Sticks and Stones: Helping Youth Navigate Conflict and Bullying
For Adult Audiences, 90 minutes - 3 hours
With the heightened awareness of bullying in today's world, it's hard to know how to support our children. What is the difference between everyday conflict and bullying? How do boys and girls experience aggression differently? How do identifiers like sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, ability, and socioeconomic status affect aggression? Learn about different types of aggression and practical tools in responding to conflicts and bullying.
Cultural Competency in Independent Schools: What Leaders Need to Know
For Adult Audiences, 90 minutes - 3 hours
As leaders of our institutions, we need to have strategic vision and global understanding to manage meaningful change. What demographic and philosophical changes make diversity and inclusion an imperative rather than a value added? What factors help us understand where the school is on the spectrum of exclusive clubs to inclusive organizations? How do we move our communities strategically at the pace that is right for the school? What are some best practices for getting the right people to the school and leveraging their talents? How do we sustain our positive growth over time? Discuss these questions and gather tools to help our schools become the leading edge of cultural competency, inclusion, and equity.
Implicit and Unconscious Bias: Bridging the Distance Between Professed Values and Daily Behaviors
For High School Youth and Adult Audiences, 2 - 3 hours
We see ourselves as open and inclusive people, accepting of differences and treating all people with dignity, kindness, and respect. We want to create and be part of communities that are inclusive and culturally competent toward all people of all backgrounds. Yet, there are implicit and unconscious biases that get in the way of our best selves, and intentions aren't enough to guide our behaviors. Learn the science of cognitive biases we all have and what we can do to mitigate them within ourselves and our organizations.
Inclusion in the Early Years: Why, What, and How
For Adult Audiences, 90 minutes - 3 hours
Folk wisdom tells us young children don't notice differences or have any biases, yet research is telling us otherwise. What are age appropriate ways to develop intentionally inclusive and identity conscious children?
Navigating Microaggressions
For Middle School and High School Youth and for Adult Audiences, 75 min to 2 hours
How do you navigate microaggressions - those words and actions that offend or hurt, even though they may be unintended? Learn some of the obstacles of authentic conversations, as well as practical strategies for what to do or say when you are the target of, witness to, and agents of microaggressions.
No Joke Zones and Pump Ups
For Grades 4 - 8, 30 - 45 min
Everyone has something that can bother them, even if it doesn't bother anyone else. Everyone is also uplifted by different things. Learn about No Joke Zones (NJZs) and Pump Ups, identify your own, and communicate them with one another to become a better friend, classmate, and community member.
Parenting with Identity in Mind
For Adult Audiences, 90 min to 2 hours
How do we learn about our various group identities like female, African American, Buddhist, gay, middle class, etc.? Why do some people develop proud and healthy self identity and others experience own-group shame and hatred? Learn how we can, in age appropriate ways, instill positive self identity in our children and coach them to be positive influences on others' identities. Together, we can co-create inclusive communities that work toward success for all.
Parenting with the Teen Brain in Mind
For Adult Audiences, 90 min to 2 hours
Adolescence is a turbulent time of changes, searching for identity. Learn what brain science, identity development, and educational psychology has to say about raising connected and resilient kids primed to learn and be successful in school and life. What are some practical tips to help kids maintain healthy developing brains? How do you maintain connections with your kids, even as they draw away from adults? This session will help you empathize with your teens and with yourself, as well as inform how you approach your teens in healthy and productive ways.
Safe to Brave: Courageous Conversations
For High School Students and Adult Audiences 2 - 3 hours
Talking about topics like identity, difference, and oppression can raise anxiety for many people, and yet we must have the conversation in our schools and our lives in order to be more inclusive and culturally competent. What are the fears and common pitfalls that keep us from broaching topics like race, gender, class, etc.? What are ways we might engage more authentically, respectfully, and effectively across difference? Learn to participate in truly courageous conversations.
Sugar and Spice But Not Always Nice: Gender, Bias, and Aggression in Adolescent Girls
For Adult Audiences, 90 min to 3 hours
Odd Girls Out. Queen Bees. Girl Bullying. When did we lose our sweet little girls? Examine the cross-section of socio-emotional development, gender bias, and adolescence in the emergence of the “Mean Girl” phenomenon. What can we do as parents, educators, and supporters to promote healthy relationship among girls?
Talking to Youth About Heated Topics
For Adult Audiences, 90 min to 2 hours
Young people bear witness to challenging or traumatic events in current events, media, and our local communities. They are often trying to process thoughts, feelings, and reactions without our explicit help and guidance - thereby increasing their confusion and anxiety. We adults have a natural instinct to protect our children from harsh realities and yet prepare them to navigate this complex world - is it possible to do both? What are ways to talk about identity, difference, and justice in age appropriate ways? How do you reinforce your family's values without instilling disrespect for other perspectives? How do you coach them toward authentic and respectful dialogue across difference? Engage in these questions and more through this interactive session.
Train the Trainer: Interrupting with Care and Facilitating Difficult Conversations
For Experienced High School Students and Adult Audiences 3 hours - Full Day
As leaders in DEI work, we are often asked to lead courageous conversations among peers and/or students. What are useful ways to interrupt oppressive comments, jokes, and behaviors without losing trust as facilitators and guides? What are best practices for creating safe spaces for authentic dialogue? Gain practical skills and discuss pitfalls in this capacity building workshop for leaders.
The Trouble with Sameness
For Youth Grades 3-5, 45 min to 1 hour
In some ways, sameness is great - we have same hobbies, we go to the same school, etc. But in what ways does sameness get us into trouble? How does sameness lead to stereotypes, bullying, and other things we don't want to see in the world? Learn how appreciating differences and becoming allies to one another can make a difference.
Welcoming Differences
For Youth Grades K-2, 20 - 30 min
What are some ways we can approach differences so that everyone can share openly, feel "normal," and be valued for all their unique experiences and ways of being? Learn to accept likes and dislikes of others, be curious about something you’ve never seen before, and try things you’ve never tried.
What Boys and Girls Are Made Of: Gender and Sexuality Diversity
For Adult Audiences, 90 min to 2 hours
Gone are days when boys are made of "snips and snails and puppy dog tails" and girls are made of "sugar and spice and everything nice"... or are they? Children are barraged with messages about gender and heterosexual norms everywhere they go - their homes, their schools, the media, and more. Do you know what hidden lessons they are learning? How do gender and sexuality affect everything from boys struggling in school to girls dropping out of the STEM pipeline, from sexual harassment to anti-gay bullying, from eating disorders to plastic surgery? How do parents, guardians, teachers, and schools provide safe environments for positive self esteem, healthy identity development, and acceptance of differences?
What I Said and What I Meant: Improving Cross Cultural Communication
Primarily for Adult Audiences 2 - 3 hours
Humans communicate on many levels: spoken language, tone, body language, style and personality. The fact that we have complex cultural identities and a host of differing past experiences increases the probability of cross-cultural miscommunications. This workshop presents major cross-cultural communication theories, ways that cultural values, power, privilege and differences affect the way we communicate, tools for questioning assumptions, and ways to improve cross-cultural communications skills.
Who We Are: Identity Development for Educators and Youth
For Adult Audiences, 90 min - Full Day
How do we learn about our various group identities like female, African American, Buddhist, gay, middle class, etc.? Why do some people develop proud and healthy self identity and others experience own-group shame and hatred? How do identity dynamics show up in the classroom? Learn how we can, in age appropriate ways, support positive self identity in our students and teach them to be positive influences on others' identities. Together, we can co-create inclusive communities that work toward success for all.
Who We Are: Identity, Inclusion, and Allyship
For Youth in Middle and High School, 75 min - 2 hours
What are the various ways we identify ourselves: female, African American, Buddhist, gay, middle class, etc.? Why do some people develop proud and healthy self identity and others experience own-group shame and hatred? Learn how we co-author peers' identity as well as our own, how the cycle of oppression and cycle of bullying pressure us to reinforce stereotypes, and what we can do as allies to break these cycles and work toward inclusion of all.