Understanding Intersectionality to Create Brave Spaces

Every human has a blind spot – teachers grow cultural competency by embracing our awareness of intersectionality and the privileges and oppressions that are hidden in our blind spots. “Intersectionality is a way of understanding and analyzing the complexity in the world, in people, and in human experiences...Intersectionality as an analytic tool gives people better access to the complexity of the world and of themselves.” (Colling & Bilge, 2016, p. 2) Using this working definition of intersection, the Flint Hills Writing project teacher consultants will engage in workshop activities and their learning process gained from a two-day workshop and personal writing process. Along with workshop activities, teachers engaged in book discussions around books such as White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, We want to Do More than Survive by Bettina Love and the work of Layli Long Soldier, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota nation. Place-based learning experiences such as Troost Line, Kansas City Missouri and Brown vs. Board of Education Historical Site allow teachers to consider how to create learning experiences using the local sites as resources for both in and out of school engagement. During this workshop, teachers will explore identity work, resources and materials from GLSEN, mindfulness training as well as classroom activities adapted from Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara Ahmed.