Opening Community Circle (10 minutes)
Racial Autobiography Activity: Participants will write their personal experience(s) with race and the impact it has had on their lives. Invite two to three individuals to share. Feel free to use a prompt such as “ When was the first time you noticed your racial identity?”
Community Agreements (10 minutes)
- Review the agreements. Which were helpful to you in the last session? What will you need to commit to today? Is there anything we want to add?
Discussion: RTWT Protocol (50 minutes)
Framing: CRSE requires that we foster and engage in our own learning and awareness about historical as well as contemporary forms of bias and oppression. When we start by recognizing that our individual identities and vantage points shape and frame how we view and interact with the world, we gain a deeper understanding of not only where those biases and oppressive practices exist but also how to disrupt and dismantle them.
Questions
- Which identities hold power in our society? What does this mean for you in your school? Community?
- How does your racial identity and experience influence your experiences within school as you interact with students, their families, your peers and the community in which you teach? What are some steps you have taken personally to disrupt inequities in your school/system?
- What stumbling blocks have you faced? How might you overcome these?
Key Takeaways
- After reading through the articles and engaging in your racial autobiography, we discover that race, as an identity marker, is on the table 100% of the time.
- It is crucial that we acknowledge this as we engage with groups of people, particularly our students who identify in various ways and thus face bias and oppression within our schools that implement practices and policies that perpetuate them.
- We, as individuals have to become more conscious, reflect on our own identities and determine where we sit in these systems in order to hold ourselves accountable for the active and consistent disruption of biases and oppressions our students face.
- Asking ourselves what’s in my locus of control? What can I do right now? Is key! It begins with me!
Reflection - Journal (7 minutes)
- What is something you are learning that is challenging your thinking or beliefs? Affirming your thinking/beliefs?
- What is one action I/we can commit to doing after this session to work toward BIPOC and LGBTQ+ Liberation?
- What is one action I/we can commit to stop doing after this session to work toward BIPOC and LGBTQ+ Liberation?
Closing Community Circle (7 minutes)
Pick one of these to share as you go around the circle.
Foster critical consciousness about historical and contemporary forms of bias and oppression
