Submitted by: Tom Murphy

Wed. 10/21

Attendance

Tom, Ann, Peter, Charlene, Momi, Suzanne, Jessica

• We started with brief introductions: name, how long at LREI, what you teach, and what you like most about teaching during a pandemic.

• Next was a writing prompt (5 minutes): What do you consider an example of your best practices when it comes to DEI?

• We followed with breakout rooms to discuss best practices (10 minutes paired high school middle school). As they shared they were to look for any common themes or issues.

• We came back to the main room and shared. We discussed how to decenter the white narrative and include not just diverse voices in our curriculum but how to ensure all students felt represented. We shared examples from our curriculum. The need to look for sources written by POC’s was also highlighted.

• The importance of student choice was emphasized as a way of getting student buy-in.

• There was some sharing of teaching approaches. There was a consensus that allowing time for reflection through writing was essential.

• Another challenge that was discussed was how to make it “safe” for POC’s to be fully involved in the class while not being responsible for educating or representing any particular community.

• We ended with a conversation about to make sure that the voices we shared aren’t just those of the “oppressed” but that narratives also showed that the marginalized had agency. “Black joy” was a term used to counter the catalog of oppression that can drive an attempt to redress the traditional narrative.

• As we looked ahead to our next meeting we examined the questions from the opening presentation.

• We decided that we would bring our favorite resources and that someone would volunteer to share a particularly effective lesson.