Submitted by: Jane Belton
In our meeting on October 21, we discussed some of the DEI work that has already been done, focusing in particular on changes we have individually made to our curriculum and practices in response to the BLM movement. We then identified several potential strands for our focus this year:
Ideas / opportunities / questions / next steps:
- Reframing texts by white authors — How might we reframe certain texts to decenter whiteness?
- Jekyll and Hyde in 9th grade reframed by Titus Kaphar Ted Talk and subsequent discussions of how Stevenson constructs whiteness through erasure. Additional framing texts could highlight the experiences of Black people in Victorian times. Final project could involve some purposeful re-imagining or adaptation of the text.
- Text selection: What are we choosing to include or omit and how are we teaching the texts we do include by white authors?
- Questions about “problematic” texts/authors or genres that have been historically male-dominated. Do we bail on texts or help students reread/re-see them?
- Practices: How do power and white supremacy show up in our classrooms and in our in teaching practices. How does white supremacy manifest itself in peer-to-peer interactions and teacher-student interactions? How might we disrupt/shift that?
- Questions about biases in assessing participation
- Writing: When and how do our writing assignments expect our students to code-switch? How can we encourage students to do deep and authentic writing where their own voices are welcome and celebrated?
- Communication: How can we be more transparent and clear with students (and families) about choices that are being made to disrupt systems of oppression and white supremacy.