“Courageous Conversation Courageous...

Pacific Educational Group, Inc. • 466 Geary Street, Suite 550 • San Francisco, CA 94102 • 415.346.4575

Glenn E. SingletonFacilitator

Developing a Leadership Learning CommunityDeveloping a Leadership Learning Communitythat Guides School-Wide Equity Transformationthat Guides School-Wide Equity Transformation

Minneapolis Public SchoolsMinneapolis Public Schools

Critical Race Theory and SchoolingCritical Race Theory and SchoolingEquity Team Seminar #3

December 11, 2007

““Courageous ConversationCourageous Conversation&&

Courageous LeadershipCourageous Leadership””

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Agenda

Courageous Leadership & Courageous Conversation

Intersession Progress Check-In

Race & Schooling Literature Circle: Singh, Hilliard and Pine

Critical Race Theory

Lunch: “The House We live In”

School-Wide Progress/Challenges (Banks)

Equity Local Team and Living Data

Review Intersession Exercise and Team Planning

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Minneapolis Public Schools

“Courageous Conversation & Courageous Leadership”District-wide • Schools • Classrooms • Community

December 11, 2007

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My Date Book

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December 11, 2007

KnowledgeKnowledgeCritical

RaceTheory

Practice

WillWillAnti-RacistLeadership

Passion

CapacityCapacitySystems Thinking

Persistence

SkillCourageous

Conversation

Practice

Systemic Equity Transformation Theory of Action

© 2006. Pacific Educational Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Equity is…Raising the achievement of allstudents while;

narrowing the gaps between thehighest and lowest performingstudents and;

eliminating the racial predictabilityand disproportionality of whichstudent groups occupy the highestand lowest achievement categories.

Anti–Racism is…Our conscious and deliberate, individualand collective action that challenges theimpact and perpetuation ofsystemic/institutional White racialprivilege, positioning and power.

Problem

CAUSECAUSESolution

Implementation

PassionPractice

Persistence

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December 11, 2007

Four AgreementsFour Agreements✶✶

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Six ConditionsSix Conditions1.1.2.2.3.3.4.4.5.5.6.6.

Courageous Conversation is the utilization of the Four Agreements, Six Conditions and Compass in order to

engage, sustain and deepen internalized, intra-racial, and inter-racial dialogue about race, racial identity andinstitutional racism;and is an essential foundation for examining schooling and improving student achievement.

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Courageous Courageous ConversationsConversations

CompassCompass

BelievingBelieving ThinkingThinking

ActingActingFeelingFeeling

MMoraloral IIntellectualntellectual

Soul Head

RRelationalelationalEEmotionalmotional

HeartHands &

Feet

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December 11, 2007

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Context: What anti-racist structures are in place in the organization to support equalaccess to and implementation of powerful learning? Do the organizational structuresdemand equity and demonstrate intolerance for racism?

NSDC Standards for Professional Learning

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Process: Are the learning processes in place designed to foster and model equal accessto powerful learning and to promote anti-racism?

Content: Do the learning designs provide for the honest examination of powerfulknowledge, skills, and strategies and ensure equity in student learning and achievement?Are the learning designs (themselves) models of ethical, equitable, anti-racist learningcommunities?



December 11, 2007

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What we need to know/do next…What we discovered…

What is not working out…What is going well…

Reflecting On Our Intersession Anti-Racist/Equity LeadershipReflecting On Our Intersession Anti-Racist/Equity Leadership

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December 11, 2007

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CriticalRace

Theory

Schooling

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What are the apparent intersections?

Which intersections will be Most Difficult for Our school to negotiate? Why?



December 11, 2007

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Equity/Race Literature CircleSmall Group Discussion Process and Norms

10” Sustained Silent Reading(Review)45” Small Group Prompted Discussion 5 “Reflection/Journal Write10” Facilitator Prompted Fishbowl15” Full Group Process Debrief20” Full Group Discussion

Small Group Discussion Prompts:•What is the authors’ point of view and why is the title of the essay…•Which part of the article resonates most with you? Why?•On page ___, column ____, paragraph ____, the authors describes…Comment on this.Reflection Prompt:How would you describe your personal participation in the small group discussion? How might you have enhanced yourparticipation?Fishbowl PromptWhat was the quality of conversation (e.g. full participation, personalization and clarity in understanding multipleperspectives)?Full Group Prompt:•What equity/anti-racism leadership roles and responsibilities does the article suggest?•How would you feel about engaging your staff in the discussion? What, if any, support, resources would you need?

Limit Conversation to Discussion Prompts; Stay on TopicUse the Text to Support Your Personal Conclusions and Point of View

Strive for Understanding; Avoid AdvocatingBe Mindful of Each Group Members’ Need to Participate

Be Succinct; Be Respectful8



December 11, 2007

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Small Group Discussion Prompts:What is the authors’ point of view and why is the title of the essay, “Rx for Racism: Imperatives for America’s Schools”

Which part of the article resonates most with you? Why?

On page 4, column 1, paragraph 3, the authors describe students of color as “universal strangers.” What thoughts do you have aboutthis description? How might this phenomenon affect teachers, administrators and parents of color as well?

Reflection Prompt:How would you describe your personal participation in the small group discussion? How might you have enhanced your participation?

Fishbowl PromptWhat was the quality of conversation in terms of full participation, personalization and clarity in understanding multiple perspectives?

Full Group Prompt:What equity/anti-racism leadership roles and responsibilities does the article suggest?

How would you feel about engaging your staff in the “RX for Racism” discussion? What, if any, support, resources would you need?

Literature Circle“Rx for Racism: Imperatives for America’s Schools”

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December 11, 2007

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Small Group Discussion Prompts:What is the author’s point of view and why is the title of the essay, “The Canary in the Mine”?

Which part of the article resonates most with you? Why?

On page 6, paragraph 2, the author explores the relationship of “effort and reward” and how this notion differs for “voluntary”versus “involuntary” minorities. What thoughts do you have about this theory?

Reflection Prompt:How would you describe your personal participation in the small group discussion? How might you have enhanced yourparticipation?

Fishbowl PromptWhat was the quality of conversation in terms of full participation, personalization and clarity in understanding multipleperspectives?

Full Group Prompt:What equity/anti-racism leadership roles and responsibilities does the article suggest?

How would you feel about engaging your staff in the “Canary” discussion? What, if any, support, resources would you need?

Literature Circle “The Canary in the Mine”

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December 11, 2007

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What, When, Why?

Critical Race Theory (CRT)

Professionally

Education Policy, Programand Practice

b) ThePermanence ofRacism(page 27)

a)Counter-Storytelling(page 27)

PersonallyCondition #1: CRT In My life?

TheoreticallyCRT Theme

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December 11, 2007

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e) Critique ofLiberalism(page 29)

Critical Race Theory (CRT)

Professionally

Education Policy, Programand Practice

d) InterestConvergence(page 28)

c)Whiteness asProperty(page 28)

PersonallyCondition #1: CRT In My life?

TheoreticallyCRT Theme

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Equity/Anti-RacismEquity/Anti-RacismSchool TransformationSchool Transformation

Action PlanningAction Planning

Courageous Conversation

“Examining Presence and Role

Whiteness”

Critical Race Theory

“Whiteness AsProperty”

School Transformation

Action Plan

Equity/Anti-Racism

SchoolImprovement

Plan

Equity/Anti-Racism Goal #1

Goal #1

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Questions…Learnings…

Disconnecting…Connecting…

““The House We Live InThe House We Live In””

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December 11, 2007

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“The American Black and White Racial Binary”

Counter-Story as a Strategy for Establishing Legal Racial Precedent

Structural Determinism Interest Convergence/Liberalism

Essentialism and Anti-EssentialismIntersectionality

Strange Institutional Marginalization

Calculated/Acceptable Loss

The Convergence ofWhite Racial Domination and

Economic Exploitation

PASSING

“Beyond Love” “Whiteness as Property”

A Diagram of Critical Race Theory

Idealist Materialist

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December 11, 2007

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9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

Challenge(s)Strength(s)Perspective(s)Name

Building Our Equity Local Team

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Living Data: Beginning School-Wide Action Research

Just Who Are Our Lower PerformingBlack and Brown Students?

1. Drawing from the Bottom2. Teacher Voluntary Involvement3. Choose or Assign from Outside of Classroom4. Get Together on a Regular Basis to Develop Relationship

Which instructional processes, content and/or contexts support theachievement of our Black and Brown students?

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December 11, 2007

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Elements ofStaff Development Exercise #3

School-wideReview and Practice: Agreements and Conditions (#1 and #6)Introduce: CompassRead and Discuss: Singh, Hilliard and PineLiving Data: What Makes Our Lowest Achieving Students of Color Smile?Administer School-wide Assessment: Where are we now according to Banks?

School-wide Tatum Study Group (Optional)

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E–TeamReads: “Transforming Urban Schools…” by Noguera; “Only For My Kid”, KohnAnalyze Staff Assessment of Equity Progress according to Banks instrumentBuild PortfolioE-Summary of School Progress

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December 11, 2007

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What Does it Mean to be White?What Does it Mean to be White?

“I repeatedly forgot each of the realizations on this list until I wrote it down. For me white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject. The pressure to

avoid it is great, for in facing it I must give up the myth of meritocracy. If these things are true this is not such a free country; one’s life is not what one makes it;

many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own.”

Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”Wellesley Collage Center for Research on Women, 1988

Six Conditions of CourageousSix Conditions of Courageous ConversationConversation6. Examine the presence and role of 6. Examine the presence and role of ““whitenesswhiteness”” and its impact on the conversation and the problem being addressed. and its impact on the conversation and the problem being addressed.

Color:

Culture:

Consciousness:

Primary, Presence, Positioning “White Privilege”Stages of Avoidance: Ignorance to Competing Victimization

Being, Feeling & Acting White“White Racial Bonding”Avoidance • Individualism • Universality •De-Contextualization

Thinking & Reasoning White“White Racial Identity Development”Color-blindness • Guilt/Shame • Anger • Helplessness • Anti-Racist

“The virtual invisibility that whiteness affords those of us who have it, is like psychological money in the bank,the proceeds of which we cash in every day while others are in a state of perpetual overdraft.”

Tim Wise, “Membership Has Its Privileges”Rethinking Schools, Summer 2002

Whiteness

““Beyond DiversityBeyond Diversity””Introduction to Courageous Conversation andIntroduction to Courageous Conversation and

a Foundation for Deinstitutionalizing Racism & Eliminating the Racial Achievement Gap2007-2008

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Rugged Individualism•Self-reliance•Individual is primary unit•Independence and autonomy highly valued andrewarded•Individuals assumed to be in control of theirenvironment – “You get what you deserve”

Competition•Be #1•Win at all costs•Winner-loser dichotomy•Action Orientation•Master and control nature•Must always “do something” about a situation•Aggressiveness and Extroversion•Decision-Making•Majority rules (when Whites have power)•Hierarchical

Justice•Based on English common law•Protect property and entitlements•Intent counts

Communication•“The King’s English” rules•Written tradition•Avoid conflict, intimacy•Don’t show emotion•Don’t discuss personal life•Be polite

Holidays•Based on Christian religions•Based on white history and male leaders

History•Based on Northern European immigrants’experience in the United States•Heavy focus on the British Empire•Primacy of Western (Greek, Roman) andJudeo – Christian tradition

Protestant Work Ethic•Hard work is the key to success•Work before play•“If you didn’t meet your goals, you didn’twork hard enough”

Emphasis on Scientific Method•Objective, rational linear thinking•Cause and effect relationships•Quantitative emphasis

Status, Power and Authority•Wealth = worth•Heavy value on ownership of goods,space, property•Your job is how you are•Respect authority

Time•Adherence to rigid time schedules•Time viewed as a commodity

Future Orientation•Plan for future•Delayed gratification•Progress is always best•“Tomorrow will be better”

Family Structure•Nuclear family (father, mother, 2.3 children is the idealsocial unit•Husband is breadwinner and head of household•Wife is homemaker and subordinate to husband•Children should have own rooms, be independent

Aesthetics•Based on European culture•Woman’s beauty based on blonde, thin – “Barbie”•Man’s attractiveness based on economic status, power,intellect•Steak and potatoes; “bland is best”

Religion•Christianity is the norm•Anything other than Judeo – Christian tradition isforeign•No tolerance for deviation from single god concept

Judith H. Katz ©1990. The Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Some Aspects and Assumptions of White Culture in the United StatesWhile different individuals might not practice or accept all of these traits, they are common characteristics of most U.S. White people most of the time.



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3. reintegration – feelings of guiltor denial may be transformed intofear and anger directed towardspeople of color. May be frustratedif seen as a group rather thanindividuals

2. disintegration – growingawareness of racism and Whiteprivilege as a result of personalencounters. This new awarenessis characterized by discomfort

1. contact – Whites pay littleattention to the significance oftheir racial identity – “I’m justnormal.” Perceive themselves ascolor-blind and completely free ofprejudice

Helms’ Modelof White Identity:

4. pseudo-independent – the individualgains an intellectual understanding ofracism as a system of advantage, butdoesn’t quite know what to do about it

5. immersion/emersion – marked by arecognized need to find more positiveself-definition. Whites need to seeknew ways of thinking about Whiteness,ways that take them beyond the role ofvictimizer

6. autonomy - represents theculmination of the White racialdevelopment process. A personincorporates the newly defined view ofWhiteness as part of a personal identity.The process is marked by an increasedeffectiveness in multiracial settings

“Understanding Whiteness In A White Context”fromfrom Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

1. Where am I?

2. Where are my “White” colleagues?



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