Leading with Racial Equity in Early Learning: Understanding Yourself is a First Step

H E AT H E R K A W A M O T O & M I C H E L L E M O R S E , E Q U I T Y I N E D U C AT I O N P R O G R A M M A N A G E R S , P S E S D

H K A W A M O T O @ P S E S D . O R G & M M O R S E @ P S E S D . O R G

Whose land are we on?

Whose Shoulders Do You Stand On to be Here Today?

Stay Engaged

Don’t let your heart and mind check out!

Experience Discomfort

Agree to experience discomfort so that we can deal with issues of race in an honest way.

Speak your truth

Be honest about your thoughts, feelings and opinions. Say them in a way that is true for you.

Expect and accept non-closure

Accept that you will not reach closure in your understandings about race and race relations.

There is no such thing as a “quick fix.”

Intent and Impact

Recognize that what we say may have an unintended impact, even though we may have positive intent. We need to own the impact.

Community Agreements and Practices

Courageous Conversations About Race, by Glenn Singleton

CLOCK BUDDIES!

Using water as a metaphor, how do you feel about talking about race and racism? What shape is your water?

Mellody Hobson: Color Blind or Color Brave

Advocate and Systematize

Collaborate and ImplementLeadership

of Self Why?

Leadership of OthersHow?

Leadership in the Extended CommunityWhat?

Vulnerability is not weakness, and the uncertainly, risk, and emotional exposure we face every day are not optional. Our only choice is a question of engagement. Our willingness to own and engage with our vulnerability determines the depth of our courage and the clarity of our purpose; the level to which we protect ourselves from being vulnerable is a measure of our fear and disconnection.

- Brene Brown

from Daring Greatly

Interrogating your Personal WHY

When You Know Your Why

How does knowing your why shift your

water?

When you know your WHY, what does it mean to do anti-racism work with people whose water is different than yours?

3 Types of RacismIndividual Racism:Pre-judgment, bias, or discrimination by an individual based on race.

Institutional Racism:Policies, practices and procedures that work to the benefit of white people and to the detriment of people of color, often unintentionally or inadvertently.

Structural Racism:A history and current reality of institutional racism across all institutions. This combines to create a system that negatively impacts communities of color.

Identity

Identity Toss

Reflections 1. What did you learn about yourself?

2. How might this activity relate to the real-life experience(s) of children, families, and staff that you serve?

3. What do some children, families, and staff have to “give up” in order to fit in to the system?

Messages Received

κόκκινο

μπλε

πράσινο

μοβ

μπλε

κόκκινο

μοβ

πράσινο

Color Names in Greek

Red

Blue

Green

Black

Black

Blue

Green

Black

Red

Blue

Implicit Association

SocializationWhich are the girl’s toys? Which are the boy’s toys?

Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, State of the Science: Implicit Bias Review 2014, p.39. www.KirwanInstitute.osu.edu

“Debiasing” : Interrupting bias• Raise awareness and talk about implicit bias

• Make time to sincerely understand diverse individual’s experiences

• Seek and learn about people who are the opposite of the common stereotype

• Harvard Implicit Association Tests: “Project Implicit”

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/education.html

Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, State of the Science: Implicit Bias Review 2014, www.KirwanInstitute.osu.edu

How do the messages we received and our biases impact our work?

Verna Myers Ted Talk (Nov 2014)

20 Self-Aware Things I Will Do to Be a

More Equitable Educator