(Re)Engaging with the Work as White Anti-Racist Educators

Aug 01, 2022 9:00AM—Aug 02, 2022 2:00PM

Location

Virtual

Cost $800 members; $650 group-rate; $1200 non-members

Categories , , ,

(Re)Engaging with the Work as White Anti-Racist Educators

SESSION 1: August 1, 2022 | 9:00am - 2:00pm

SESSION 2: August 2, 2022 | 9:00am - 2:00pm

ABOUT THIS ONLINE SUMMER INSTITUTE

Sara Ahmed describes the nature of whiteness as worldly, meaning that it is simultaneously everywhere and invisible. This is certainly true in our schools. Whiteness is in our curriculum and our teaching pedagogies. It guides our relationships with our colleagues, our students, and our families. And it is deeply embedded in our school cultures and daily routines. As white educators, we’re rarely aware of the worldly nature of whiteness. Yet, the past few years have pushed us to recognize that the system that privileges whiteness, and our roles within it, cause harm. Many of us met the 2020 moment with urgency. We wanted to do more, be better! Yet in the two years since the racial reckonings of that summer, many of us have struggled to stay engaged in the conversations we had begun. This has led to disappointment and frustration on the part of colleagues, students and families of color, and sometimes within ourselves. Yet, this disengagement also begs the question, how do white educators stay engaged when we experience whiteness as worldly and when we benefit from the status quo? 

This workshop is a two-day opportunity to deeply (re)engage in learning and dialogue about the worldly nature of whiteness and how we can better recognize it, examine it, and disrupt it. We owe this (re)engagement to our students, colleagues, families, and ourselves. As white people, we have the privilege of disengaging when it becomes “too much” or for any other number of other reasons. (here’s looking at you, pandemic). Yet our colleagues, students, and families of color do not have this choice and our opting out comes with a painful message that many people, sadly, have come to expect. However, the more we take on whiteness, the more we  examine and grapple with its impacts, the better we are able to stay engaged in the conversations we desperately need to be having. This is an invitation to spend some time this summer getting deeper into the work of examining the worldly nature of whiteness so that you can help dismantle its harm in your school in meaningful and sustainable ways. 

This workshop is designed to:

  • engage you as your whole person, and will include somatic practices (examining and dismantling whiteness is a full body experience that we cannot sustain without strategies to self-regulate)
  • explore counterstories to help us better understand the ways that whiteness functions (learning about whiteness and how it functions from different perspectives is key to escaping the worldly and invisible nature of it)
  • ask questions that often don’t have easy answers, solutions, or quick-fixes (Part of staying engaged is realizing and accepting that this is a long game. We have to get better at sitting in the messiness)
  • help build community among white educators who are committed to understanding whiteness and its impacts in our schools and beyond. (You’ll leave the workshop with an accountability partner to support you in your work as a white, antiracist educator)

WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE

This workshop is an affinity space for white self-identified educators.

Do you work at an independent school outside of California? Click here for a discount on our non-member registration!

ABOUT THE FACILITATOR

LizaGleason_new

Liza Gleason has been an educator in the Bay Area for more than 25 years. She earned her teaching credential and Masters at Mills College at the start of her career and is currently back at Mills working toward a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Liza has taught at the elementary and middle school level in both public and independent schools. She is passionate about anti-racist teaching practices. As a humanities teacher, after years of using mostly traditional resources and texts, she worked to create an anti-racist curriculum that decentered whiteness. Currently, along with her graduate school work, which focuses on white teachers and anti-racism, Liza coaches individual teachers and teaching teams on their pedagogy and instruction at Live Oak School and for CATDC as part of the Equity as Excellence team. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, an 11-year-old son, and a rescue dog named Sammy. 

Cancellation Policy

Life happens. We understand that there will be times when you cannot attend a workshop that you have registered and paid for. We strive to be as helpful and flexible as possible when things out of your control happen. Please visit our FAQ page for detailed information about our cancellation policy and answers to frequently asked questions about enrollment and membership.