7 First Steps: General Resources to Acquaint Members with Schooling for Equity
The following resources should be used both at the beginning of the school year and throughout the year as discussion prompts for your committee’s work together. The committee should start each year with the “Passion” exercise and should choose among the other resources to acquaint the members with equity work. You may also choose to use these resources with your broader school community in diversity programming.
Please click on the images for further information. (Please note: the resources will open an external webpage).
“Passion: An Essential Characteristic of Anti-Racist Leadership”
Source: Courageous Conversations About Race
This group exercise takes about 45 minutes and asks committee members to articulate how and why passion is an essential component of equity work.
“Implicit Bias, Structural Racialization, and Equity Webinar”
Source: National Equity Project
From the National Equity Project, this webinar describes the clear connection between individual implicit biases and structural racism (and strategies for addressing this in schools and elsewhere). The concepts and language are appropriate for introducing grades six through adults to the basic concepts at play in anti-bias education work.
26 Mini-Films for Exploring Race, Bias and Identity with Students
Source: The New York Times
A true wealth of resources, this collection includes short films (2-10 min), short stories, reflections, research, and other media that can be used as discussion prompts or combined into a full diversity program. Themes run the gamut of racial, ethnic, religious, and gender identities. Many of these resources are also appropriate for younger audiences.
“Advancing Equity in Early Childhood Education”
Source: National Association for the Education of Young Children
This guide targets early education school leaders and educators in employing developmentally appropriate strategies for teaching and schooling with equity at the forefront. It is useful reading for elementary schools interested in starting or participating in Equity Committee work.
“Racial Justice in Education Resource Guide”
Source: National Education Association
This resource is best suited for classroom teachers who are searching for guidance on how to have productive conversations about race in the classroom.
Abolitionist Teaching and the Future of our Schools
Source: Haymarket Books and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
This interview with three preeminent scholars in abolitionist teaching sheds light on the experience of Black students in the classroom, the barriers placed in their way, and what educators can do to be truly anti-racist educators for liberatory teaching.