A Social Justice Newsletter for Educators

“normalize being open to learning from those younger than you” – Tao Leigh Goffe, PhD, Tweet from July 24th, 2021

Is it time to design the future?

Here in my hemisphere, it’s time to ring in a brand new school year. One of the things I have always appreciated about teaching is the cyclical nature of the work. We begin, we end and later, begin again. Fresh starts year after year – what’s not to love? Of course, there’s also the steady march of time. Spending our days among children and young adults, we are literally surrounded by growth in multiple forms, flavors and fashions.

For those of us cracking open a new calendar, we’ll likely welcome lots of new colleagues and quiz each other about how our respective summer weeks were spent. The buzz of anticipation is undeniable. Although the pandemic remains, we know what’s needed to keep our community as healthy and safe as possible.

After a month’s pause, I want to share a couple of podcast episodes and articles which helped me think about some of the identity work we need to pursue in order to show up fully for our students and to encourage them to do the same.

Gender and sexuality: Everybody’s Included

Over the summer I spent a lot of time thinking about gender identities and sexual orientation and how we speak to these in school with students and colleagues. Emily Meadows is a consultant for international schools on LGBTQIA inclusion. In conversation with Laura Davies and Dr. Sadie Hollins she reveals ways that we can be intentional about our commitment to ensuring safe, welcoming environments for all of our students. This episode is essential listening!

An absolute favorite podcast episode I stumbled upon and then listened to three times was a conversation between non-binary actor Ryan Ken and host, Jeremy Herte on the show, Let’s Talk Bruh. This year, the show’s focus is on divesting from patriarchy and for me it was healing to hear people who are not women speak openly about the damage and constraints of toxic masculinity. Watch the clip below to get a taste.

Preparing ourselves for change

Although not in podcast format, this interview with Dr. Kim Parker, one of the co-founders of the #DisruptTexts movement, and School Library Journal is still ringing in my ears. Her advocacy for student choice and voice in developing their reading lives resonated deeply with me as an educator and parent.

“People are really thinking about, what does it mean to diversify one’s curriculum? I think that first, before we do that, we have to think about, what’s the internal work that we have to do? Because if we don’t do that work, even the most diverse texts can be damaging for kids. We have to start with ourselves. “What’s the work that I have to do? Why do I really want to put different books in kids’ hands? Am I ready? What’s the preparation I need?” – Dr. Kim Parker

Dr. Parker’s words also provided inspiration for a meditation of my own on ways to think about our personal and institutional approaches to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice in our immediate context. In “Who We Are, Where We Sit, And Why It Matters,” I argue that positionality offers us a lens through which we can better determine how we arrive at desired outcomes.

Wondering about your first day openers? Alex S. Venet, author of Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education, published an extremely relevant blog post about making sure that our introductory getting-to-know-you activities build, rather than break trust. I appreciate this post for the way Alex Venet moves us from assumed common sense to necessary critical wisdom.

As usual, I’ve given you lots of things to consider and also celebrate!

When I started this newsletter in Fall of 2019, I didn’t know exactly what it would become. I just knew I wanted to share the cool stuff that might also help us think about social justice broadly and in a sustained manner. If you’re new, welcome to the club! And if you’ve been around for a while, thank you for sharing this with colleagues and friends! I’m looking forward to another trip about the sun with you all!

Be well,

Sherri