Dr. Darnisa Amante-Jackson writes and speaks about a road map to guide work towards educational equity. Road maps guide us to our destination, and are important in times of uncertainty and learning/unlearning. If we know where we are going, we can prioritize and intentionally design the steps. In this post, I want to examine Amante-Jackson’s road map in order to deepen my understanding. I know that the work ahead will take time, many years, and that it begins with building a sense of belonging.
Systems change. When we know our destination and have a road map or framework to guide our work, we can have a greater impact on systemic change. Continuous improvement is guided by data-driven processes to measure impact and hold stakeholders accountable. Data helps change the culture of a system, and culture change means beliefs change. Without changing beliefs, we won’t see long term behavioral change.
The stages of the Dr. Amante-Jackson’s road map include:
- Diversity
- Belonging
- Inclusion
- Equity
She describes Belonging as the bridge between Diversity and Inclusion which have a space between them like the Grand Canyon. If students feel a sense of belonging, if they feel championed for, we can close the predictable gaps we see in schools. How do we build a sense of belonging?
- Ask students and adults how they define and feel belonging, and to what degree they feel belonging at school. Provide surveys on belonging and culture/climate.
- Nurture a sense of belonging for students, families, and staff. Implement collaborative processes and pay attention to power and voice within the processes.
- Prioritize building relationships. Show that we see and hear every person, we know their names, and we pronounce their names correctly (see What’s In a Name?).
- Encourage telling of stories about experiences, culture, and identity. For some, this will include the story of our names. Provide opportunities to learn about and affirm identities, and the intersectionality of identities. Celebrate culture.
- Ask adults to share their “why.” By understanding one’s “why” and the purpose of others, one can acknowledge, celebrate, and capitalize on the similarities and differences. People can be in community with each other.
- Assess the environment. Whose images are on the classroom and hallway walls? Whose are missing? Do texts contain windows into the experiences of others and mirrors where one sees experiences like their own?
“This is about deepening our humanity to each other.”
-Dr. Amante-Jackson
If we invest in our students and get to know their dreams, passions, and experiences, we can make learning experiences meaningful and authentic. Students will invest in learning. We will be able to measure impact by assessing student engagement and analyzing learning outcomes.
Every student deserves a sense of Belonging, especially those who currently do not feel they belong. This starts with the ideas above. To support teachers in this work, we need to support their social emotional learning. Now more than ever emotions should be acknowledged. Adults working with kids need to examine and explore their own identities. And we need to understand implicit bias and investigate microagrgressions.
I hope to write more about this in future posts. For today, I want to end with Dr. Amante-Jackson’s metaphor of Sisyphus versus Atlas. She says:
- You don’t have to push the boulder up the hill yourself. Develop a group of people supporting the work with you.
- Manage your expectations. Hold fast to the vision and manage your expectations on the pace of change. This change will take time, and includes both adaptive and technical aspects.
Resources:
Creating an Environment for Belonging with Dr. Darnisa Amante-Jackson (website)