A partnership between the 威尼斯人平台 and the Redlands Unified School District (RUSD) is making it possible for educators to learn how to affect social change in their schools.
“It’s really about supporting 老师 who are interested in doing social change work with their students and who were looking for direction,” said U of R 教育学院 Professor Brian Charest. “We offered to facilitate a series of workshops that would get district educators to reflect on ideas about leadership and social change, then think about developing goals and action plans that they could take back and work on with their students at their schools.”
查雷斯特和米凯拉·比约克教授, with the help of 教育学院 Naslund Endowed Dean Mario Martinez, 撰写了与俄罗斯国防部合作的提案, under the auspices of the recently established Inland Empire Educators for Social Justice (IEESJ). An extension of the 教育学院’s Center for 教育al Justice, the IEESJ was formed at the urging of the School’s undergraduate and graduate students.
Martinez said the IEESJ and its new partnership fits well with the School’s vision to inspire justice-related dialogue and action. “The partnership between the 教育学院 and RUSD exemplifies how we work with our community on social and leadership issues to strengthen justice and equity in education and beyond. We feel it a privilege to work with RUSD on this important initiative.”
一系列的三个工作坊
About 25 RUSD participants were selected to participate in the IEESJ’s three-workshop program, which included assessments before and after each session.
在第一次预评估中, participants were asked to speak honestly about how comfortable they feel doing activist work and what activist work looks, 听起来和感觉都很像. “‘激进主义’这个词,或者这个词的任何重复, 会让人望而生畏, 这取决于你在和谁说话, 或者你在哪里, 它也可能成为争论的源头, 而不是轻松,比约克说.
The post assessment after the first workshop revealed many of the participants typically felt stressed for time. That information influenced the content of the second workshop, which included a 30-minute session on mental health, 创伤, and taking care of oneself while also caring for students.
“The first workshop was about self-awareness and self-reflection,” Charest said. “第二个工作坊就是以此为基础, from the self-reflection and wellness into kind of a critical consciousness.”
The third workshop will focus on action and goal-setting, giving participants an opportunity to think about their work and how they can make it align more intentionally with justice, 社会正义, 和反种族主义.
积极的反馈
Temika Morris-Washington, an assistant principal with the Moreno Valley Unified School District and a doctoral student in the University’s 教育学院, 帮助促进了工作坊吗. She said the partnership is a “true blessing” that allows her, 作为社会正义的领袖, 把实践和理论结合起来.”
She observed the workshops have benefited from the honesty of RUSD 老师 and leaders about the current struggles: “Their truths are paramount in preparing (globally) for the return of 老师 and students, who will desperately need districts that are social-justice minded to help ensure our students are prepared for a world that is not always just and fair. I have seen firsthand that educators and leaders are hurting just as much as our student and parent community is hurting. We are all trying to figure out the best route for healing, 的合作, 为了公平和公平的教育.”
RUSD Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Sabine Robertson-Phillips ’92 said the partnership with IEESJ has given participating 老师, 管理员, and classified staff the tools they need: “Mikela and Brian are passionate educators and skilled facilitators. The feedback from participants has been excellent. We look forward to our final workshop where participants will address the invaluable impact of mentorship as they define their role as advisors to students in our district.”
比约克和查理特都希望成为学生, 老师, and other school community leaders will learn to eng年龄 in democratic practices, through the work that they do with the 老师 who participate. “It's also about movement-building and social change work,” Bjork said. “To create space for those kinds of things to happen is really exciting for both of both of us.”
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