The Racial and Cultural Identities – MSAN Seminar in the Cambridge Public Schools Edward

 Who’s here? What would you like to know?  History of the class  Syllabus – major components, units, req’s  Unit 1: Getting to Know Each Other & Achievement Gaps  Unit 2: Identity  Unit 3: Culture  Unit 4: Race  Unit 5: Systems & Special Topics  Challenges and Opportunities with the Course

 Understand how your own values and attitudes about people and the world formed and how they affect your thinking and behavior  Present day social inequalities have historical roots  Learning about social inequalities compels us to take action.

 Reading assignments (2-3x/ week)  Weekly Essays  Daily discussions  Friday Free Write  Projects / presentations  2 nd Quarter Action Project?  Head – Heart - Hand

 Head: Wondering and learning about what we observe  Heart: Understanding and showing empathy for others’ experiences  Hand: With fire in the heart for change, DO something to make it better

 Stay critical, not cynical  Do the readings  Be open to a change of mind and heart.  Be prepared to be challenged by each other

“course outline and expectations” in the GoogleDrive folder > Key Readings

 Icebreaker / Teambuilder every day for 2-3 weeks  Binder clip, Mix it up, 5 things, sneeches…  A Letter to Me  Conocimiento  Looking at our own achievement data  Reflection  Boykin and Noguera  What are some possible reasons for the gaps we see?

 Tatum: Who am I?  Looking Glass Self  “I am..” and Circles of Multi-dimensional self  The Other – dominance/subordinance  The Other Wes Moore  Stereotypes (stereotype threat)

Norm / advantaged“otherness” RaceWhiteOf Color GenderMale Cis-gender Female Transgender ReligionChristian (protestant)Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Catholic, Atheist AgeMiddle ageYouth, senior citizen Sexual OrientationStraight / heterosexualGay, Lesbian, Bisexual Wealth / ClassWealthyPoor, working class AbilityAble-bodiedDisabled (physical, cognitive, psychological)

 3 step process:  First: We imagine how we appear to others  Second: Based on others’ reactions to us, we try to figure out if other people see us the way we see ourselves  Third: We use our perceptions of how other people see us, to develop feelings about ourselves (e.g. self esteem)

 Who am I? The answer depends in large part on who the world says I am. (Tatum p.18)  Who do my parents say I am? Who do my peers say I am? What message is reflected back to me from my teachers? My neighbors? Store clerks? (18)  Do I see myself in the cultural images around me (TV, magazines, community leaders)? Or am I left out of the picture all together?  Other people are the mirror in which we see ourselves

Culture Iceberg Culture Chest American of the Year Race, Ethnicity, Nationality – social construction

Above water: Explicit culture Below water: Implicit culture

LayerLayer examplesVisibility OuterLanguage, symbols, and artifacts (food, music, clothing) Always visible MiddleCustoms, practices, interactions (rites of passage, table manners, greetings) Sometimes visible, sometimes just understood InnerShared values, norms, beliefs, and expectations (fairness, fears, mysticism, friendship, relations with family) Not visible Typically just understood. “ways of being”

Images of Race Historical Perspectives: Race: Power of Illusion Race, ethnicity, and nationality Racial Identity Development

- Stereotypes, Prejudice, Discrimination - 4 Is of Oppression - American Myths - Pathways of Causality (Wes Moore, City of Lawrence)

Within You BetweenIndividuals Government Structural Systemic Cultural Business Nonprofits

 Criminal Justice: policing, Michelle Alexander and The New Jim Crow, School to Prison Pipeline  Gender / Sexuality / Sexual Orientation – How race makes gender and gender makes race  Socioeconomic status / class / poverty – intersectionality  Environmental justice – Flint, MI, asthma  What is Social Justice – Michael Sandel & Justice, Affirmative Action, funding social programs

 Picking a topic related to the course  Poster / slide presentations  Policy briefs  Challenges of moving to action

 Honors / CP  Diversity of the class  Creating the culture of the class to support the discussions  Sequence and pace