Rebecca Rogers & Meredith Labadie, Racial Equity, Educational Networks, and Educating for Change Conference Rebecca Rogers & Meredith Labadie, Educators for Social Justice, St. Louis

Our Mission Educators for Social Justice (ESJ) is a grassroots, teacher-led professional development group located in St. Louis, MO. We believe that educators are public intellectuals who gain strength and wisdom through working with other educators, parents and members of the community. Our mission is to develop and support socially just, equitable, and sustainable practices in schools and communities. We are committed to connecting educators across the lifespan and building networks to mobilize resources to promote progressive change. We work to promote the idea that developing socially just curriculum is a form of activism.

Our History Educators for Social Justice has brought local educators together around social justice work for the last 14 years. In 2015 we became an official 501c3 nonprofit organization. Our current board is made up of 8 members from across the St. Louis region (including K-12 classroom teachers and principals, University professors, and community educators) We organize a wide range of events for educators. Our biggest event annually is our Educating for Change Conference. We're currently planning our 12th annual conference. With our email listserv we reach over 500 local educators and activists.

ESJ Activities Ongoing Professional Development Inquiry to Action Groups (ItAGs) Book Clubs Film Screenings Workshops Annual Educating for Change Conference Courageous Educator Award ESJ Educator Grants

Inquiry to Action Groups (ItAGS) 4-6 meetings around a specific topic Meetings are participant led, with participants sharing knowledge with each other, engaging in collaborative inquiry, and deciding on action steps

Race & Education ItAG Meeting 1 in October: Introductions, setting goals, planning for upcoming sessions, activities led by a facilitator around practical strategies for exploring race with students. Meeting 2 in November: Reflections on previous meeting, sharing updates from our classrooms, presentation on restorative justice and talking circles, demonstration of a classroom activity for discussing race & racism. Meeting 3 in December: Reflections on previous meeting, sharing updates from our classrooms, presentation on culturally responsive teaching strategies, demonstration of ways to teach social justice vocabulary. Meeting 4 in January: Reflections on previous meeting, sharing updates from our classrooms, presentation on culturally responsive children's literature, demonstration of activities for extending the discussion of race in children's literature (through writing, drawing, and drama), planning of next steps. *Each session took place in a different local classroom, with presentations and demonstrations led by teachers in the group.

Educating for Change Conference: Workshops, Panel Discussions, & Guest Speakers

Educating for Change Conference: Educator Table Displays & Resource Tables

Organizational Ethnography Using Appreciative Inquiry (Clark et al., 2006), we are conducting an organizational ethnography of ESJ. Data sources include: Interviews with teachers in ESJ’s network (target: 35-50) “Ethnography of the day” of particular events Archives including organizational documents and conference programs

An emerging and evolving network of equity efforts The conference creates a space for educators to collaboratively explore how to teach children and youth in contexts saturated with inequality. Teachers report: Taking their learning from the conference and using it to infuse life and inspiration into their teaching; A renewed sense of professionalism because they are invited to share their expertise and are seen as curriculum designers; A growing awareness of organizations that they did not know exist; A sense of community knowing there is a network of teachers, across school districts who are committed to social justice. Collaborative transformative practice - Stetensko Visionary Pragmatism -Patricia Hill Collins

To find out more about ESJ, visit our website: www To find out more about ESJ, visit our website: www.educatorsforsocialjustice.org Collaborative transformative practice - Stetensko Visionary Pragmatism -Patricia Hill Collins Join us for the 12th Annual Educating for Change Conference on Saturday, February 4, 2017 at Maplewood Richmond Heights Elementary