1. The Power of Disruption through Collaboration
Overcoming Racism
Mason Fong, Dr. Jean Lubke, Karin Swainey
October 29, 2016

2. Agenda Introductions What does it mean to disrupt racism?
How does Equity Alliance MN disrupt racism through collaboration?
With whom can you collaborate to disrupt racism in your area?

3. Introductions Dr. Jean Lubke, Executive Director
Karin Swainey, Equity and Integration Consultant, AVID & Student Programming
Mason Fong, Achievement and Integration Student Program Coordinator

4. Who’s Here?
Name
Organization
What’s the focus of your work?

5. Disruption
to destroy, usually temporarily, the normal continuance or unity of; to interrupt
to radically change (an industry, business strategy, etc.), as by introducing a new product or service that creates a new market

6. Disrupt Racism in PK-12 Education
to destroy, usually temporarily, the normal continuance or unity of; to interrupt
to examine policies, procedures that exclude
to examine curriculum, access, pedagogy
to understand personal bias in decision making
to radically change (an industry, business strategy, etc.), as by introducing a new product or service that creates a new market
to provide services
to alter schedules
to establish new priorities

7. Disrupting Racism in Our Work
What does disrupting look like in our work?
Raising questions
Challenging priorities
Raising awareness of status quo and internalized bias
Identifying practices and policies that aren’t equitable
Expanding curricular knowledge
Deepening skills and strategies of culturally responsive pedagogy
Youth development

8. Disrupting Racism in Our Collaborative
Learn from one another
What’s working? What’s not?
Pilot projects tried in one and expanded to include others
Mutual Accountability
Don’t want to fall behind what others are doing
Multiple Perspectives
Different experiences, different communities

9. Partners in Equity and District Leaders as Disruption
Organizations (WMEP, MSBA, MnEEP, Hum. Ctr., YWCA-Mpls., YMCA, AMSD, MASA, EdMN, etc.)
Share resources (joint web database); hold to high quality standard; mutual accountability
Joint work / larger common voice
District Leaders’ Collaboration
Supts., Dir of Curr/Inst., Equity/Integration Leaders
Hold each other accountable; share information;
disrupting single views

10. Classroom Partnerships as a Disruption
Who are our partners?
School Districts
How do we collaborate?
Physical classroom exchanges with racially isolated districts and non-racially isolated districts.
Technology integration between physical exchanges
How do we disrupt?
Teacher PD around culturally responsive teaching
Students build relationships with others who are different from them

11. Kindergarten Readiness Camp as Disruption
Who do we partner with?
School Districts
How do we collaborate?
Students integrate, who have had little to no preschool experience, from racially isolated districts and non-racially isolated districts to learn how to be prepared for Kindergarten.
How do we disrupt?
Giving traditionally underserved students the opportunity to participate in a “preschool-like” experience and be better prepared.

12. AVID as a Disruption Who do we partner with? School Districts and AVID
How do we collaborate?
Leadership monthly collaborative meetings, trainings
How do we disrupt?
Giving AVID students the opportunities to take courses in the summer for credit because the class schedules serves as a barrier for most students.
Challenging the districts to review and improve their identification and support practices

13. YEB and ASP as Disruption
Student Enrichment Programs: Lovin’ the Skin I’m In, Synergy, Custom, and Youth Executive Board
Who do we partner with?
Schools & Community Partners
How do we collaborate?
Retreats & After School Programs
How do we disrupt?
Allowing students to have a space to discuss and come up with solutions.

14. Professional Development as Disruption
Raising awareness of status quo and internalized bias
Equity Coaching with Jamie Almanzan
training peer educators and administrators to provide feedback and coaching to develop teachers’ and administrators’ understanding of cultural self, cultural others, and our interactions in the classroom
FL, R, SSP, WSP-MH-E, and WBL
Second year of program
Seeing inequity in scheduling, this group asked EA-MN to offer summer PE and Health for current AVID students

15. Professional Development as Disruption
Identifying practices and policies that aren’t equitable
Summer PE/Health
Alternatives to suspension--Restorative Practices Circle training
Lecture and Learn series
School to Prison Pipeline
Immigration 101

16. Professional Development as Disruption
Expanding curricular knowledge
African American History for Educators
Mni Sota Makoce: The Dakota Homelands Curriculum Project
English Learners in the Mainstream

17. Professional Development as Disruption
Deepening skills and strategies of culturally responsive pedagogy
Innocent Classroom
Cultural Ways of Communicating
Intercultural Developmental Inventory (IDI)

18. 6063• Hudson Road •  Ste. 218 • Woodbury • MN • 55125