In my last post, I talked about a personal lived experience that stood with me through time. Here is the excerpt:
“Growing up, I frequently felt like an outsider reading textbooks, watching movies and getting introduced to case studies that involved people who did not look like me. As such, I always struggled to A) find meaningful connections to my learning and B) visually see what I would become as a working adult. This lack of representation impacted my self-esteem too. If people like me weren’t portrayed as leaders, or were not at the forefront of big discoveries, then what was there for me to do?”
5 years ago, I started my teacher training. As I worked with different students, particularly students who appeared disengaged or inconfident, I couldn’t help but wonder if they felt left out of their learning experiences/communities as I had. This concern resonates with me to this day, and so my HMW question was:
How might we prepare and equip educators in teaching with a culturally responsive lens in order to foster a DEIJ mindset in students.
Daunting, right?
In talking about this question with my group, it seemed like a strong question. However, I received great feedback on how broad it was. In reading a book called, “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, I can understand the importance of simple goals and simple questions to kick off a process. In one of his chapters he states that, “creating an implementation intention is a strategy you can use to pair a new habit with a specific time and location”. In other words, the start of your process should clearly state what your first step will be, as opposed to the bigger goal you want achieve. In reading my HMW question, it is clear what my goals are. 1 – to prepare and equip teachers in culturally responsive teaching and 2 – foster a DEIJ mindset in students. What isn’t clear is where I start and where my sphere of influence is. So, my NEW HMW question is:
How might we identify strong opportunities for culturally responsive teaching in the [SCIENCE] curriculum in order to equip teachers with fostering a DEIJ mindset in students.
Now, I know what my first step is – my science curriculum. Something I know very well. Something that isn’t all that daunting to me.
In thinking of individuals who can help guide my inquiry, I know that there is no shortage of educators from our Cohort21 team who have had experience with this. I also hope to talk to my students and experts in the various areas of DEIJ. Over the years, I have seen (and been a part of) this phase in education where we celebrate educators as connectors between learners and knowledge, as opposed to celebrating sages on the stage. With this, I’m more re-assured that I don’t need to be the DEIJ expert to pursue this process, I just need to know how to ask the right questions.
Thanks so much for this post – awesome resources and great purpose to your work. Check out my blog where I reviewed Culturally Responsive Teaching. Also, I have read Atomic Habits and love love love this book as an educator and athlete!
As for where to start, you mentioned your students and I really encourage you to start there too!
Hey Anna Luiza,
I love how you are getting more specific about your question. When we can ask the right question, we are so much more likely to land in the right area for our learning. We might not totally answer the question, but the right question will get us around the right people and inside the right conversations (which usually means we just make up new questions TBH).
Garth and Justin might poo-poo this, but I am actually wondering if the “How might we” opening to your question is not the right direction for this? Hear me out…
The question:
How might we identify strong opportunities for culturally responsive teaching in the [SCIENCE] curriculum in order to equip teachers with fostering a DEIJ mindset in students.
Will give you an answer about how you could find opportunities. Do you want to ACTUALLY FIND those opportunities? If so, then the question might be rejigged to be something like:
What are some opportunities for culturally responsive teaching in the [SCIENCE] curriculum in order to equip teachers with fostering a DEIJ mindset in students?
or…if we use the HMW opening…
How might we use culturally responsive teaching in the [SCIENCE] curriculum in order to equip teachers with fostering a DEIJ mindset in students?
See how these are kind of different? I’m doing a PhD right now and I’m kind of nerding out on the art of asking the right questions. My apologies if this is not at all helpful!
hey @avillanueva! love that the book atomic habits has helped to narrow down your hmw and to generate concrete steps to take on a daily basis to build healthy deij habits. great idea to start with your science curriculum – something you know well. is it possible for you to work with your librarian or a colleague to source resources that might provide mirrors and windows for your students to see themselves in the science curriculum? can you find ways to connect concepts of equity and inclusion into the curriculum expectations you know so well? have you checked out the work of paul gorski or liz kleinrock – two great authors who have helped me with curriculum reviews and diversifying resources. @jmedved @lmitchell would probably like to join in on this conversation!
@avillanueva, thank you for sharing your thinking and process in this way. On the most basic level, it is powerful to connect to the journey towards a HMW question within your sphere of influence. Now you can focus on simply being awesome, allowing your impact to ripple out as it will… through this community, your school community and beyond, Also, thank you for so poignantly and powerfully sharing the experience of being distanced from learning, and the potential impact that might have on a student’s outlook, hope, ambition. On a personal level, it is such an essential reminder on so many fronts as we ensure intentionally and humility connecting to each students experience and needs; at the very minimum, it reminds me that we should never apply assumption to the behaviours we’re witnessing. I am excited to follow your journey and discover the toolkit you provide us with. I know there are so many within this Cohort community that will be excited to connect to this action plan!
@jmedved @gnichols @tjagdeo @swelbourn @jvipond @jknapp @aiorio @ksegedin @jadams @iliu @lhanimyan @ddoucet
Reply
@avillanueva this is such a great post and you are iterating such valuable questions! I have had Atomic Habits on my “must-read” list for a long time and after reading your post you’ve made me want to put it right at the top again! I love how you are focusing on your students, expressing your commitment to developing your lens and skills alongside your learners. Thank you for sharing your journey and speaking about how you have set specific goals to create intentional moments of learning in the area of DEIJ. You’ve said that you are able to let go of needing to be the expert in the room and I think that is such a vulnerable and honourable place to begin this work. You are leading with heart, curiosity, empathy and sharing your lived experience through your school years. The words from your first post, “This lack of representation impacted my self-esteem too. If people like me weren’t portrayed as leaders or were not at the forefront of big discoveries, then what was there for me to do?” really impacted me. I hope you feel proud of how you are now filling that role that was missing for you, for students in your classes and at your school. Each day, the “habit” of being you, through teaching and authentic leadership is positive progress for a more inclusive learning environment in Science and beyond.
@avillanueva
Thank you for this post and for your efforts to explore this important question.
“How might we prepare and equip educators in teaching with a culturally responsive lens in order to foster a DEIJ mindset in students.”
Go check out @jadams blog. He is working on the exact same thing!
https://cohort21.com/jeffadams/2022/01/14/setting-intentions/
One of the best resources I have found on this topic is this https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rhHBjAEl08v2xksWAplrTrk9ATeffuY0/view?usp=sharing
It gives a really powerful framework and set of questions / lenses from which to explore and expand our planning and practice. I hope you find it as valuable as I have.
Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!
J