Micropolitical Leadership
SUMMARY: The school executive will build systems and relationships that utilize the staff’s diversity, encourage constructive ideological conflict in order to leverage staff expertise, power and influence to realize the school’s vision for success. The executive will also creatively employ an awareness of staff members’ professional needs, issues, and interests to build social cohesion and to facilitate distributed governance and shared decision-making.
Equity training
Sonny Kelly, The Talk; Spring 2019 & October 9, 2019
This is the second time I'm viewed and interacted with Sonny Kelly's show. What a thought-provoking experience! Here I will get some thoughts down that are fresh in my head after seeing two similar but not identical shows. These thoughts are a collection of reminders to my future self as I grow examining the issue of race/identity and equity.
My Aha: Now I understand with my tears the outrage that racism says No! "Are we allowed to want better for our children?" This answer and follow up actions should always be Yes! We often tell new teachers, "This student is someone's baby!" However, this discourse/word choice continues to employ the role of "other". We should be saying, "This student is your child and your hope." And we should be reminding each other regardless of years of service.
Ms. Gaskins, BHS Humanities teacher, brought up something I've been wrestling with: Race is a social construction and shouldn't be our identity but often is. From the play, "2 bodies in one soul" that which society tells me I am and who I really am/want to be. How do we reconcile this for ourselves and our students? Sonny, "Humanity is a contact sport." "Race is a social construct with teeth that will kill you." Don't play with it like a toy. **We must stop "othering" our fellow wo/men. We have to acknowledge and challenge how we conceptualize identity. Teachers, "who gets the privilege/blessing in your class?" When do we recognize that our students might be wrestling with this complicated issue? They don't want to be babied. They need support.
Self-segregation is a natural survival instinct. We must ask when and if it is counterproductive. How often does a white community, clique or family miss out on opportunities by not inviting in other perspectives?
Shouldn't we...
Sonny Kelly, The Talk; Spring 2019 & October 9, 2019
This is the second time I'm viewed and interacted with Sonny Kelly's show. What a thought-provoking experience! Here I will get some thoughts down that are fresh in my head after seeing two similar but not identical shows. These thoughts are a collection of reminders to my future self as I grow examining the issue of race/identity and equity.
My Aha: Now I understand with my tears the outrage that racism says No! "Are we allowed to want better for our children?" This answer and follow up actions should always be Yes! We often tell new teachers, "This student is someone's baby!" However, this discourse/word choice continues to employ the role of "other". We should be saying, "This student is your child and your hope." And we should be reminding each other regardless of years of service.
Ms. Gaskins, BHS Humanities teacher, brought up something I've been wrestling with: Race is a social construction and shouldn't be our identity but often is. From the play, "2 bodies in one soul" that which society tells me I am and who I really am/want to be. How do we reconcile this for ourselves and our students? Sonny, "Humanity is a contact sport." "Race is a social construct with teeth that will kill you." Don't play with it like a toy. **We must stop "othering" our fellow wo/men. We have to acknowledge and challenge how we conceptualize identity. Teachers, "who gets the privilege/blessing in your class?" When do we recognize that our students might be wrestling with this complicated issue? They don't want to be babied. They need support.
Self-segregation is a natural survival instinct. We must ask when and if it is counterproductive. How often does a white community, clique or family miss out on opportunities by not inviting in other perspectives?
Shouldn't we...
- fight "otherness" or implicit bias based in "color struck" or racial identity by acknowledging privilege and treating each person as an individual.
- engage in honest dialogue from a position of love and vulnerability. "Humanity is a contact sport." We won't always get it right but we will strive for understanding.
- remember that "love covers a multitude of sins."
Internship Experience
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