Social Justice Standards and Affinity Groups at PHSFeaturing Dr. Elizabeth Denevi

Hosted by The PHS Multicultural Leadership Team

Program Overview

➔ Welcome

➔ Intro to Social Justice Standards and Overview of Faculty Professional Development

➔ Plans for Middle School Affinity Groups

➔ Elizabeth Denevi: The Value of Affinity Groups

➔ Parent/Guardian Affinity Group Experience

➔ Closure and Survey

Social Justice StandardsA Framework for Anti-Bias Education

➔ Written by Teaching Tolerance, inspired by the work of Louise Derman-Sparks➔ Anchor standards and age appropriate learning outcomes organized into four domains

Justice

Teaching the four domains allows educators to focus on both prejudice reduction as well as collective actionAction

Identity Diversity

Faculty Professional Development

MonthlyEquity and Inclusion

Faculty Meetings

Planned by MLT Co-Facilitators and Admin Team

Deep Dive into The Social Justice

Standards

Sara WichtJanuary 2018

Equity As Academic Excellence

Elizabeth DeneviAugust 2017

Affinity Group Facilitation

Training

Elizabeth DeneviJanuary 2018

2017-2018 School Year

The Standards in ActionSnapshots from classrooms

Alignment with PHS Benchmarks

Text Selection forCritical Literacy

Essential Question Design

CommunityBuilding Activities

Middle School Affinity GroupsHistory of Affinity Group Work At PHS

1990s

Early Days

PHS has had affinity groups in the past, when we had a Diversity

Coordinator on staff and strong parent advocacy for neurodiverse students. The school has grown and changed over time and the affinity groups program did not

maintain and develop over these changes.

Under Recent Leadership

The Diversity Committee began work on school-wide equity

concerns and faculty development; affinity groups was

a topic that came up as something for the future once

important faculty and other work had become more established.

2000s

Getting Ready

MLT sub-committee research and discussion, outreach and info from

other schools/best practices, strong desire amongst faculty and

admin (and some parents and students) to get affinity groups

happening soon, seen as something “missing” for our

students

Last few

years

Now

Here we are, Affinity Groups 2.0, we have experienced and

practiced as adults, received further information and training,

we are starting with middle school and starting “small”

2017-2018

Middle School Affinity GroupsPlans for Spring 2018

1Share

Affin

ity G

roup O

ptions

Studen

ts will

let us

know

whic

h

affini

ties/i

denti

fiers/

group

s the

y

would

be m

ost in

teres

ted in

atten

ding a

nd al

so of

fer th

eir ow

n

sugg

estio

ns fo

r pos

sible

group

s.

2Rev

iew Studen

t Fee

dback

The fa

culty

will

review

stud

ent

feedb

ack,

decid

e whic

h grou

ps

to off

er, an

d dete

rmine

whic

h

adult

s will

facilit

ate ea

ch gr

oup.

Facult

y fac

ilitato

rs will

agree

upon

proto

cols

and g

oals

for

each

mee

ting.

3Studen

ts Sele

ct Gro

ups

Groups

will

meet th

ree tim

es th

is

year,

once

a mon

th, be

ginnin

g in

Februa

ry. W

e will

ask s

tuden

ts to

remain

in th

e sam

e grou

p for

all

three

sess

ions.

In May

we w

ill

solic

it and

revie

w feed

back

from

stude

nts an

d fac

ulty t

o info

rm

appro

ach f

or ne

xt sc

hool

year.

Middle School Affinity Groups for Spring 2018Potential Identity Groups

➔ Students who are adopted

➔ Students who are in families with divorce (or “non-traditional” families)

➔ Students of color

➔ Neurodiversity

➔ Students who identify as girls

➔ Students who identify as boys

➔ Students who identify as LGBTQ+ or questioning

➔ Students for whom English is not the primary language spoken at home.

The Why & How of Affinity Groups

Elizabeth Denevi, PhDPHS January 2018

Common Language

Diversity vs. Multiculturalism

Diversity is difference that can be measured; it is quantitative.

Multiculturalism is the quality of life that diversity lives in a school; it is qualitative.

Common Language

Equality vs. Equity

Equality gives everyone the same thing.

Equity asks us to give community members what they need to be successful.

Common Language

Safety vs. Comfort

Safety is the necessary emotional trust and identity security/affirmation needed for learning.

Comfort, as related to cognitive dissonance, means the necessary discomfort needed for learning.

Common Language

Intent vs. Outcome

Intent is what we hope will happen, irrespective of what actually happens.

Outcome is the ability to own the consequence of a particular action, regardless of intention.

Common Language

Becoming a

“diversity responsive” school

(Hawley & Wolfe)

Progressive Ed → Multicultural Ed → Anti-Bias Ed

Progressive Ed was developed out of socio-economic inequality and reactions to the rise of industrialism in the US. It emphasized children as children, not widgets, and put kids at the center of learning.

Multicultural Ed continues the progressive tradition, but adds in the importance of racial identity and the role of the teacher in promoting excellent learning. Coming out of the Civil Rights era, it looked at the social construction of racial identity between children and adults and the best conditions for learning.

Distinction between cultural appreciation groups/clubs & organized “affinity groups”

Cultural appreciation groups

•Primary focus is for under-represented communities to share/celebrate their culture

•The potential exists for examination of power differences within the community and beyond

•Open to entire school community

Affinity groups

•Primary focus is for members of under-represented communities to have a “safer space” where the focus is on reflection, self- learning, and empowerment

•Explicitly look at differences in power in the community and beyond and articulate ways to address them

•Open to members of a shared identity

The “Why” of Affinity Groups

● Students who have a strong sense of identity and “school belonging” do better academically

● Students who participate in affinity groups have shown a greater sense of school connectedness

● School connectedness has been shown to create stronger academic outcomes

● Positive experiences with diversity contribute to greater critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and creativity.

Dr. Beverly D. Tatum: The ABC ApproachClimate of Engagement: Affirming Identity, Building Community, Cultivating Leadership

“Recognizing the importance of engagement across difference is an essential dimension of preparing the next generation for effective participation in a pluralistic world.”

Affirming identity “is not contradictory to, but rather a prerequisite for building community” and that “students who feel that their own needs for affirmation have been met are more willing and able to engage with others along lines of difference.”

The “Why” of Racial Affinity Groups• Research shows that children develop a heightened sense of racial

identity as they get older. Without exploring this part of their identity, children are left without the language or skill to process their social experiences in a healthy way.

• By starting structured conversations early, we're giving ALL children a safe way to reduce racial stress (H. Stevenson), address what they see in the world, and enhance their own identity development.

• Ming-Te Wang & James P. Hugley – “The study found racial pride (African American Youth) to be the most powerful factor in protecting children from the sting of discriminatory behavior. It directly and positively related to three out of four academic outcomes – grade point average, educational aspirations, and cognitive engagement.”

*

Guidelines for student affinity groups: 1. Facilitators agree on a consistent use of language/terms and curricular themes to promote greater understanding and clarity for the work together. 2. Affinity groups are facilitated, hopefully, by at least two adults who may be able to address different experiences within a particular identity. 3. Each group needs a rationale/statement of philosophy that can be shared with the community, especially at the start of a new school year.

4. Each group needs a curriculum, some kind of "syllabus" to help frame the discussions.

Guidelines for student affinity groups:4. People who represent a privileged identity (i.e. white racial group, men's group, straight allies) examine the ways in which that group often is seen as “normal” and/or monolithic. They also reflect on unequal power distribution, unearned privilege, and the opportunity to serve as an upstander.

5. Groups periodically share highlights with the community.

6. All members commit to their own growth and development as well as development/training for the larger community.

Affinity groups & the PHS mission:

How do affinity groups support and enhance your commitment

to progressive education? Group Exercise

Engaging resistance to student affinity groups:

Reframing resistance as engagement:

––––

––––

Session #1 – Names and Norms; “If I were a superhero…”Session #2 – Trust building exercise Session #3 – Story Time: Using the stories of others to illuminate our own experience (The Letter Q exercise)Session #4 – Exploring our identity – Using active movement to push the conversation forward: what gets in the way of being your best self?Session #5 – Review of the sessions and what we have learned

Curriculum based → Positive and affirming Creating Safety → Practicing language