PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Session for School Leaders
Cultivating a Culturally Sustaining Mindset in School Leaders
Developing a culturally sustaining mindset begins with knowledge of historical practices, critical analysis of policies, and ongoing self-reflection. In this inquiry-based session, participants will develop a framework for Culturally Responsive School Leadership which can lead to a culturally sustaining mindset. Through exposure, participants will explore the concepts, meanings, and history of education in America and dissect practices within schools that disrupt education attainment for students and especially students of color. Participants will explore media and their own experiences to increase awareness and willingness to adopt a mindset designed to identify inequity and marginalization, then mobilize resources to accelerate student learning.
Professional Learning for Teachers
Can I have a Checklist, please? Unpacking Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy to Transform Practice
Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy has evolved since the release of the book “Dreamkeepers” by Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings. Many teachers in the K-12 space desire a checklist of strategies to implement with students, but this session will immerse teachers in the history, pedagogy, and critical thought to engender the mind-shift needed to transform their daily practices, which will increase engagement, motivation, and accelerate student academic growth.
Ditching the Deficit Discourse: Designing a Student-Centered Classroom/School Climate
Historically marginalized students are subjected to systemic, structural, and institutional inequities that disrupt their academic attainment. In addition, deficit ideologies produce actions, words, and experiences that are harmful to the development of students’ academic identities. This interactive session will engage participants in viewing students’ through an asset-based lens to transform their language, instruction, and assessments which translate to improved student outcomes.
Ready Set, Cultivate. Motivate. Sustain! Elevating Student Engagement in a Literacy Classroom
Grounded in multiple student motivational theories and cognitive science, this interactive session will utilize neuroscience and research to build their literacy lineages, inspire learners, and sustain their motivation for learning. Participants will learn the importance of levering literacy data to establish student-centered goals, explore how students’ funds of knowledge can increase student intrinsic motivation, and cultivate students’ literacy development in culturally sustaining ways.