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<h2 class="hd hd-2 unit-title">3.8.1 Assignment: Practicing Challenging Conversations</h2>
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<p>In this assignment, we invite you to practice having a conversation about race, structural inequality, and other taboo topics with a colleague.</p>
<p>You are going to use an Aware lens to brainstorm a list of questions you currently have about your school or context and practice; then, after some guided reflection, choose someone with whom to have a conversation about your question. </p>
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<h4><span style="color: #008080;"> <strong>A note for doing this activity during the COVID-19 pandemic</strong></span></h4>
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<li>Now may be a good time to ask colleagues: How are we doing in our new online efforts to support marginalized students in our department/grade level team/school/district?</li>
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<h4 style="background-color: #133847; font-size: 20px; color: #256a97; height: 35px; text-indent: 10px; padding-top: 10px; border-radius: 3px;"><span style="color: #ffffff;">INSTRUCTIONS</span></h4>
<h4><strong>Step 1: Brainstorm Questions </strong></h4>
<p>In this step you’re going to brainstorm questions to potentially ask a colleague for this assignment. Here are some areas where you might have questions: </p>
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<li><strong>Your practice:</strong> How are you thinking about students' various identities in your current practice? Are there some student identities you have questions about? Thinking back on your activities and assignments so far in the course, did you acknowledge the role student identities play in your responses and, if so, how? <em>Example: In my roster audit I noticed I had more trouble naming strengths for some of the boys in my class, including several Black boys. I wonder how effectively I’m building relationships with these students? </em></li>
<li><strong>Yourself in this work:</strong> Do you have any questions/concerns about how your own various identities might be sources of connections (or disconnections) with students? Example: <em>I’m from a middle-class background - I wonder if I have areas of unawareness around how I’m teaching students from low-income, blue-collar families? </em></li>
<li><strong>Your school or context:</strong> How are issues of identity showing up in your school? Are there obvious disparities? Are they discussed? Example: <em>We just had an influx of students from Southeast Asia in our school. I wonder how we’re making them feel culturally represented in our curriculum? </em></li>
<li><strong>If you’re feeling stuck:</strong> consider skipping ahead to the <a href="/courses/course-v1:MITx+0.503x+T2020/jump_to_id/59bedc7b9f4f446db5027637e83e441d " target="_blank">Readings and Resources</a> section, where you’ll find different approaches to trying on an Aware mindset. </li>
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<p><strong>Grab some sticky notes and set a timer for 10 minutes and start brainstorming. Aim for quantity of ideas/questions over quality. </strong></p>
<p>After you’re done brainstorming, look at your list of questions. Is there a logical way to organize them? Are there repeats? Are there a few questions you are especially interested in? Organize your questions, then choose a few questions to keep considering. </p>
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<p><strong>From assumptions to inquiry:</strong> Do a quick sweep: do any of the questions contain assumptions? Can you change those to wondering? For example, “Why are all my girls so unmotivated to do AP chemistry?” could become “I wonder what’s going on with girls in chemistry? What are their experiences like?” </p>
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<h4><strong>Step 2: Identify a colleague or small group that you could engage around these questions. </strong></h4>
<p>Consider some of the following kinds of people to invite into a conversation: </p>
<ul>
<li>Find a single colleague that you trust.</li>
<li>Choose a colleague that you think might be an ally around equity work. For example, it could be someone who seems particularly thoughtful about working with LGBTQ kids or ELL students, or is skilled at connecting with parents.</li>
<li>Find a larger group to talk to (perhaps a student group, a parent group, or a few folks from your school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee). </li>
<li>Choose someone who is in a position to make some decisions around equity in your school (examples: a department head, a librarian, a vice principal, a district administrator). </li>
<li><strong>Not sure about who to talk to? </strong></li>
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<li><strong>“I don’t think there’s anyone to talk to at my school!”</strong> In-the-building community is important in this work, so challenge yourself--you might find a new ally! If your context is really challenged around these issues, try connecting to local non-school groups, or perhaps community online (see some examples of educational equity-focused online communities on our <a href="https://openlearninglibrary.mit.edu/courses/course-v1:MITx+0.503x+T2020/673efa73a4cf4817954e2fdc5bc2b2f2/" target="[object Object]">Social Media</a><span style="color: #313131; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"> page). </span></li>
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<h4><strong>Step 3: </strong></h4>
<p>Here are some things to keep in mind: </p>
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<li><strong>Start where you are.</strong> In school change, the important thing is to get started. Action helps create more action; start where you are, even if it’s a first step like having one conversation with a colleague.</li>
<li><strong>Name the demographic issues you see: be direct, concrete and specific.</strong> Instead of: “I’m worried that some kids may not be living up to their potential,” try: “I’m worried that our Black and Latinx women aren’t well represented in our honors math and chemistry classes.” </li>
<li><strong>Plan to listen.</strong> After you raise an issue, invite your colleague to share their perspective, and try to listen attentively. </li>
<li><b>Do some reflecting on your own position before getting started.</b> Thinking of your own various identities, are there potential gaps in your own knowledge or understanding that might be a barrier to connecting? How can you fill these gaps? What kinds of bias or assumptions might you bring to the conversation? How can you prepare yourself to really listen?</li>
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<h4 style="background-color: #133847; font-size: 20px; color: #256a97; height: 35px; text-indent: 10px; padding-top: 10px; border-radius: 3px;"><span style="color: #ffffff;">FOR THE DELIVERABLE</span></h4>
<p>Write up a short description of your conversation in your journal or share with your trusted colleagues. Include your role, context, and who you spoke to. There is no need to share names; details like role, gender, age, etc. are fine. Change details if necessary to protect anonymity. </p>
<p>Include what you chose to talk about, any concerns or nervousness you felt before the conversation, how the conversation itself went, and any takeaways you got from it. </p>
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<h2 class="hd hd-2 unit-title">3.8.2 Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s Advice on Having Conversations About Race</h2>
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<p style="font-size: 16px;">In this clip from TSL's podcast <a href="https://teachlabpodcast.com/" target="_blank">TeachLab</a>, Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum shares her advice on having conversations about race. Beverly has taught and written about race and racism for the past thirty years (including the best-selling book <em>Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations about Race</em>, which is on our on our <a href="/courses/course-v1:MITx+0.503x+T2020/jump_to_id/8203aa2f8fd7474b87c2900dc18c2f48" target="_blank">book list</a>) and has some concrete and actionable advice for educators. </p>
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<h3 class="hd hd-2">Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum - Challenging Conversations</h3>
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