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Most of these are free, many are given by EY educators.

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Strategies for Using Conscious Discipline with e-DECA

With Conscious Discipline

Webinar: Strategies for Using Conscious Discipline with eDECA: Maximize the Impact of Conscious Discipline Conscious Discipline has teamed with Devereux Center for Resilient Children to offer a system to assess children's...

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How to Handle Vaccines and Other Medical Procedures featuring Amy Speidel

With Amy Speidel

Webinar: How to Handle Vaccines and Other Medical Procedures Vaccines, medical procedures, doctors' offices and medical centers can be scary... for children and adults alike! The way we approach children's vaccines...

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Becoming the Best You Can Be with Dr. Becky Bailey

Every Conscious Discipline Skill and structure is based on a Power that is essential for social and emotional health in adults and children. This popular series explores each of the seven Powers: Perception, Unity, Attention, Free Will, Love, Acceptance and Intention.
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Browse our collection of free virtual broadcasts on core Conscious Discipline concepts and trending topics for educators and parents.

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For you podcast lovers out there, the Conscious Discipline podcast is a good one!

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Episode Summary

Social and emotional learning (SEL) includes relationship-based skills like conflict resolution, empathy and the ability to assertively set limits and boundaries. Because social norms and practices differ across cultures, experts emphasize the importance of culturally responsive SEL, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Students may feel excluded or even criticized if the social practices of their culture are far different from the social practices recommended by an SEL curriculum. In addition, those who do not find SEL instruction relevant to their realities are unlikely to apply these skills to their lives outside the classroom.

Culturally responsive SEL celebrates all cultures and situates learning within the cultural contexts of students. This is one reason that Conscious Discipline does not impose a one-size-fits-all curriculum. Instead, adults are the curriculum. They internalize the Powers and Skills, then share them with children through relationships, modeling and daily interactions. Adults have the flexibility to customize and adapt Conscious Discipline to fit their unique environment and the cultures represented in their learning community. In Conscious Discipline schools, teachers and students co-create the school climate, and teachers gain tools to examine implicit bias and foster unity and belonging.

In this episode, mother-daughter duo Aida Adnan and Tania Al Jaroudy talk with Dr. Bailey about implementing Conscious Discipline at My Little School, a multicultural school in Saudi Arabia. They also share their experience with paying it forward to two refugee schools in Lebanon after the tragic explosion in August 2020. Listen in to hear Aida and Tania's story of culturally responsive SEL and being of service.

Essential Takeaways

When implementing Conscious Discipline, it's helpful to share it with families so there is more cohesiveness and connection between home and school. At My Little School, they trained both parents and children's nannies.

Conscious Discipline helps children learn that there is much more that unites us than sets us apart.

Being of service is powerful for both the giver and receiver. What we offer to others, we strengthen in ourselves.

Conscious Discipline isn't something you can simply hand over to others; it starts with you. It's an ongoing practice, and you always continue learning. It impacts all relationships and trickles into every aspect of life.

The adult-first approach makes Conscious Discipline customizable and adaptable to any environment or culture. It is practiced in over 100 countries around the world.

Important Links

Product Mentions

Show Outline

:40 What is Conscious Discipline?

1:02 Introduction of topic and guest

1:51 Join Dr. Bailey in conversation with guests Aida Adnan & Tania

Al Jaroudy

2:10 My Little School's introduction to Conscious Discipline

3:48 Is Conscious Discipline culturally responsive SEL?

9:00 Being of service to educators and schools in Lebanon

13:01 What you offer to others you strengthen in yourself

14:16 Using Conscious Discipline during global pandemic

17:38 Conscious Discipline's impact in all areas of life

20:07 Recap

21:56 What's Becky up to?

22:09 What's Becky celebrating?

Thank You for Listening

There are many ways you could have spent this time today, but you chose to spend it with me and I am grateful. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it with others via your favorite social media platforms.

Also, would you consider taking 60-seconds to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes? Your feedback is extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and I love to hear your feedback! Also, don't forget to , to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live!

On behalf of our Conscious Discipline family, we wish you well.

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Culturally Responsive SEL and Being of Service

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In this episode, mother-daughter duo Aida Adnan and Tania Al Jaroudy talk with Dr. Bailey about implementing Conscious Discipline at My Little School, a multicultural school in Saudi Arabia. They also share their experience with paying it forward to two refugee schools in Lebanon after the tragic explosion in August 2020.

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Learn more about the 3 brain states: survival (brain stem), emotional (limbic system) and executive (prefrontal cortex).

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A multidisciplinary approach based on three distinct brain-body states in adults and children that drive behavior.

Conscious Discipline's Brain State Model

Conscious Discipline empowers us to be conscious of brain-body states in ourselves and children. It then provides us with the practical skills we need to manage our thoughts, feeling and actions.

With this ability to self-regulate, we are then able to teach children to do the same. By doing this, we help children who are physically aggressive (survival state) or verbally aggressive (emotional state) become more integrated so they can learn and use problem-solving skills (executive state). When we understand the brain state model, we can clearly see the importance of building our homes, schools and businesses on the core principles of safety, connection and problem-solving.

Survival State asks the question, "Am I safe?"

The only way to soothe the survival state is through the creation of safety.

In a survival state where we feel triggered by threat, these skills are flight, fight or surrender. We can't think clearly when a tiger is chasing us. In the modern world, the tiger may be a disrespectful child, but our brain's evolutionary skill set is the same: fight, flight or surrender.

Emotional State asks the question "Am I loved?"

The only way to soothe an upset emotional state is through the creation of connection.

Emotional State is our response to upset - and can only be soothed through connection. An upset emotional state is triggered by the world not going our way. It limits our ability to see from another's point of view. This upset, unconscious state keeps us on autopilot so our words and tone match those of key authority figures from our childhood. We revert to disciplining the same ways we were disciplined, even if we know these behaviors to be ineffective or hurtful.

Executive State asks the question, "What can I learn?"

The Executive State is the optimal state of problem-solving and learning.

Conscious Discipline empowers us to be conscious of brain-body states in ourselves and children. It then provides us with the practical skills we need to manage our thoughts, feeling and actions. With this ability to self-regulate, we are able to teach children to do the same. By doing this, we help children who are physically aggressive (survival state) or verbally aggressive (emotional state) become more integrated so they can learn and use problem-solving skills (executive state). When we understand the brain state model, we can clearly see the importance of building our homes, schools and businesses on the core principles of safety, connection and problem-solving.

Executive State is the optimal state for problem-solving and learning. As we learn to regulate and integrate our internal state to be one of relaxed alertness, we are able access our own brilliance. We are empowered to change and make wise choices. An integrated executive state frees us from past conditioning, attunes us to the feelings and experiences of others, enables us to remain focused enough to set and achieve goals, and allows us to consciously respond instead of automatically react to life events.

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A multidisciplinary approach based on three distinct brain-body states in adults and children that drive behavior. Conscious Discipline's Brain State Model Conscious Discipline empowers us to be conscious of brain-body states in ourselves and children. It then provides us with the practical skills we need to manage our thoughts, feeling and actions.

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Learn more about how to create a safe, loving and support school family.

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The School Family is built on a healthy family model - the goal of which is the optimal development of all members.

FEATURED RESOURCE: Creating the School Family By Dr. Becky Bailey

Discover how to bully-proof your classroom through emotional intelligence. Creating the School family will help you systematically create the positive school climate that is integral to academic success. Administrators and teachers alike will learn how to transform school culture using twelve classroom structures essential for creating inclusive, compassionate, bully-free learning environments. This fundamental shift in education and classroom management will help you step into a world where intrinsic motivation, helpfulness and connection govern your classroom.
Learn More

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The School Family is built on a healthy family model - the goal of which is the optimal development of all members. Discover how to bully-proof your classroom through emotional intelligence. Creating the School family will help you systematically create the positive school climate that is integral to academic success.

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Take a tour of Schubert's school and classroom to learn more about integrating I love you rituals and practices. Includes links to video examples and resources.

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Welcome to Shubert’s School Shubert’s School in Bug Valley offers practical examples of Conscious Discipline implementation, room-by-room in a school

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Weaving I Love You Rituals Throughout the Day (PreK-Grade 2)

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Weaving I Love You Rituals Throughout the Day (PreK-Grade 2)

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2018 Breakout Session: Weaving Rituals Throughout the Fabric of the Day (Pre-K-Grade 2)
Sprinkle connection-building rituals including I Love You Rituals, the Safekeeper/Commitments Ritual, Wish Well Ritual, and Greetings/Goodbye Rituals throughout your day with Pre-K-Grade 2 children.
Session Facilitators

Master Instructor Kim Hughes and Certified Instructor Jen Arndt

Age

Helps With

Developing rituals that foster safety and connection

Use

Resource for teachers and administrators

Format

Materials

Video

Printed copy of PDF

Pen or pencil for notes

Related Resources

Related Products

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2018 Breakout Session: Weaving Rituals Throughout the Fabric of the Day (Pre-K-Grade 2)

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Sprinkle connection-building rituals including I Love You Rituals, the Safekeeper/Commitments Ritual, Wish Well Ritual, and Greetings/Goodbye Rituals throughout your day with Pre-K-Grade 2 children.

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Check out how the American School in Japan uses the Japan Center to celebrate and incorporate their host culture into the entire school culture.

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Tweets by JapanCenterASIJ

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Find books and programs that make ABAR libraries possible.

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A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, WNDB aims to create a world where every reader can find themselves in the pages of a book. To reach this goal, we've created programs to mentor diverse writers and illustrators, support diverse publishing professionals, and provide books to classrooms nationwide.

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I follow the Conscious Kid on social media, and I love having a constant stream of wonderful book recommendations!

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The Conscious Kid is an education, research and policy organization that supports families and educators in taking action to disrupt racism, inequity and bias

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From the Conscious Kid

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The feeling in the pit of your stomach before you have "The Talk" (how to act in racially charged situations so your child can come home safely); The anger you feel when your child shares a racist social media post from one of her/his classmates; The anxiety you feel around your colleagues after the murder of another Black person; The confusion and overwhelming feeling you have when your normally mature child starts regressing to childlike behavior due to a racial incident at school; These are just a few of the stories I've heard from my clients as they share their experiences of racialized trauma.

What you feel is valid. The pain, hurt and trauma you feel daily due to racial injustice is valid. Moreover, the changes and reactions you see in your children might not be attributed to a character deficit, attitude or chemical imbalance, but it could be due to racial trauma.

Racial Trauma represents the emotional and physical symptoms often experienced by Black families and people of color due to the everyday occurrences of microaggressions and racism. It includes intergenerational injuries resulting from personal and collective experiences of racism. The public murders of George Floyd & Breonna Taylor among the numerous others, add to the multiple assaults that families experience daily due to racial injustice and can cause an increase in traumatic symptoms. Both adults and children can experience racial trauma. Some of the symptoms can include hypervigilance (anxious and on high alert), body aches, shame, fear, insomnia (lack of sleep), fear, guilt, headaches, confusion, numbness, and anger among others. Knowing these signs can help you recognize and cope with what you and your family may be experiencing.

1) Increased Anxiety - Worry and anxiety can be a normal part of life, but after traumatic experiences anxiety can increase significantly. Being afraid to go out, increased worry about interacting with the police, walking in your neighborhood or other fears may reflect the trauma you've experienced. Try to relax and take some deep breaths, it can make a huge difference. Then find someone, such as a therapist, to talk to help you with your anxiety.

2) Being Silent - Feeling numb and not wanting to speak can be another sign. Many Black families don't want to talk about racism or are tired about talking about racism because it triggers the pain and hurt of the trauma, some of which they have felt a majority of their lives. It's okay to unplug and take care of yourself!

3) Lack of Sleep/Insomnia - Trouble going to sleep or going back to sleep, increased nightmares or a more frequent desire to sleep in bed with parents can reflect underlying anxiety, concerns and fears. Difficulties sleeping often signify emotional distress. Sharing messages of love and safety with children and finding safe healthy coping strategies among adults are important!

4) Intense Anger & Rage - Anger can be used to make changes or be a sign that something is wrong, such as injustice. But prolonged intense anger and rage can take over and fill you with negative energy. Counteract devaluing messages and find productive ways to express anger so that it won't consume you.

5) Lack of Production/Academic Decline - Difficulties performing your job or academic challenges that weren't present before is another sign that you or your child could be experiencing racial trauma. Recognize your trauma, take time to get support from loved ones and take care of yourself!

Over the past decade alone, there have been numerous murders and other examples of racial injustices discussed in the public sphere. This means that if you have a child or children under 18 years of age, they have likely experienced at least three major national uprisings and protests as a result of racism and injustice (2012 Florida/Trayvon Martin, 2014 Ferguson/Michael Brown, 2015 Baltimore/Freddie Gray and Sandra Bland & 2020 Minneapolis/George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, not to mention countless other Black people who have been unjustly murdered). All of these public deaths along with one's private experiences exacerbate the impact of Racial Trauma on families and children.

Many children and young adults are overwhelmed by trauma and what feels like frequent (constant) occurrences of injustice. Some are inspired and motivated to action and others may feel hopeless and in despair. You can support your children and family by engaging in difficult conversations, providing opportunities for them to share their feelings and fears and finding mechanisms of advocacy that you can engage in collectively. It's important to get the help and support you need for yourself and your children. Having supportive teachers, colleagues and community to rely on can help to minimize the symptoms of racial trauma. It's not made up, or an overreaction, it's real and both your feelings and your children's feelings are valid.
Dr. George James (@GeorgeTalks), Chief Innovation Officer, Senior Staff Therapist & Supervisor at https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/schools/lynch-school/sites/isprc/isprc-advisory-board.html Council for Relationships https://studylib.net/doc/11084190/combating-racial-trauma-definition-acknowledge https://www.joydegruy.com/post-traumatic-slave-syndrome , Assistant Professor for the Couple and Family Therapy Program at Thomas Jefferson University and CEO of George Talks LLC.
Menakem, R. (2017). My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies. Las Vegas: Central Recovery Press. ISBN-13: 978-1942094470

Comas-Díaz, L., Hall, G. N., & Neville, H. A. (2019). Racial trauma: Theory, research, and healing: Introduction to the special issue. American Psychologist, 74(1), 1-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0000442 - https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2019-01033-001.html

Williams, M. (2015, September). The Link Between Racism and PTSD. Psychology Today

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The feeling in the pit of your stomach before you have "The Talk" (how to act in racially charged situations so your child can come home safely); The anger you feel when your child shares a racist social media post from one of her/his classmates; The anxiety you feel around

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Racial Microaggressions and Its Effect on Mental Health 

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Racial Microaggressions and Its Effect on Mental Health 

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There is an insidious form of racism and racial discrimination that has been gaining the attention of psychologists and researchers in recent years: racial microaggression.

Racial microaggressions are everyday insults or derogatory messages directed toward minorities and people of color, often from well-intentioned people who believe they've done nothing offensive. ¹ Any minority group can experience microaggressions, which may be based on gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, or disability. ² While a microaggression may seem harmless, a lifetime of microaggressions can be quite devastating to a person's mental health. ³

"Racism can result in a host of mental health concerns including things like increased anxiety and symptoms of depression," says Dr. Joy Bradford, a licensed psychologist, speaker, and the host of the mental health podcast, Therapy for Black Girls.

To understand the range of these incidents, it's important to learn the different forms of microaggressions and how they can play out in everyday life. ⁴

Three forms of racial microaggressions:

Microassaults: These conscious, deliberate, and explicit racist attacks-both verbal and nonverbal-are meant to denigrate or hurt the victim. Name-calling, using racial slurs, avoiding and/or discouraging interracial interactions and displaying a swastika are all examples of microassaults.

Microinsults: While often unconscious and much more subtle, a microinsult demeans and belittles the victim through racial slights or comments that seem innocuous but are insulting to a person of color. For example, a person of color being mistaken for a service worker, or a woman clutching her purse when walking past a person of color, with the message being, "You are a criminal."

Microinvalidations: These comments and behaviors can exclude and invalidate people's thoughts, feelings, or experiences in life. For instance, asking an Asian American where they are really from, implies that they are not from the United States and are therefore a foreigner.

How racial microaggressions impact mental health

Research continues to show that racism and discrimination contribute to poor health among minorities and people of color, resulting in increased rates of depression, prolonged stress and trauma, anxiety, even heart disease and type 2 diabetes. ⁶⁻⁸

One study examined the racial climate and microaggressions at college campuses and found that African American students experienced more depression, self-doubt, frustration, and isolation that impacted their education as a result. ⁵

""The experience of having to question whether something happened to you because of your race or constantly being on edge because your environment is hostile can often leave people feeling invisible, silenced, angry, and resentful," says Dr. Bradford.

"Additionally, the increased stress related to things like microagressions in the workplace and experiences with discrimination can lead to physical concerns like headaches, high blood pressure, and difficulties with sleep, which of course impact our mood as well."

How to respond to microaggressions

According to Dr. Bradford, there are ways to cope with racial microaggressions. Here, she provides the following advice for anyone experiencing microaggressions:
Seek support.
"One of the most important ways to manage our mental health in the face of racism is to make sure that we have supportive people to help us in processing our experiences," says Dr. Bradford. "This can be in the form of colleagues, a therapist, or family and friends. It's important to have a space where you can give voice to what's happening to you."
Don't internalize racism.
It can be tempting to want to change something about yourself or your behavior in order to be more accepted, but "it's important to stay grounded in the fact that you are not the issue, racism is the issue," adds Dr. Bradford.
Know when it's time to leave a situation.
Certain situations can and will be challenging, like in the workplace, but it's important to understand when you need to distance yourself from a toxic situation. "Remaining in a situation where you're experiencing repeated acts of racism and discrimination can be incredibly taxing and harmful," says Dr. Bradford. "It's important to recognize when you've hit your limit and need to prioritize yourself."

How to prevent microaggressive behavior

Preventing racial microaggressions from occurring in the first place begins one person at a time. 2 If you find yourself exhibiting microaggressive behaviors, here's what you should do next:
Examine your beliefs.
Take some time to examine the beliefs you grew up with and ask yourself: Do those beliefs and values still resonate with me? Use this time for self-reflection and assess whether they still ring true for you now, as an adult.
Acknowledge other people's feelings.
While important to take stock of your own emotions, it's also our responsibility to acknowledge how others feel by validating the fact that their feelings matter. As you go about your day, practice being more mindful about how what you say and do might affect those around you.
Embrace empathy.
Put yourself in other people's shoes. Ask yourself how you would feel if you were in their situation. By exploring another person's perspective, you can glean insight into your behaviors. Just as your experience and feelings are true for you, their experience and feelings are true for them.
Try not to get defensive.
If you've been called out for doing or saying something hurtful, resist getting defensive. Instead, embrace curiosity and ask questions that can help you understand a person's point of view. Try not to downplay the situation, and listen carefully as they share their experience. Remember, they are taking a risk and being vulnerable by sharing this information with you.

We all have a role to play in responding to and preventing microaggressions. By taking the time to learn, ask questions, and be accountable for our actions, real progress against racism, in all its forms, can be made.

For more information on Dr. Joy Bradford and her work with Therapy for Black Girls, click here.
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References:

1. Sue, Derald Wing, Christina M. Capodilupo, Gina C. Torino, Jennifer M. Bucceri, Aisha M. B. Holder, Kevin L. Nadal, and Marta Esquilin. Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life. American Psychologist, May-June 2007. https://www.cpedv.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/how_to_be_an_effective_ally-lessons_learned_microaggressions.pdf

2. Clay, Rebecca. Did You Really Just Say That? American Psychological Association, January 2017. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/01/microaggressions

3. Wong, Gloria; Derthick, Annie O.; David, E. J. R.; Saw, Anne; Okazaki, Sumie. The What, the Why, and the How: A Review of Racial Microaggressions Research in Psychology. Race and Social Problems, October 24, 2013. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4762607/

4. Sue, Derald Wing, Christina M. Capodilupo, Gina C. Torino, Jennifer M. Bucceri, Aisha M. B. Holder, Kevin L. Nadal, and Marta Esquilin. Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life. American Psychologist, May-June 2007. https://www.cpedv.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/how_to_be_an_effective_ally-lessons_learned_microaggressions.pdf

5. Solorzano, D., Ceja, M., & Yosso, T. Critical Race Theory, Racial Microaggressions, and Campus Racial Climate: The Experiences of African American College Students. Journal of Negro Education, 2000. https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/RLOs/748/Critical-Race-Theory.pdf

6. Torino, Gina. How Racism and Microaggressions Lead to Worse Health. Center for Health Journalism, November 10, 2017. https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/2017/11/08/how-racism-and-microaggressions-lead-worse-health

7. Hicken, Margaret T.; Lee, Hedwig; Morenoff, Jeffrey; House, James S.; Williams, David R. Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hypertension Prevalence: Reconsidering the Role of Chronic Stress. American Public Health Association, January 2014. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3910029/

8. Walls, Melissa L.; Gonzalez, John; Gladney, Tanya; Onello, Emily. Unconscious Biases: Racial Microaggressions in American Indian Health Care. American Board of Family Medicine, March-April 2015. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4386281/.

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Understanding Racial Microaggression and Its Effect on Mental Health

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There is an insidious form of racism and racial discrimination that has been gaining the attention of psychologists and researchers in recent years: racial microaggression. Racial microaggressions are everyday insults or derogatory messages directed toward minorities and people of color, often from well-intentioned people who believe they've done nothing offensive.

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Supporting Korean Americans' Mental Health with Mustard Seed Generation

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Supporting Korean Americans' Mental Health with Mustard Seed Generation

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Mustard Seed Generation is an organization that seeks to foster dialogue around mental health in the Korean American community.

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33% of Korean Americans reportedly struggle with depression and mental health problems. And yet, Korean Americans are 3x less likely to seek professional help than white Americans.

Why is that?

For many Korean Americans, they don't seek help due to social stigma, linguistic and cultural barriers, and an overall lack of awareness of mental health.

But we're on a mission to change that.

Mustard Seed Generation is a faith-based non-profit raising awareness around mental health by educating families, equipping church and community leaders, and empowering mental health professionals. Through our conferences, workshops, and trainings, we hope to de-stigmatize conversations around mental health for Korean Americans.

"Mental health issues can be incredibly isolating, which only worsens the problem, but with MSG, there is finally an organization that provides the much needed safe space and counseling network for the Korean community to turn to so that silent sufferers can be heard and healed."

Young and joo Cho (Texas)

We are connected with passionate mental health professionals in over 15+ states who practice a wide range of approaches. One of our goals is to create the largest national directory of Korean American mental health professionals so counseling and therapy can be accessible for everyone.

After meeting at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2016, we discovered we shared the same passion to raise the level of mental health awareness in the Korean American community. So we decided to take on the challenge together.

Matthew 13:31-32 (NIV)

He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches."

Learn about mental health

We want to help people understand any past hidden hurts that may have led to things like depression and anxiety.

Get involved

You have a role you can play no matter who you are or what you do. We're looking for people all across the nation to work with us. Find out how you can be a part of our cause.

#KANationalsummit2021

It is a one-day virtual event where KA mental health professionals (MHPs) and graduate students in training come together to rest, network, and learn about KA mental health.

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33% of Korean Americans reportedly struggle with depression and mental health problems. And yet, Korean Americans are 3x less likely to seek professional help than white Americans. "Mental health issues can be incredibly isolating, which only worsens the problem, but with MSG, there is finally an organization that provides the much needed safe space and counseling network for the Korean community to turn to so that silent sufferers can be heard and healed."

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Asian American Racism and Mental Health Resources

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Asian American Racism and Mental Health Resources

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Here you'll find articles, webinars and fact sheets pertain to Asian Americans' experience of racism and mental health.

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Racism, Anti-Asian, Asian American, AAPI, Stop Hate, Mental Health, Resources, Students, Parents, Professionals, Educators, Teachers, Activism, Discrimination, Assaults, Violence, Victims, COVID-19, Pandemic

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Mental health resources for Black Americans, here you will find some resources for how to talk to youth and children about race and racial trauma.

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Research has indicated that youth experience racism, prejudice, and bias as early as preschool. For many, their interpersonal experiences of racism, prejudice and bias can be quite disorienting, and can influence functioning, particularly for youth who have experienced other traumas. As such, it is important that those connected to youth (parents, guardians, trusted family members, mental health/behavioral health providers, teachers and community) create spaces and opportunities to discuss race and race-related stressors with youth.

Learn more on Strategies for Discussing Race, Racial Discrimination & Racial Trauma with Youth:

We are seeing protests for racial justice across the nation. These protests are prompting increased conversation about racism, police brutality, and the ugly long history of racial and social injustices aimed at Black Americans. This increased discussion is likely having parents from all racial backgrounds ask themselves, "how do I talk to my kids about this?" or "are my kids ready to hear about these ugly truths?" More specifically, if you are a White parent you may also ask yourself, "how do I raise a racially conscious child?" While these discussions with your child may be difficult and uncomfortable, it is actually better to begin having them earlier vs. later, because as we know, children are always paying attention, and we rather help and assist them in understanding the discussions that are happening around them.

While not an exhaustive list, we have provided a few tips for how parents can work to raise racially conscious children, who are proactive against perpetuating systems or experiences embedded in racism.

Learn more on Tips to Raise Racially Conscious Kids:

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Research has indicated that youth experience racism, prejudice, and bias as early as preschool. For many, their interpersonal experiences of racism, prejudice and bias can be quite disorienting, and can influence functioning, particularly for youth who have experienced other traumas.

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Practical resources for supporting Black emotional and mental health.

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Journal Prompts for Wellness
Download these prompts for personal journaling, discussion with family, or young people in your life.

BEAM Healing & Accountability Wheel
The BEAM Healing & Accountability Wheel draws on the work of previous wheels to serve as a guide on how to build loving relationships. Download here.

Activity Guide here.

Blank Healing & Accountability Wheel here.

BEAM Community & Self Care Support Plans
The Community care support plan is a map to begin asking the critical questions from our loved one's that help us show up for them in the face of a psychological or physical crisis.Use it as a tool before a crisis to plan out and map support systems. Download self care map here.

BEAM Community Care Map
The community care map is a tool developed to help our communities explore, build and uplift their community support needs.
Download community care map here.

Fighting For Ourselves As We Fight Against The System: Police Brutality & Mental Health: A conversation with Richie Reseda and Mannie Thompson of Success Stories, An organization that supports incarcerated men with challenging patriarchy, even as we fight to end the prison industrial complex.

What could the world look like if we centered healing and reimagined Black masculinity? This webinar explores how we show up for our children, families, communities, and selves in a way that honors who we are. Accompanying worksheets can be found here.

Black Mental Health & HIV/AIDS - At the Intersections: BEAMjoins the Black AIDS Institute's Brown Bag Lunch Series for a conversation about the intersection of HIV/AIDS and Mental Health. Click here to listen to the webinar recording.

Healing Justice Toolkit: Toolkit created by Black Lives Matter (BLM) Healing Justice Working Group for building healing justice into direct actions. Download Here.

beam p.o. box #702 culver city, ca 90232

EMAIL: ADMIN.ACCOUNT@BEAM.COMMUNITY

Website Copyright © 2017 Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective. All Rights Reserved.

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Journal Prompts for Wellness Download these prompts for personal journaling, discussion with family, or young people in your life. BEAM Healing & Accountability Wheel The BEAM Healing & Accountability Wheel draws on the work of previous wheels to serve as a guide on how to build loving relationships. Download here.

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Lots of great articles and resources.

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Self care

This section contains readings on the importance of self care, mental health care, and healing for people of color and within activist movements. Please email poconlineclassroom@gmail.com if you have any suggestions on resources to add.

READINGS

RESOURCES

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This section contains readings on the importance of self care, mental health care, and healing for people of color and within activist movements. Please email poconlineclassroom@gmail.com if you have any suggestions on resources to add.

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White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

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White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

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A classic.

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The professional development section has some gems for all educators, the classroom resources are geared towards older grade levels.

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Learning for Justice is a community education program of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) that centers civic and political action education for everyone.

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Loose Parts: Inspiring Culturally Sustainable Environments

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Loose Parts: Inspiring Culturally Sustainable Environments

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This book is my favourite resource for ABAR in EY. The whole series is beautiful and inspiring, but this one is the most relevant for ABAR work.

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Loose Parts 3: Inspiring Culturally Sustainable Environments (Loose Parts Series)

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Loose Parts 3: Inspiring Culturally Sustainable Environments (Loose Parts Series) [Beloglovsky, Miriam, Daly, Lisa] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Loose Parts 3: Inspiring Culturally Sustainable Environments (Loose Parts Series)

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Start Here Start Now: A Guide to Antibias and Antiracist Work in Your School

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Start Here Start Now: A Guide to Antibias and Antiracist Work in Your School

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While this book is geared towards older grade levels, there is still some great advice about having uncomfortable conversations with students, about talking to parents about ABAR education and about getting school admin on board with ABAR education.

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Most educators want to cultivate an antibias and antiracist classroom and school community, but they often struggle with where and how to get started. Liz helps us set ourselves up for success and prepare for the mistakes we'll make along the way.

Each chapter in Start Here, Start Now addresses many of the questions and challenges educators have about getting started, using a framework for tackling perceived barriers from a proactive stance. Liz answers the questions with personal stories, sample lessons, anchor charts, resources, conversation starters, extensive teacher and activist accounts, and more. We can break the habits that are holding us back from this work and be empowered to take the first step towards reimagining the possibilities of how antibias antiracist work can transform schools and the world at large.

We must remind ourselves that what is right is often not what is easy, and we must continue to dream. Amidst the chaos, our path ahead is clear. This is our chance to dream big and build something better.

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Start Here, Start Now addresses many of the questions and challenges educators have about getting started with antibias and antiracist work, using a framework

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Liz Kleinrock has been doing this work for a while, her website is full of thought-provoking gems.

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Antibias, Antiracist Strategies for the Classroom, Workplace, and Community

Lets do the work together!

Welcome!

I am a transracially adopted Korean, Jewish, queer, antibias and antiracist nationally recognized educator, author, and consultant. My identity as an Asian American is complex-it has taken me a long time to grapple and reconcile the intersections of that identity.....

Read More >

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

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Antibias, Antiracist Strategies for the Classroom, Workplace, and Community Lets do the work together! Welcome! I am a transracially adopted Korean, Jewish, queer, antibias and antiracist nationally recognized educator, author, and consultant. My identity as an Asian American is complex-it has taken me a long time to grapple and reconcile the intersections of that identity.....

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Sesame Street in Communities: Racial Justice

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Sesame Street in Communities: Racial Justice

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Sesame Street in Communities is one of my favourite resources any time a difficult topic comes up (racism, death of a family member, homelessness etc). I often share their resources with parents.

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Racial Justice | Sesame Street in Communities

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Here are resources to build resilience, empathy, curiosity, and thoughtfulness in young children as they prepare for the task of building a better world by standing up, standing tall, and standing together.

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Which of these identities is validated in your workplace/by society? Which ones are not?

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Another template you can use to create your own personal identity map. Again, consider which identities are validated by others or not validated.

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Where do you find yourself and your teaching practice on the continuum?

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Are you in the fear zone? The learning zone? The growth zone? In between zones?

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Where are you from? How did you get here? What privileges do you have that make it possible for you to be here? What is your family's relationship with colonialism? What were the narratives you heard about wealth and power and privilege growing up?

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Hosted by an international school alum, this podcast looks at SEL, mentoring and often also DEIJ work in international schools.

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Another great place to find books.

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Teaching for Change and Rethinking Schools collaborate to bring people's history to the classroom.

A dedicated website to encourage and support teaching about Central American history.

The best selection of multicultural and social justice books for children, YA, and educators.

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Building social justice starting in the classroom.

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Learn more about the Roots of Empathy program.

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Roots of Empathy develops empathy in children today so they can build the world that they deserve.

We've reached 1.2 milllion children globally with our school-based programs and we have research to prove impact. Roots of Empathy reduces aggression, increases sharing, caring, and inclusion, and promotes resilience, well-being, and positive mental health.

Our mission is to build caring, peaceful, and civil societies through the development of empathy in children and adults. Our vision is to change the world, child by child.

Help children thrive by getting involved today.

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Empathy in what we nurture in children today so they can build the world that they deserve. We've reached over one million children globally with our school-based programs and we have research to prove impact. Roots of Empathy reduces aggression, increases sharing, caring, and inclusion, and promotes resilience, well-being, and positive mental health.

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Learn more about using persona dolls for ABAR education.

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Where does this term come from? What does it mean? And how did it go viral?

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When Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term 30 years ago, it was a relatively obscure legal concept. Then it went viral.

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Learn more about environmental racism.

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This site uses cookies to deliver website functionality and analytics. If you would like to know more about the types of cookies we serve and how to change your cookie settings, please read our Cookie Notice. By clicking the "I accept" button, you consent to the use of these cookies.

Image: Reuters/Damir Sagolj

Image: Elizabethwarren.com

Lead astray & environmental racism

Environmental racism is a planet-wide problem

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What is Environmental Racism And How Can We Fight It?

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Read on to know what is environmental racism and how can we fight it. From toxic tap water to oil pipelines on native land to waste dumps in the global south, here's how structural disadvantages play out in the environment.

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I like following their Instagram account because they are constantly challenging me to see and make connections that I hadn't before.

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How it all started.

While studying environmentalism in college, IE founder Leah Thomas recognized the erasure of oppressed communities resulting from a white-washed environmental narrative. Simultaneously, mainstream media began discussing a more inclusive version of feminism using the idea of 'intersectionality', a term coined by lawyer + professor Kimberlé Crenshaw. As a Black woman in the environmental movement, Leah was inspired to focus her efforts on a new study: intersectional environmentalism. This more inclusive perspective of sustainability recognized the intersectionality of social justice + sustainability.

In May 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, Leah called on the environmental community to make a pledge to Black lives and commit to a journey of intersectional advocacy that would amplify silenced voices. The post went viral, and the online sustainability community began looking for spaces to listen to and amplify these silenced voices.

Thanks to the incredible momentum from environmentalists and social justice activists, Leah and fellow cofounders Diandra, Sabs, and Phil created the concept for IE and launched the platform one week later.

This is only the beginning. While IE was built to address the unjust murders of Black lives and the silence from the environmental community, we are committed to amplifying the voices of all those fighting to uplift underserved communities, preserve cultures, + protect our planet.

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About Us - Intersectional Environmentalist

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While studying environmentalism in college, IE founder Leah Thomas recognized the erasure of oppressed communities resulting from a white-washed environmental narrative. Simultaneously, mainstream media began discussing a more inclusive version of feminism using the idea of 'intersectionality', a term coined by lawyer + professor Kimberlé Crenshaw.

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People with disabilities can be greatly impacted by their other identities, which may make it more difficult for them to receive the help they need.

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People are complex and multi-faceted, with many interwoven attributes making up their identity. Disability is just one part of a person's identity, that may shape but not define them.

The term intersectionality first came about to describe the dialogue between feminism and women of colour, highlighting the different barriers women face dependent on the colour of their skin. This movement called for better inclusion and understanding of the different issues, such as racism, women of colour face in seeking gender equality.

Since then, the term intersectionality has broadened to include all protected characteristics, such as class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability and gender. It's the idea that these layers do not exist separately from each other but intersect to form a person's identity, and can magnify the discrimination and marginalisation they might experience. To fully understand to what extent, it's crucial to look at the whole picture of someone's identity.

To illustrate, Eve, a black wheelchair user who is also a lesbian, transgender and Muslim will have a different lived experience to Sarah who is a white, heterosexual woman who uses a wheelchair. There's every possibility that Eve will have to navigate misogyny, racism, Islamaphobia, homophobia and ableism on any given day. Different parts of her identity might be focussed on dependent on the audience, which means she might experience discrimination for one or many aspects of her identity either simultaneously or in isolation. This oppression is multi-layered, deeply complex and no doubt very tiring...Jay and Kym AKA 'The Triple Cripples' address this issue beautifully (watch below):

Intersectionality and Disability

Language is central to disability politics; negative language can reinforce oppression and discrimination. Using positive language and the social model is vital to achieving an intersectional approach in building enabling and inclusive support services for disabled people. The social model is founded on the idea that our environment and societal barriers disable us, not a fault with the person. Seeing the whole person beyond their disabilitymakes a huge difference in understanding disclosure rates, prevalence rates and engagement with services.

For example, according to a study conducted by the NHS, black British women are the most likely to experience poor mental health at 29.3%, but the least likely to seek support at 6.2%. The most pronounced inequalities in uptake of support relate to age, sex and ethnic group. People with common mental health issues who are Black, Asian, non-British White, or of mixed or other ethnicity are less likely to obtain treatment than those in the white British group. This raises many questions around culturally informed attitudes and biases relating to disability. Also, whether health care services are shaped to cater to a broad range of people or if we're using exclusionary euro-centric models that don't translate to other understandings of health.

Recognising when an Intersectional Approach is Needed

ALWAYS! Evaluating whether a system or service is fit for purpose can be complex, but it helps to start by asking questions like:

Which communities are served and which aren't? Why?

Who gets to participate and who doesn't? Why?

Who has access to resources and support and who doesn't? Why?

Who's voices get heard and who's don't? Why?

This will help highlight points of exclusion and guide a more inclusive, intersectional approach.

Lived Experience and Representation

At Diversity and Ability (DnA) it's our view that support is only effective if it takes into account the reality of that person's lived experience. For example, we would be mindful of how someone's cultural background might feed into their perceptions of disability or mental health and what kind of treatment systems are familiar or acceptable to them.

DnA is a disabled-led organisation, with a diverse team who reflect the lived experiences of the people we work with. Lack of representation can affect emotional well-being, as well as societal outcomes in health, education, employment and relationships. Representation is important in helping people feel they belong. Delivering peer-to-peer support with inherent empathy and understanding can create solutions that are genuinely relevant and enabling.

Inclusive Support

As well as tailored one-to-one support, many of DnA's services are focussed more broadly around inclusion. We provide support that is on some level useful to a wide range of people, without singling out particular communities.

Positively impact on widening participation goals

Boost productivity, wellbeing and mental health

Increase attainment & retention

Create a positive culture shift towards increased acceptance of diverse learning styles, resulting in improved accessibility and inclusion

For example, in universities, we provide group 'inclusive technology' training sessions that are open to anyone who would like to learn new study skills and how technology may assist them in their studies. Many technologies developed to support people with learning differences actually benefit a broad cross-section of people, with or without diagnosed learning differences. This change in narrative opens up support avenues for students who may not have defined themselves as disabled due to culturally reinforced shame, class-based access, eligibility rules around nationality etc. Initiatives like these have the power to:

Chat to us at hello@diversityandability.com

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People are complex and multi-faceted, with many interwoven attributes making up their identity. Disability is just one part of a person's identity, that may shape but not define them. The term...

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Supporting Black LGBTQ Youth Mental Health

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Supporting Black LGBTQ Youth Mental Health

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BIPOC LGBTQ+ people face unique challenges as they navigate the intersections of race, queerness, and sometimes faith.

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Supporting Black LGBTQ Youth Mental Health

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Supporting Black LGBTQ Youth Mental Health

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The Trevor Project is a great organization if you're looking for mental health resources for LGBTQ youth.

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This podcast episode looks at disability in a Christian context, but it also has some great advice on running an accessible event.

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0:00

Pete: You're listening to The Bible for Normal People - the only God-ordained podcast on the internet. I'm Pete Enns.

Jared: And I'm Jared Byas.

[Jaunty intro music]

Pete: Hello, everybody. Welcome to this episode of The Bible for Normal People. Our topic today is "Disability Theology is for Everyone," and our guest is Stephanie Tait.

Jared: She is an author, a speaker, and an advocate for disability theology, and I think it's a really important episode for everyone to listen to.

Pete: Yeah, and we say this a lot - we learn things from our guests. We learned things from this guest. So, just, we'll just, let's just go. Let's get into this.

Jared: Absolutely.

[Music begins]

Stephanie: To be brutally honest, this is an area where the church has really dropped the ball. A lot of what's happening is not just insufficient, it's outright harmful. A lot of the healing stories get taught as there's something broken about this person and Jesus came in and fixed it. That is not a healthy or appropriate way to teach that story whether you know you have disabled people in your pews or not, you do.

[Music ends]

Jared: Well, welcome Stephanie, to the podcast. It's really great to have you.

Stephanie: Thanks for having me on!

Jared: You know, one of the things, well, the thing we really want to dive into is this idea of disability theology. You know, here on the podcast we've said before, all theology has an adjective. There's a context for it. So, before we get to the meat of that, I think it would be helpful for you just to explain a little bit of your story. Why is this interesting to you? Why does it matter to you, you know, this context and history of disability and suffering in the midst of relationship with God?

Stephanie: So, for a lot of my life I was a relatively healthy little girl. Until I got to about 16 years old, in the middle of high school, I started having really strange, and at the time, completely unexplained health issues and they were very all over the map. One minute it was breathing related, the next it was like, joints, the fatigue became crushing. I started to have memory issues and processing issues. Like, none of these things seemed related at all and my parents, you know, were behind me in being very frustrated and wanting better for me and so they'd take me to doctor after doctor and say, "What is going on with her?" And pretty much every time we'd get something along the lines of, "well, she's a 16-year-old girl. Of course, she doesn't want to wake up and go to class," or, "she's 16, she's probably just depressed." Or in the worst cases, we'd get things like, "Well, she's very dramatic. She does a lot of theatre and she's very outgoing. You know, maybe she's sort of exaggerating or playing it up for attention." And so, we just didn't get any useful answers. And this went on for years. And as it went on, symptoms kept popping up every few years to add to the list. In college, I started having seizures and at this point, it was like, doctors were throwing darts at a board, right? Like, okay, I guess you have epilepsy too. We'll just tack that on the list.

Pete: Right.

Stephanie: As my joints started to actually break down and it looked degenerative, they were like, okay, you have rheumatoid arthritis. Just add it to the list! When I got older, and my husband and I got married, I started having repeated miscarriages again and again. And once again, darts on a board. It was like, okay, well, these things happen so that's gotta be unrelated. We'll just add it to the list. And this went on for over 15 years -

Pete: Wow.

Stephanie: Until I finally heard a similar story of similar health issues from somebody I knew through the grapevine whose issue had actually been Lyme Disease. And this is something I had never been tested for, so I figured what the heck, worth a try -

Pete: Yeah.

Stephanie: Fought tooth and nail to get the testing and sure enough, for 15 years, this bacteria had been allowed to run rampant through my system, destroying organs, causing all kinds of problems. And the thing is, if you let it go unchecked for that long, some of that damage is not reversible. You can kill that bacteria and get it out of your system, but I had permanent heart damage, I had permanent neurological damage, these things just don't reverse. So, it was sort of that catch-22 where you think, if I can just get a diagnosis, that, you know, that'll be the key! And then you get a diagnosis like that and you find out it's not really the end all, be all. You're gonna carry some of these symptoms for the rest of your life. And even then, I was still referring to myself with terms like chronically ill.

4:44

Disabled? It felt out of reach to me still. I spent a lot of time going, no, you know, I don't use a wheelchair, or I have good days and I still do a lot of things. I'm not disabled. Took me a really long time to sort through how much of that was my own internalized ableism, how much of that was just a real misunderstanding of what disability means and what it is and isn't, but it wasn't really until adulthood that I recognized I'm disabled. I will always be disabled. That's a part of my identity, it's a part of who I am. And so, I can't turn that off as I walk through the world. That's, you know, it's a permanent piece of me. And so, everything that I do is filtered through that lens and that includes theology. That includes my relationship with God, that includes the way I read scripture, all of that is going to have that core piece of me brought to the table. Like, I can't really separate the two.

Jared: Well, with that, maybe, can you share through the lens of maybe the church and your relationship with God through 15 years of unanswered questions and medical hardships and those kinds of things - what was happening to your theology and view of God in that time?

Stephanie: Whew! That's a loaded question. To be brutally honest, this is an area where the church has really dropped the ball and where a lot of what's happening is not just insufficient, it's outright harmful. So, I came up in a conservative section of the Baptist church. I was from the Conservative Baptists Association. We split off from the SBC because they weren't conservative enough for us!

Pete: Gotcha, gotcha.

Stephanie: So, I didn't come up in a church that would've ever used the words "prosperity gospel." And in fact, if somebody had, I think we would've said, "oh, heck no, we don't believe in that nonsense." But if you really look at the core of the theology, it was all over the place. It was definitely this underlying belief that if you do what you're supposed to do and if you follow God's will, whatever that means, you may not, you know, it's not God's gonna make you rich or give you a private plane or something, but there was definitely a baseline minimum, right? You weren't going to be homeless and living under a bridge somewhere. And so, initially I spent a lot of the process sort of swinging between two extremes. Either A, if I just have enough faith, look, God's gonna show up and do something amazing. So I just have to be, you know, 24/7, positive, encouraging K-love all the time, like just tell everybody I know he's going to do something amazing, just watch! And if I could keep that up for long enough, he'd have to deliver. He'd have to come through. And when that didn't work out, I'd often swing to the other extreme, which was am I doing something wrong?

Pete: Mm hmm.

Stephanie: Is there some secret sin in my life that I'm being punished for? Is there some lesson he's trying to teach me that if I could just learn it, then this would finally end? We could move onto the next thing. And ultimately, when you swing on that kind of a pendulum for 15 years, neither of those answers was really fulfilling and neither of those answers really holds out long term. When it keeps going and going and going, when "this too does not pass" -

Pete: Yeah.

Stephanie: You're sort of left with your empty hands going, so, is all of it crap?

Pete: Yeah.

Stephanie: Or did I misunderstand somewhere? Is there a way to take pieces of this faith and hold onto it still or does this mean that all of it is nonsense and I have to go back to the drawing board?

Pete: So, was that process, I mean, not to overuse the term, but was it spiritually traumatic for 15 years to be sort of on the swings one way or the other and neither end of the spectrum really worked and, you know, because people sometimes don't recover from that, that's my experience. When you have such a negative view of God, really, and of yourself, like, this transactional thing -

Stephanie: Yeah.

Pete: You know, people walk away from faith pretty quickly after a period like that. I guess you had your own crisis, then.

Stephanie: I mean, you're not wrong. It felt like I was consistently left with two choices, right? Either God's a real jerk or I'm just a horrible person to deserve this much extra punishment in my life. Right? And neither of those were things that we're psychologically built to carry long term. They're both really unhealthy, and you're right, they're both spiritually traumatizing.

9:48

If I'm honest, there are times that I don't fully understand how I'm still here, how I still am a Christian, how I still consider myself pretty in love with Jesus, like, that's, I don't know. And what I don't ever want to come off sounding like is - I feel like I've seen this book 80 times - you know, Suzie blogger tells you every bad thing that ever happened to her in her life, but Jesus!! So, it was all okay, so what's your problem? Because her stuff is definitely worse than yours, so buck up.

Pete: Yeah.

Stephanie: Like, that is not what this was. I definitely had some extremely rocky and extremely raw come to Jesus moments that involved many swear words and lots of things that I was raised to believe you should probably not say to God. This was not a sunshine and just hold onto Jesus and it's all gonna be okay process.

Pte: Yeah.

Stephanie: If I'm honest, and this is gonna sound a little hokey, I think there were times where I completely let go and so something else must've been holding onto me.

Pete: Mm hmm.

Stephanie: Because if it had just been up to me to keep choosing to stay, I would've been out of here a long time ago.

Pete: I don't think that's hokey at all. I think that's how it works.

Jared: So, then connecting these dots, how did that experience shape what you would identify as disability theology? Like, in a lot of ways it seems like you needed to craft your own understanding of God in a new light given your new experiences and so how did your experiences shape what became, for you, disability theology?

Stephanie: So, I think you guys come from a similar place, it sounds like, of believing that we all read our own cultural experiences and biases and experiences into the text when we read it, like, there's no way around that. If you don't think you're applying a lens, if you think you're the true neutral, you're definitely not.

Pete: Well, that's your lens.

Jared: [Laughter]

Stephanie: Yeah.

Pete: Right?

Stephanie: So, in a way, like, I don't think there was ever a clear moment where I went, "I'm gonna set out to figure out what disability theology looks like!" It was sort of a recognition that I had, for a very long time, been reading the text as a disabled person whether I knew that yet or not. And the more I came to accept that that's who I was in my identity, the more I was able to articulate more clearly and identify more clearly the ways that I approach certain stories differently or the ways that certain stories had been taught or applied that were extremely harmful to me. So, I don't think there was like, a day that I set out that I was like, "what does disability theology look like?" I think it's been a process of recognition that this was something I was already doing, I just hadn't really given it a name or identified that I was doing it. Does that make sense?

Jared: Absolutely. Maybe you can share a few of those experiences of, you know, as you became aware of how you had been reading the Bible through your experiences or your theology, your views of God had been filtered through these experiences. What, you know, when you say this is what I was doing, what was it you were doing?

Stephanie: That's a really great question. There are some glaring examples to me, like, the healing stories of Jesus, right? There are so many stories of Jesus coming across somebody who has some sort of ailment or illness or what we would call disability and healing them and taking that ailment away. And somewhere along the process of me finally identifying as disabled and getting uncomfortable with that identity and not being afraid of that word anymore or associating it with something negative, those stories started to really grate against me. I found myself being legitimately uncomfortable when one of them came up in a sermon because I knew that I was just gonna want to get up and walk out. And so, I had to circle back and really sit down with some of these texts and say I kind of feel like I have two choices here - either I have to just sort of cut holes, right, where these are and black them out and not do this anymore any say I just don't like what I'm seeing here or I have to sit down and read it and say is there some other way to read this story that is not through the cultural lens of ableism that tells me something different about God, something that jives with not only my experience of God, but with what I see from him elsewhere in the text? Because, to me, rampant ableism, it doesn't, it's contradictory to what I know of God and his character.

14:54

So, I had to learn how to sit down with these stories and say in the same way that we read our own cultural lenses into this, is there something about the cultural lens of the day that might've been influencing the way that this story was written? Is there something about the cultural lens of today that's influencing the way people are teaching this story to me? And both of those were a big fat yes for me on those. I think a lot of the healing stories get taught as there's something broken about this person and Jesus came in and fixed it and that's beyond harmful. Let me just say right up front - like, that is not a healthy or appropriate way to teach that story. Whether you know you have disabled people in your pews or not - you do - and they hear it and they internalize there is something wrong with you and there is something broken and you won't be fully whole until someday in heaven when Jesus fixes you.

Pete: Well, what is another way of reading the healing stories?

Stephanie: I think it's important to remember that none of these stories exist in a vacuum, right?

Pete: Yeah.

Stephanie: So, when Jesus comes and he meets people where they are, he meets them in the culture of the day. And the culture of the day was if you had some kind of a disability, it wasn't just that people looked at you differently, it was that you couldn't fully participate in the community.

Pete: Mm hmm.

Stephanie: And not only could you not participate in the community, you couldn't participate in spiritual life. There were tons of rules about people that just weren't even allowed to come to the temple, period, because there was something "wrong with them." And I think that context matters because so much of what Jesus does is he's trying to bring people in closer to himself and in better community with each other.

Pete: Yeah.

Stephanie: And so, to me, the healing stories are not about fixing the disability as if that's something that's broken. When you heal the blind man, it's not it's so much better to be sighted and you were broken when you were blind, it's in the context of where we are in this society, right now, the only way that I can restore wholeness is to restore you to society and they won't accept you any other way. So, given those limitations, I'm doing what I can do bring you back into belonging.

Pete: Mm hmm.

Jared: Right, yeah, there's a social component to it so it's not actually the physical disability. It's given the constraints of this society, the only way to bring you back into the community, which is kind of incarnational in the sense of, we are invested in the way things are. We wish it were different, but we're invested in this and Jesus brings us into it given the way things are.

Stephanie: Yes.

Pete: I also think unlocking a, both a profound point, but then when you sit with it for a while, a rather obvious point, and that is what did this mean to the people back then rather than importing our own experience into it? And that's really the foundation of critical biblical reading and critical scholarship, not criticizing the text, but saying how would this have been heard, why say this?

Stephanie: Mmm.

Pete: Right? And so yeah, I just think that's such an important point that you're bringing up there and a great insight. And I wish more people could carry that for a lot of different reasons too, just to, yeah, for good or for bad, you know, whichever way scripture is misunderstood. For harm or for just, you know, manipulating it for our own well-being, to take, to pay attention to what are those words doing back then as best as we can tell? And that's about uncovering a little bit of history and a little bit of context and that sometimes can correct a lot of ills. I have so many students, Jared, that they feel liberated when they finally understand something about the historical context of any one of a number of stories and realizing that it doesn't have the negative affect that it had for them when they were younger.

Jared: Well, and if I can, before we go forward, because I think one of the filters we bring to it that the ancient world maybe didn't, you keep using this word ableism. Can you define what that means and maybe as a construct or as a filter that we use?

Stephanie: Yeah, so, I think the biggest thing to understand about ableism is that it's easy for people to hear that word and think we're talking about, you know, openly hating disabled people for being disabled, right? Like, I just, I don't like people in wheelchairs, or making fun of them for their disability. And while those are very obvious sort of forms of ableism, that's not really all that ableism is. Ableism is structural, and that's really important to kind of take a step back and understand in that the world that we live in is built to serve certain kinds of bodies and certain kinds of people.

19:48

And if you're not one of those certain kinds of bodies or people, it's more difficult for you to move through the world and much like we talked about in those healing stories, it's difficult for you to have a full sense of belonging in the community.

Pete: Right, yeah.

Stephanie: And so, those barriers to full belonging and inclusion for disabled people, all of those represent ableism. When we put barriers on access, whether intentionally or unintentionally, that's ableism. When we assume that the experience of disability is somehow less than and people would obviously prefer to not be disabled anymore, that's a form of ableism. So, it's sort of, it's difficult sometimes, for me to put it into words in a way that it is clear and concise, but I think it's just really important to understand that it's not just an intentional "I hate disabled people thing," it's understanding that anything that puts up barriers to our full inclusion and belonging in the community -

Pete: It's almost like systemic racism in a sense, right?

Stephanie: In a way.

Pete: It's not the same thing, but it's so deeply part of the structure that it doesn't have to be overt to still be harmful to people.

Stephanie: Well, and the other similarity that kind of resonates with me is that just because I am disabled, doesn't mean I'm free from ableism, right? There's a lot of internalized ableism that we as disabled people still have to work through because it's just in the air we breathe. It's all around us in society. We're raised in it. You don't just magically flip a switch and turn that off when you decide you're disabled.

Pete: Right.

Stephanie: That's not how that works.

Jared: You talk about this inadvertent ableism, and I think as churches, you know, within accessibility and how we maybe are unaware of how ableism is expressed in churches. And I'm thinking of churches being exempt from the ADA and some of the things you've written about that.

Stephanie: Yup.

Jared: Can you maybe just speak to that a little bit? Because I found that really enlightening for myself.

Stephanie: So, a lot of people don't even know that churches are exempt from the ADA. But back when the ADA was being written and advocated for, the head of the Association of Christian Schools was a big figure in this, churches and Christian schools sort of formed a lobbying coalition behind him to press the ADA to write an exemption for churches and Christian schools. And so, it's interesting how much this mirrors some of the debates that we've seen around issues around gay marriage and healthcare contraception today. Essentially, they kept putting up this argument that tried to frame it like the rights of disabled people were in direct contradiction to the freedom of religion. It's eerie how much it mirrors the same arguments. And so, they were successful, and they got an entire exemption carved out for them that says that they're not forced to comply. And again, it's not just churches, it's parachurch organizations and any extension of that church. So, if that church runs a daycare on its campus, it's exempt.

Pete: Mmm.

Stephanie: If that church runs a Christian school, it's exempt.

Pete: What drove that?

Stephanie: Well, a lot of it was the idea that it would be expensive to overhaul things to make them accessible.

Pete: Yeah.

Jared: [Laughter]

Don't let our need to love people well get in the way of, you know, protecting our finances.

Stephanie: But even grosser, there were some that had this idea that, think of like, cathedrals and traditional architecture and blah blah blah. Like, if you had to rip that out and put in ramps and space apart your pews and like, it would destroy this heritage. But what's even grosser is if you look at the kind of arguments that this head of Association of Christian Schools made, it was pretty ugly. They were saying things like, you know, if the ADA applies to us in areas of like, hiring, what if people say that, you know, being a drug addict is them having a disability and we're forced to hire them? What if we're forced to hire people with AIDS and we're not allowed to fire them for their gay lifestyle choices? Like, it was ugly. It was really ugly. Essentially, they made it very clear in black and white that they wanted a legal exemption to discriminate freely as much as they wanted.

Pete: Yeah.

Jared: Well, I have to, I just have to express my frustration after reading that has just grown, because as you're saying that perhaps the context for Jesus's healing wasn't just about, you know, Jesus will heal you of your physical disability, but it's about belonging in the community of faith.

Stephanie: Mm hmm.

24:42

Jared: And that's the trajectory of this. And now we're using that same, those same passages to exclude people from belonging. It seems, it's just so frustrating to me to see that the context might've been a context of how do we include people and instead of doing everything we can as a church to include as many people as we can to have full access and equality in our congregations and communities as outposts of the kingdom of God, we're instead using these loopholes to exclude people. It's just incredibly frustrating.

Stephanie: It goes back to the idea that ableism doesn't have to be obvious hatred and like, seeking to exclude. Sometimes it feels unintentional because if you ask most churches about this, if they aren't ADA compliant, many of them will say, "oh, we'd love to, we would, but it's just so cost prohibitive." Or you know, "well, we've never had a student in a wheelchair, so we've never needed to invest the money into..." My younger son, actually, went to preschool at a little church preschool that was like, at the time, the only place that we could afford and we went with it and I could tell stories for days, But the worst of it was they did a huge church and campus remodel the last year that we were there, and they were a two story campus with no elevator.

Pete: And they added a third story just to make it difficult?

Stephanie: And so, I thought they would put in an elevator as part of that big remodel, but no, they put in a coffee shop area and big picture windows and all kinds of stuff. And when I asked about it, I was told straight up that a) they've never had any students in a wheelchair so it's not really a concern, b) you know, there is a way that you can go outside the building because it was a split level, in the rain, in Oregon here. You know, go up the driveway and come back in on the other thing. So, it's technically accessible if you think about it. But the big thing that stuck with me was they tried to make it an issue of good stewardship.

Pete: Yeah.

Stephanie: They said it would take so much of the budget to put in this one elevator that would only serve such a small population, is that really good stewardship of these funds that people have donated?

Jared: So, they hadn't read the parable of the 99 and the 1?

Stephanie: That was exactly the argument I made! I was like, oh, okay, we'll just ignore Jesus going after that one sheep because it's too small of a population.

Pete: Yeah, yeah.

Jared: Well, even the bigger, the bigger thing, and not to harbor on this, but it is very frustrating to me. Like, we ask disabled people to trust God to heal them, but we're unwilling to trust God for the finances to make the programs and buildings accessible to everyone.

Stephanie: Well, I think that's part of the reason that it's so dangerous to teach the healing stories through some sort of prescriptive lens, right? Like, God wants everybody to get physically healed, that's what I get out of this story. That's dangerous partially because it really deflates the tires on any sense of urgency to make things more accessible. Like, I don't know if you've ever seen this, you can Google it sometime, but there are some atrocious pictures on the internet of churches that have handicap accessible parking signs that say things on them like "waiting to be healed."

Pete: Oh, gosh.

[Laughter]

Jared: Ohhhh.

[Laughter]

Stephanie: And we laugh because it's such an extreme example -

Jared: Gosh.

Stephanie: But really, there's a lot of that underlying thinking going on in a lot of churches. They may not be so blatant to stick it up on the sign like that, which is gross, but they think it.

Pete: Yeah.

Jared: Mm hmm.

Stephanie: There's this idea of don't settle, like, acceptance is just a big no-no. Like, you shouldn't accept being disabled, you should be constantly wanting to be healed and showing that you have enough faith to believe that it's going to happen, and if you haven't been healed it's because you haven't been healed yet. It's coming, like, just keep waiting.

Pete: Well, you know, my guess, and I'm just speaking as an outsider here, my guess is that from their point of view, and this is part of the problem, but from their point of view they're trying to support disabled people.

Stephanie: Hmm.

Pete: Maybe I'm just getting really weird here, but I think in their mind they're saying, "we just believe that God can heal you." And from their point of view, they're trying to do something beneficial and supportive, when in fact, you know, the opposite is happening. And that's part of it, there's sort of like a tone-deafness, right? It's not, they may not be malignant, but it's just a tone-deafness -

Jared: Well, it's what happens when you center yourself. My makeup, all the adjectives I can add to myself - white, male, hetero, able-bodied - like, once I normatize. Norm, normatize?

Pete: [Laughter]

Jared: Once I sort of universalize that as though this is the standard that God wants for all of us, then everything else I do to make you like me -

Stephanie: Yes.

Pete: That's it, that's it. That's the tone-deafness. Yeah.

29:52

Jared: Right. And so, there's a dis-centeredness, and that's why I like the idea of disability theology is for everyone is to decenter some of these things and to say, maybe that's not the standard for "helping someone" is to make them like me.

Pete: Mm hmm, right.

Stephanie: That's why, for me, the hands down, the most powerful story in scripture for me as a disabled woman and that I feel like, if people could really sit with it, it would turn this idea of, you know, assuming everyone wants to be faith healed and you know, not being accessible because you want them to get healed, all of this would get turned on its head if people really sat with the story of Jesus appearing to the disciples and then again to Thomas after his resurrection. Because the way we teach that story, and especially, like, all the artwork around it we grew up with, it very much suggested like, Jesus comes back and he shows them his little scars, right? Like, these tiny little flecks of discolored skin on his hands. He's fine, but they're there sort of just to prove that it really happened, right?

Pete: Mm hmm.

Stephanie: But when you read the text, it's gruesomely clear that that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about, like, he literally says, like, take your thumb and just jam it into this gaping, open wound in my hand. Take your hand and literally just plunge it into my insides in this gaping hole in my side. We're not talking about I'm all better and there's these little freckles now, we're talking about unhealed wounds.

Pete: Mm hmm.

Stephanie: And that, I have to tell you, the first time I sat with that, it felt borderline blasphemous to me because I had been steeped in so much ableism culturally that reading that text and saying Jesus conquered death, came back in glorious perfection, and was wounded felt gross. Like, I thought, I'm not allowed to say this or think this, right? Like this, no! Obviously, he would get healed because he's perfect! He's glorious! He's in glory, he can't be bleeding and gross and be glorious. And it was such a turning point for me to know that I serve a wounded savior that he can be fully glory and also not healed, that there's nothing broken or incomplete or anything less than the fullness of the image of God in an unhealed body like mine because he came back with an unhealed body. It was huge. Absolutely huge for me.

Jared: Well, and that's why disability theology is for everyone. Because even you saying that, my mind is kind of blown of how many times have I read that and not given any gravitas or any weight to what you just pointed out. And I think that's that beauty of having these different perspectives from different people on all these different scales and spectrums is it's so vital to understanding kind of the fullness of God.

Stephanie: Yeah.

Pete: So, disability theology, one of the reasons why it's for everyone, this is what I'm picking up, is that people who are not disabled, it will help them, maybe, decenter themselves and their own experience and really understand the experience of others.

Stephanie: Hmm.

Pete: Do you agree with that? Is that, I mean, am I channeling correctly?

Stephanie: It comes down a lot to, so, when I go to speak at places or get invited to speak at places, a lot of the time if it's some sort of conference and they want me to speak on disability, it's like a side panel, right? Like, either it's this little side breakout session on disability or it'll be some sort of diversity panel and I'm the disability person. It's seen as like, a side niche issue.

Pete: Right.

Stephanie: And what you just hit on is just like when we talked about Jesus and the healing stories, in our society, the people that have the power to change the issues around accessibility, lack of belonging for disabled people, lack of inclusion, are not really disabled people.

Pete: Yeah, yeah.

Stephanie: It's majority culture who holds the power to do that. And so, if disability theology is always relegated to "isn't it nice that we can make, you know, these disabled people feel better about themselves because they'll see more of the image of God in themselves, how sweet!" Nothing's really gonna change.

Pete: As long as we're still in control of that conversation and that process.

34:42

Stephanie: Correct.

Pete: Yeah, right.

Stephanie: And so, if it's not for everybody, if it's just a side issue, it's just gonna continue the cycle of harming whole new waves of disabled people again and again and again. And I don't subscribe to that sort of theology, right? Like, I don't, I don't like the, well, man, I grew up in the kind of church that was really big on we don't want to have a government program that can actually fix poverty or housing and equality or accessibility or anything because then people wouldn't get to see the church come in and like, give donations and stuff. And I think that's so backwards, right? The idea that we need to keep people marginalized so that we can show off God to them. Like, that's, this is one of those areas where if disability theology really was for everyone, if abled people really invested in listening to disabled voices, in being taught by disabled theologians, the changes that could be made would be structural and systemic.

Pete: Yeah.

Stephanie: So, that the stories like mine of going 15 years without help or thinking that, you know, God hated me and was punishing me, these stories would stop happening and we would truly find belonging in the pews.

Jared: Well, it also seems like there's a crossroads, almost, economically. Because we dance around this a little bit, but when a church is wondering whether it's economically feasible to make things accessible for everyone, they're weighing this cost/benefit analysis, right? So, there's 90% of the people that we interact with, who, they don't need a ramp or a this or a that, and there's 10% who do. And I think that is a decision point of does our theology, does what we, are we walking the talk? Are we saying that the one does matter? Are we saying that we have a minority position on this thing where we're going to center the minority and not just go with the majority? That has political and economic impact into the decisions we make.

Stephanie: I think right now is an excellent example of how decisions like that are not as isolated as we'd like to think, that when you make a decision like that, you've made a decision about what your personal belief system is, what's important to you, and what your theology is, and if you don't think that scales up, you just look at the pandemic.

Jared: Mm hmm.

Stephanie: Because the same people that used to tell me "we honestly don't want to exclude disabled people, if we had the money we would love to make these changes, but it's just not feasible, you need to be reasonable and not ask so much of us" are the same people that a year ago were saying, "well, the good news is COVID only kills high risk people, so we should all be able to go back to work and get this economy rolling again."

Jared: Right, right.

Stephanie: And if you don't think those are connected, they're absolutely connected because every one of these seemingly little decisions that you make, you've chosen what your theology is and what you value and it will scale up and it will generalize and it will translate to bigger issues down the line.

Pete: Yeah.

Jared: Right. Right, that's, even in our conversation, that's becoming clearer and clearer these connections, you know, economically, politically, around some of these challenges.

Pete: Yeah, and I think, what I'm sort of, the way I'm putting some pieces together here is, I mean, disability theology is theology.

Stephanie: Mm hmm.

Pete: Right?

Jared: Right.

Pete: You know, and all theology has an adjective, you know, that we say around here. All those theologies are doing theology and when we exclude, when we decenter disability theology, right, if we keep that on the margins and you know, side talks at conferences and "there, there, we'll give you a voice but no decision power" and things like that, that's something other than doing theology. That's more control and manipulation and yeah, because, you know, there's no theology that doesn't have an adjective. You know, just the "normal, white people theology."

Jared: [Laughter]

Right.

Pete: That you know, people like me, right? And like Jared. That's not the case and, yeah, it's just, it's really powerful to be reminded of how everybody has a voice and a theological process and the theological discussion. Everyone does.

Jared: Yeah, and can maybe, just as we're wrapping up our conversation here, I think there's a lot of people who maybe sympathize/empathize with the conversation we're having. What are some practical steps for someone, maybe, who is able-bodied, who is maybe guilty of ableism on a subconscious level, what steps can they take so that it's not just this feeling of guilt, but there's some practical things for being able to make a difference in their communities and congregations and their life. What are some ways that people can make steps?

Stephanie: So, the first thing is learning how to practice true solidarity, right? And so that means I as a disabled person should not be solely responsible for having to call around to churches or conferences or events and say, "hey, what's the accessibility situation here?" There's no reason why able-bodied allies are not capable of asking those same questions. So, that means like somebody like Pete, if you get hired to speak at an event, it takes, you know, one extra line in your rider or one extra sentence in the phone call to arrange that to say, hey, is this event accessible and how?

Pete: Yeah, yeah.

Stephanie: To make sure that they know that's important to you, and not just to people like me.

Pete: Right.

Stephanie: Another thing that's really simply and that anybody can do is simply diversifying the voices that you're listening to and taking in. There are some really amazing disabled advocates who are giving this information away for free on places like Twitter, on places like Facebook, on places like TikTok, which I know nothing about and I'm not on because I'm not hip enough for that. But so I've been told that they're on there making videos or whatever they're called!

Pete: They're called TikToks.

[Laughter]

Stephanie: There are books, you know, that you can buy that are written by disabled theologians. There are conference talks that you can Google and download and TikToks and there are ways to diversify the voices that you're listening to and whether or not they're specifically talking about theology, they're still bringing a lived experience to the table that is different from yours and so it's really worth trying to diversify that stuff.

Pete: Right.

Jared: Well, I just would kind of offer a challenge and I saw Pete writing this down, so I think I can speak for him, but you know, making this commitment where for us who are able-bodied, where it might cost us something. Like, well, like it just connects with the, you know, with the churches conversation we were having earlier. Like, "we can't do that because it would cost us too much." Well, maybe we put kind of our money where our mouth is and say, yeah, we need to, as The Bible for Normal People, put accessibility in our speaking riders. Like, we speak at places that have ADA, you know, compatibility and we don't speak at places that don't. And you know, and in some ways, it's like oh, that's scary because that costs us, but that's kind of, I think, the point is that, for me, solidarity, and you can correct me, but solidarity is where, yeah, like, it may cost us as well.

Stephanie: That's exactly the difference.

Jared: Mm hmm, right.

Stephanie: Like, it's so nice when people empathize and say that's gotta be really hard, but that doesn't actually help my situation at all because, you know, it's a choice for you guys whether or not to do those things, but the reality is I'm in the body that I'm in, so it's not a choice for me.

Pete: Right.

Stephanie: And if an event doesn't care about its accessibility, I just can't go. That's it! Like, it's just the end for me. So, I can't take speaking gigs at places that are wholly inaccessible because I physically can't do it. Like, that's it! The decision is made for me. And so, you're right. Solidarity is saying, okay, it's not enough to just say, oh, you know, conferences should diversity more and look for disabled speakers. And okay, but if you're not willing to back that up and be fully accessible, it's not really a surprise that you can't find any disabled speakers. It's like a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Pete: Yeah, yeah.

Stephanie: The other thing is that you can actually, if you're a church or a conference or a place like that, you can hire people, I actually offer this service regularly, what's called a disability consultant. And that's a person who can actually walk you through sort of a list of recommendations and offer feedback on areas that you just may not know you're not accessible and might have blind spots. Churches, especially, like, it's interesting to see how many churches are like, we did it! We have, you know, sensory needs met, we have large print bulletins, and we have ramps and we're so proud! And it's not until somebody like me comes in that they ever register that the church itself is accessible, but the platform or the pulpit is not.

Pete: Yeah.

Stephanie: Right? What does that say to somebody like me? I can tell you that I absolutely notice it in every single church or conference that I'm in. If you made the building accessible but not the stage, you've communicated something very clearly to me. That you think I'm only capable of receiving and definitely not of leading or teaching you anything because it never even dawned on you that I might need to get up there.

Pete: Right, right.

Jared: Well, so good. Stephanie, thank you so much for taking some time and I mean, honestly just educating me. I'll just speak for myself, on a lot of things about disability theology. I absolutely endorse this idea that it's for everyone. I think it's something that we need to take to heart and think about because it's not like you said, it has these repercussions. It has a ripple effect on our theology and what we think about God and Jesus and these stories that we hear about and are we gonna take them seriously, so I appreciate you bringing that to us.

Pete: Yeah, I think it was sort of like a prophetic word to make people think.

Stephanie: Well, I just appreciate you making space and doing exactly what you're preaching, right? Decentering yourselves and saying how can we learn from a perspective that's different than ours. We don't get that a lot, so I'm always appreciative when we do.

Pete: Yes. Well, thank you.

Jared: Absolutely.

Pete: Thank you again, Stephanie, for being with us this past hour.

Jared: Thank you so much.

[Music begins]

Megan: Alright everyone, that's it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening and supporting our show. A big shout out to our Producer's Group who support us over on Patreon. They're the reason we're able to keep bringing podcasts and other content to you. If you would like to help support the podcast, head over to https://www.patreon.com/thebiblefornormalpeople, where for as little as $3 a month, you can receive bonus material, be part of an online community, get course discounts, and much more. We couldn't do what we do without your support.

Dave: Thanks, as always, to our team: Executive Producer, Megan Cammack; Audio Engineer, Dave Gerhart; Creative Director, Tessa Stultz; Marketing Wizard, Reed Lively; transcriber and Community Champion, Stephanie Speight; and Web Developer, Nick Striegel. From Pete, Jared, and the entire Bible for Normal People team, thanks for listening.

[Music ends]

[Outtakes]

[Beep]

Pete: Were we gonna start with a story?

Jared: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

Pete: I have a better idea, Stephanie. Here, how about this?

Stephanie: [Laughter]

He just threw you right under the bus.

Pete: You know what? This is how we roll. We just do this and half the time it's going the other way.

[Beep]

Pete: Okay, yeah.

Jared: So, we get there -

Pete: Fine, Jared. Fine, fine, fine. If that's how you want -

Stephanie: [Laughter]

If you guys can just keep kneecapping each other so you sound like crap and I sound amazing and I just win by default, that would be great. Thank you.

Pete: This isn't a conversation.

[End of recorded material]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Episode 165: Stephanie Tait - Disability Theology is for Everyone

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0:00 Pete: You're listening to The Bible for Normal People - the only God-ordained podcast on the internet. I'm Pete Enns. Jared: And I'm Jared Byas. [Jaunty intro music] Pete: Hello, everybody. Welcome to this episode of The Bible for Normal People. Our topic today is "Disability Theology is for Everyone," and our guest is Stephanie Tait.

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Lakeshore's Diversity and Inclusion Resources

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Lakeshore's Diversity and Inclusion Resources

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Lakeshore does have some valuable resources, it also has some resources that uphold stereotypes. Think carefully before purchasing.

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Celebrate diversity & boost kids' self-esteem-with products & learning activities that explore world cultures, ethnicities, differing abilities & more.

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Beautiful wooden blocks, many different languages!

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Blocks with braille and sign language.

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These are the cheaper persona dolls I could find.

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This identity wheel can be used either for individual student identity or for a fictional character. Reflection questions are below and can be cut and pasted in notebooks or this can be used on its own an "I am from" poem banner can be used as well as an additional activity. This pairs well with a social justice unit.

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Identity Wheel Color Printout with Reflection Questions

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This identity wheel can be used either for individual student identity or for a fictional character. Reflection questions are below and can be cut and pasted in notebooks or this can be used on its own an "I am from" poem banner can be used as well as an additional activity.

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Journal or record your school's history. Who founded the school? When? Why? Who was the school supposed to serve? How has the school population changed since then? What is your school's relationship with colonialism and imperialism?

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Both women suggested ways to protect people who may be experiencing the fallout of the "thousand little cuts" that assail us daily.

First, said Lee, we need to reframe the discussion. "I'm a person with depression or I'm bipolar" are classic old-school framings, she said. "In fact we are all as human beings likely to vacillate in and out of episodes throughout our lifetime, and one way we can put it is this is not a mental health condition, but the human condition." We also need to prioritize self-care. "Engage on a daily basis in self-compassion," she said, "quieting that toxic inner critic, rethinking what you've been told about your so-called suffering or your so-called weaknesses."

Other strategies include asking for help and for what you need and want, giving help, exercising, and taking up a meditative practice such as singing, knitting, or simply playing. "Cultivate joy," Lee said. Of course, that's easier said than done, particularly in an age when so many people report feeling lonely or isolated. Lee pointed out that researchers have found loneliness is as lethal as smoking, and had a recommendation for assuaging it: "Community," she said. "Community is where we heal, where we come to unlearn [some of the things we're taught about ourselves], and relearn, and where safety is created."

Surrounding yourself with supportive people is also crucial, and can be especially difficult among minorities who feel they "have to be strong for their community [and] step up," as moderator Renée Graham, a Boston Globe columnist and editor, put it. She recounted the time she mentioned to a friend that she was considering seeking therapy after her father's death, and the friend's response was, "Rosa Parks didn't need therapy, why do you need it?"

"I didn't go," said Graham, "and I should have. But the message was that you're being weak, this is not what black people do, you don't go out and put your business in the street. There's a huge stigma, and not just in black communities. I've heard of it in Muslim and Latinx communities too."

"Engage on a daily basis in self-compassion, quieting that toxic inner critic, rethinking what you've been told about your so-called suffering or your so-called weaknesses."

- Kristin Lee, Northeastern

"I see it a lot with my Asian students as well," said Lee, mentioning that the idea that "you're going to become the thing you're most afraid of" may be at play in such reactions. "It also could have raised that person's vulnerability themselves," she said. "If you need it, what does that mean for me?"

Graham also mentioned the Drake song "Two Birds, One Stone," in which the rapper criticizes fellow artist Kid Cudi for stating he was getting help with his depression. It ends with the line, "Is you crazy?"

That kind of "internalized racism," which people of color sometimes "swallow whole," said Robinson-Wood, is in part due to a "system that doesn't allow us to name that or to insist that this is a place where we can talk about that and we're not going to judge you but will throw everything we can at your recovery. Sometimes communities don't have enough tools in their tool kit to see how we don't have to perpetuate these damning discourses."

Lee said conversations like the Diversity Dialogues are slowly helping to change that. "We are starting to understand now that intervention is a tool to help a person," she said, "just like if you had a broken leg." She applauded Graham for telling the story of her insensitive friend, because a "powerful woman" sharing such experiences helps to "create safety."

"It really happens on a grassroots level," she said.

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Microaggressions and their role in mental illness

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Both women suggested ways to protect people who may be experiencing the fallout of the "thousand little cuts" that assail us daily. First, said Lee, we need to reframe the discussion. "I'm a person with depression or I'm bipolar" are classic old-school framings, she said.

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Workshop: Becoming a Warm Demander Addressing Microaggressions in Schools

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Workshop: Becoming a Warm Demander Addressing Microaggressions in Schools

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Follow the link to sign up for this upcoming workshop.

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ABOUT THE WORKSHOP

If you are a leader oriented toward equity and inclusion, then you must develop the skills of a Warm Demander. Lisa Delpit says that a Warm Demander educator "expects a great deal of their students, convinces them of their own brilliance, and helps them to reach their potential in a disciplined and structured environment." ¹ Likewise, Warm Demander leaders expect a great deal of their colleagues, have done the work to create a strong vision for equity and justice in their school communities, and have the skills to call others "in" when harm is caused. This introductory virtual workshop on becoming a Warm Demander will help participants at all levels of leadership develop the skill of maintaining high expectations alongside high accountability for adult learners and educators-an important part of maintaining the cultural competency of all the adults in a school building or district. Join us as we provide a framework for Warm Demander leadership, cultivate the racial literacy to see systems of oppression at play, and offer practical guidance to become a Warm Demander for equity.
OUTCOMES

Participants will:

Engage in a humanizing experience to reflect on their identities, implicit biases and worldviews.

Feel empowered to engage in courageous conversations that call folks in to the work of equity.

Build racial literacy in recognizing the intersection of systemic oppression and interpersonal relationships within a school building.

Practice Warm Demander conversations that orient towards a shared organizational vision and values while building fluency and awareness.

COURSE MATERIALS

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Anyone who works with adults in schools and districts can attend: teacher-leaders, department chairs, coaches, administrators, etc.

Educators of all positions who work with adults in public, charter, and private schools.

New and experienced coaches, managers, and mentors.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Shane Safir has worked at every level of the education system, from the classroom to the boardroom, for over two decades. In 2003, after teaching in San Francisco and Oakland and organizing with the San Francisco Organizing Project to launch a new school, Safir became the founding principal of June Jordan School for Equity (JJSE), an innovative national model identified by leading scholar Linda Darling-Hammond as having "beaten the odds in supporting the success of low-income students of color." Since 2008, Safir has provided leadership coaching, strategic planning support, and equity-centered professional learning for schools, districts, and organizations across the country and in Canada. She facilitates sought-after workshops on equity leadership, coaching, and facilitating adult learning among other areas. She writes frequently for Edutopia and ASCD's Educational Leadership magazine and is the author of The Listening Leader: Creating the Conditions for Equitable School Transformation (Jossey-Bass: 2017). Shane's newest book, Street Data: A Next-Generation Model for Equity, Pedagogy, and School Transformation (Corwin: 2021), is out now.

As an educator & leader with 20+ years of experience as a classroom teacher, school administrator and leadership coach and facilitator, Jessica Huang has a wide range of knowledge for how to build equitable school communities. Through her on-the-ground work in schools and her support and coaching of educator teams, she creates healing-centered, student-focused spaces where students of all backgrounds can thrive. Jessica has a Bachelor's of Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a Master's of Education from Stanford University. Her experience in both the public school system in the US and in international schools equips her to lead in a wide-variety of cultural-contexts. Jessica is currently serving as Vice Principal at United World College, Southeast Asia in Singapore.

If you need to pay by check or purchase order, please contact safirassociates@gmail.com.

________

¹ Delpit, L. (2013). "Multiplication is for white people": Raising expectations for other people's children. New York: The New Press.

Shane Safir

Educator, Writer, & Coach

www.shanesafir.com

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Becoming a Warm Demander: Addressing Microaggressions in Schools

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ABOUT THE WORKSHOP If you are a leader oriented toward equity and inclusion, then you must develop the skills of a Warm Demander. Lisa Delpit says that a Warm Demander educator "expects a great deal of their students, convinces them of their own brilliance, and helps them to reach their potential in a disciplined and structured environment."

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Another school that intentionally celebrates and integrates host country culture is WAB.

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WAB was founded not only with the intention of creating a truly international school, but one that is also strongly connected to its host country, China.

We believe that China is a platform for learning that enriches both the curriculum and the daily experience of WAB students.

From our purpose-built facilities inspired by Chinese design philosophy, to the planning of work units in our curriculum, to the commitment to Chinese language taught at all levels, China is woven through the tapestry of the Western Academy of Beijing.

China Studies

The China Studies department, and all teachers at WAB, are required to incorporate China as a focal point in units of work throughout the curriculum. Additionally, students from Grade 6 -12 participate in week-long China studies field trips in different regions throughout the country. WAB also invites dozens of experts in Chinese culture and the arts to visit classes across the school in order to help students deepen their appreciation and understanding of traditional and contemporary Chinese culture.

Students participate in various activities reaching out to the community and benefit from the opportunity to have authentic collaboration and interaction with local community groups.

Chinese Language Programs

WAB believes that language is one of the most important ways that we understand culture. While we offer a variety of second-language programs, the Chinese language has a special place in our curriculum and all our students and staff are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to learn Chinese.

The program caters for beginners through to native speakers and recognizes the diverse learning needs of our students. The teaching of Chinese language is engaging, multi-dimensional, relevant, challenging and effective and ongoing research ensures that we follow best practice language instruction for all learners. Learn more about our language programs here.

Language Programs

Curriculum-integrated language courses for students during the regular WAB school day and specialized programs offered after school hours.

History

A rich history of more than 20 years of growth and development.

Community

WAB doesn't just involve the community. We ARE a community!

Making a Difference

Global citizens with a responsibility towards the world around us.

11 Reasons to Come to WAB

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International School | Western Academy of Beijing

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WAB was founded not only with the intention of creating a truly international school, but one that is also strongly connected to its host country, China. We believe that China is a platform for learning that enriches both the curriculum and the daily experience of WAB students.

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A quick but thought provoking clip.

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National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)

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Kimberlé Crenshaw: What is Intersectionality?

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While I prefer Conscious Discipline and feel it has more potential when paired with ABAR practices, many schools do embrace the Responsive Classroom model.

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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resources

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Read more about responsive classroom approach on changing beliefs and systems that impact issues of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

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Organisation to Decolonise International Schools

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Organisation to Decolonise International Schools

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ODIS is the brainchild of international school alumni seeking to make a positive, substantial change to international schools.

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Organisation to Decolonise International Schools (ODIS)

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UPCOMING EVENTS:

Watch this crucial extract from the inaugural event of ISADTF (International School Anti-Discrimination Task-Force) at Ecolint, in Geneva, October 14-15 2022.
Read more on the Mulgrave School DEIJ page

Study on Gender and Sexual Minority Students and Leaders: Sense of belonging for GSM students in international schools with visible GSM leadership by Douglas Beam Ed.D.

With the IBO, AIELOC, ECIS, and ECOLINT
October 14-15 2022 in Geneva
ODIS has been invited to participate in the inaugural event for the International Baccalaureate. We are very excited to be meeting everyone face-to-face for the first time. Read the ISADTF vision and mission as well as more on the event in the link above.

About us:

Added to regularly. Send us your suggestions via social media!

A list compiled by us (see below for articles we ourselves have written, podcasts and conferences we were featureed in etc
Articles, petitions, TED Talks, books, curriculum resources etc. Pertaining specifically to issues of discrimination in international schools and overseas education in general, as well as teaching resources on global topics and anti-racism guides. A non-exhaustive list, always accepting suggestions.

Films, books, music and more celebrating Black culture around the world

OUR LATEST WORK:

*By Xoài David and Anna Clara Fontoura Fernandes Reynolds. August 2020. * "The international school culture in which we were raised is generally synonymous with "white" culture-the assimilation of it and consequent "othering" of everything non-white." (excerpt)

Medium Article by Xoài David, June 2020 "As someone who's attended seven international schools over the course of her childhood all over the Global South, I can affirm with some amusement that I am indoctrinated in the ways of the international baccalaureate... " (click the link above to access the rest of the article)

Clara Reynolds and Xoài David, international school alumni, are asking international schools to face their colonial roots and current practices in the spirit of anti-racism and decolonization. Listen to their stories of how their perspectives changed about the IB and International schools once they left school and moved on to university. Released 29th August 2020 In this final episode of the first season, I met former international school students Clara Reynolds and Xoài David, two twenty-one year olds on a mission to decolonise the curriculum in the world of international education. Their movement began as "decolonise the IB" and is now the Organisation to Decolonise International Schools. It has taken hold and empowered other international school alumni, teachers and students. Released 31st July 2020
Conferences/videos:

LGBTQ+ teachers and leaders in International Schools - a Casual Webinar

Very excited to announce this upcoming webinar that we've been cooking up for a while with old and new friends - queer teachers and leaders from international schools, from various parts of the globe, sharing their experiences and answering your questions (feel free to comment them below, though you can also submit them during the webinar!). Saturday April 16
Some topics we will touch on:
- Navigating discussion/inclusion of LGBTQ+ identities in the classroom in conservative countries/countries where holding such an identity is criminalised
- Safeguarding queer students and staff
- Queering elementary classrooms.
This is a great opportunity for you to give a shoutout to your student-led LGBT+ clubs, since many of you have reached out wanting to connect with similar initiatives in different schools. Our panel will feature speakers who have already written articles and presented conferences on such topics, as well as speakers who are currently conducting studies and seek volunteers to share their experiences.
**8 am EST | 1 pm BST | 2 pm CET | 8 pm SGT **

Sunday March 6 at 18:00 Kyiv time. (event by Giancarlo Picazo del Rosario)

January 27 2021Speakers:Pervious Ecolint Webinars:
Host: Yasmine Sadri
Anna Clara Reynolds (she/her)
September: Stories of and for Peace
October: Mental Health, Community and Self-Compassion
November: Belonging
December: Differing Abilities
January: Decolonisation as Reducing Harm
Xoai David (she/her)
Isabella McQuaker-Kajiwara (she/they)
Hayley Headley (she/her)

AIELOC conference: The AIELOC and Women of Color in ELT Conference aims to provide high quality professional development for international educators and leaders focused on representation, social justice, and equity studies.

ISC Research EdRuptors Conference 2021

Featured: Polly Akhurst (Founder of Amala), Kotoha Kudo (Founder of Reset Revolutioj), and Kevin Simpson (Founder of AIELOC), as well as co-founder Xoài David of ODIS.

YOUTH FORUM SWITZERLAND

Featured: Dr Danau Tanu (author of Growing up in Transit and anthropologist of all things Third Culture Kid), Hayley Headley (former UWC student and member of Critical Engagement diversity, equity and inclusion initiative) and student speakers Alistair Mackay and Michaela Johnson, as well as co-founder Xoài David of ODIS.

November 1st 2020: Two alumni teams from different Singapore international schools discussed the challenges and achievements they have made in urging their school board to make curriculum reforms and change campus practices to tackle discrimination and bring more diversity, equity, and inclusion to the community. This was a Guests: partially recorded event with each alumni team presenting their work, followed by break-out rooms where viewers can participate in the discussion. Watch the recording linked above.
- Out For Solidarity (representing Overseas Family School, OFS)
- DoBetterDover (representing United World College South East Asia Dover campus, UWCSEA Dover)

Students Unite - see everyone's progress

Our Database has the contacts of many student, alumni and teacher initiatives striving to bring about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) related changes in international schools around the world. Though some operate privately a few have public websites! (Open Letter forms, Carrd/Link.tree sites, Instagram accounts) These show their progress, mostly as surveys and petitions, testimonies and letters to the school board. Have a look if you're looking for inspiration - we also share this on the "Schools Unite" highlight on our Instagram. Who knows, you might find a school you know there!

IB Student and Educator Surveys (June 2020) - CLOSED after recieving 600+ and 150+ responses respectively

Last updated: 10/Nov/2022

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Organisation to Decolonise International Schools (ODIS)

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We are a network of international school alumni who have connected and committed to: decolonise highly Western educations, teach BIPOC matters and demonstrate *real* global-mindedness

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How inclusive is your teaching of the environment?

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How inclusive is your teaching of the environment?

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Some great points to challenge how we think about, talk about and teach about the environmental movement.

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In mid-September, hundreds of thousands of young people took to the streets protesting the lack of action and accountability from world leaders and corporations to reverse climate change. Seeing photos of my former students participating in the global climate march made my eyes tear up and my heart swell. These are the types of movements that we as social justice educators have been preparing our students for, and it is incredible to watch them confidently step into the spotlight to reclaim ownership over their future.

As adults, it's crucial we empower our students to speak up about this global crisis. But teaching students to respect the environment and participate in sustainable practices is just one part of tackling the issue. We must also help them understand that climate change and institutional racism go hand in hand.

They need this knowledge to see how we've come to this moment and why underrepresented and under-resourced communities are most affected by climate change-and they need to learn this not just when white and Western countries speak out about it.

Without understanding what is at stake and who is affected, our students are little more than empty mouthpieces fated to repeat our mistakes. To help them understand today's environmental activism and the issues that prompt it, you can start with a few foundational ideas.

Popular conversations about climate change are whitewashed.

We can ask students to pay attention to who contributes the most to climate change as well as whose voices are most amplified. When they absorb information from mainstream news sources, they should ask, "Who is speaking into the microphone the most often; which people hold the most influential positions in governments, companies and nonprofits; and how does this affect which stories about climate change are centered?"

Climate change disproportionately harms people of color.

While it may be simpler to believe that climate change affects everyone equally, that assumption could not be further from the truth. Historically and today, black and brown communities are disproportionately harmed by the effects of pollution and global warming.

These effects take the forms of displacement, barriers to food and clean water, loss of land, unemployment and medical emergencies. Studies have shown that under-resourced communities are much more vulnerable to health problems due to climate change, such as asthma, heat stroke and heart disease-and that they often do not have access to adequate health care.

Activists of color have always been a part of the environmental movement.

Students should also recognize that the environmental movement and civil rights movement were closely linked. Black communities have been active at the forefront of the environmental movement in the United States for generations. They should learn that a pivotal moment of the modern environmental movement in the United States came in September of 1982, when 55 people lay down in the middle of a highway in Warren County, North Carolina, to protest the opening of a toxic waste dump in a predominantly black community.

Today's environmental movement is often whitewashed, too.

During the global climate strike, we saw how Greta Thunburg helped mobilize millions across the globe. But it is unfair to position Greta as the face of the present climate movement when black, brown and Indigenous children and adults have been fighting to protect the environment for generations.

Educators are in a unique position to push back against the whitewashing of environmental activism and the further erasure of black and brown people by introducing students to other young people doing this work. "Little Miss Flint," Mari Copeny, for example, has been protesting the lack of clean water in her city since 2014. Nigerian Misimi Isimi says she's "on a mission to save Lagos from environmental waste." Teen climate activist Artemisa Xakriabá of the Xakriabá people in Brazil spoke at the Global Climate Strike in New York. Clean water advocate Autumn Peltier, a 14-year-old Anishinaabe-kwe and a citizen of the Wiikwemkoong First Nation, recently addressed the United Nations. And Mexican fourth grader Xóchitl Cruz invented solar-powered water heaters built from recyclable materials.

We can't talk about environmentalism without talking about colonialism.

It's not just current activism that's being whitewashed. Most discussions on this topic erase not only the long history of human influence on the environment but also the efforts of Indigenous peoples to preserve it. Even today, many environmentalists wish for resources to be returned to the land without ever acknowledging the historical impact of colonization on the environment.

Teaching about climate change from a culturally responsive perspective and advocating for immediate policy change require us to recognize how colonization and white supremacy have always gone hand in hand with the destruction of our planet's natural resources.

There's a long historical relationship between colonialism and climate change.

We tend to think of climate change as a recent issue. But research suggests humans have been affecting the climate for years. A 2019 University College London study argues that the "Little Ice Age," which lasted from the 1300s through the 1800s, was exacerbated by a " genocide-generated drop " in carbon dioxide. The researchers concluded that the deaths of entire Indigenous populations due to European colonization resulted in so much unattended land and reforestation that the carbon dioxide levels of the entire planet fell, along with global temperatures.

Conservation efforts can prop up colonial ideas and policies.

If students look to American history, they'll find people like John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt lauded as foundational conservationists and naturalists. But these men are rarely attributed with the displacement and erasure of Indigenous people due to their brand of environmentalism. Organizations like the National Park Service and the Sierra Club are viewed as the primary forces for environmental protection and conservation. While these organizations have certainly evolved since their conception, we cannot ignore the fact that the creation of national parks such as Glacier, Mount Rushmore and Yosemite were instrumental in the removal of the Indigenous peoples who resided on those lands.

This displacement continues into the present day. In Central and South America, Indigenous communities are often clashing with conservation groups that wish for the land to remain untouched and uninhabited. This practice has earned the name "green colonialism," and it demonstrates how sometimes the efforts of environmental conservation groups result in the displacement of Indigenous people. For example, in Ecuador, the Cofán people have seen their homelands shrink as conservation groups advocate for more lands to be protected from deforestation and human habitation.

If our students are to advocate for long-term, equitable, systemic, environmental changes, they need to understand the full picture: The current environmental movement has roots that extend far beyond the 21st century, and it is built upon the labor of Indigenous people and people of color.

When we include multiple cultural and historical perspectives in our teaching about environmentalism, our students learn that intent and impact do not always align. Justice cannot serve only one subset of society, especially when that subset is dictated by white supremacist power. Only by seeing the whole picture can our students navigate away from a version of environmentalism that speaks only to those in power and work toward a future where climate change activism promotes the well-being of all people.
Kleinrock is an elementary educator currently working on her first book.

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How Inclusive Is Your Teaching About the Environment?

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In mid-September, hundreds of thousands of young people took to the streets protesting the lack of action and accountability from world leaders and corporations to reverse climate change. Seeing photos of my former students participating in the global climate march made my eyes tear up and my heart swell.

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Some advice from a veteran ABAR educator

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Last year I received a consultation request from a school after two students posted pictures in blackface on social media. When I asked what time and resources they were committing to this issue, they said they had set aside forty-five minutes of their upcoming staff meeting to address bias and racism. They were not interested in investing beyond that session.

Being called in reactively to support teachers and staff after a racist incident has never sat well with me. But now, as Black Lives Matter protests have swelled throughout the world, our entire country is reacting to centuries of white supremacy and violence experienced by the Black community.

As an anti-bias anti-racist (ABAR) facilitator and educator-in-progress, I've had the opportunity to partner with public, charter and independent schools across the United States and can tell you firsthand that there is no "one size fits all" approach to this work. There are, however, a number of things schools should consider as they create objectives for the short and long term.

ABAR is trending in mainstream spaces, and more schools are recognizing its importance and reaching out for resources and training. I do believe that it's better late than never, but schools must be intentional and thoughtful as they begin this life-long commitment.

While there is urgency in ABAR work, urgency cannot be prioritized over relationships or centering the voices and opinions of marginalized community members. Without careful thought and planning, schools risk alienating Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) stakeholders, reinforcing white saviorism and derailing the possibility of future efforts. Standards and skills can always be retaught, but school culture is too important to get wrong. Your north star is always centering your most marginalized and under-resourced students.

As schools and organizations plan for professional development in the weeks, months, and years ahead, consider the following thinking points and questions:

If this is the first time your school has focused on ABAR, why is it a priority now?

ABAR must begin with an honest evaluation of current practices. Recognizing how-and why-this work has been deprioritized in the past can help your school identify and plan for potential roadblocks in the work to come.

If your school has remained silent or limited work to surface-level diversity initiatives in the past, how, when and why did that happen? Remember that celebrating diversity and multiculturalism is not the same as anti-racism or dismantling white supremacy. Check out Paul Gorski's Avoiding Racial Equity Detours for examples of school practices that are often mistaken for ABAR.

How will you ensure ABAR is not just a box to check, and that no one is able to opt out?

While diversity directors or committees are important, ABAR cannot be compartmentalized within one or a few individuals. Oppressive practices exist at every level of schools, and people who work in every department and in every role have a stake in this work.

School leaders have immense power in creating a culture that values and supports ABAR. I have often heard from hesitant principals and administrators that they're concerned certain staff members of the community are resistant and unwilling. I'd ask them to remember this phrase: "What you permit, you promote." Every choice we make either upholds white supremacy or seeks to dismantle it.

To fully embrace ABAR education, schools must be willing to dive deep into their culture, policies, curriculum and the individual mindsets of all stakeholders. If you are truly dedicated to anti-racism, are you willing to let go of members of the community who are working against these goals?

How will BIPOC be centered in this work?

Consider who is directing ABAR at your school, who decides the priorities and determines if objectives are met. This work must center the voices of staff, families, caregivers and students of the global majority. Even if you have a racially and ethnically diverse staff, ABAR work is still necessary and important. Anti-Blackness and colorism are issues in every community, and these biases must be addressed.

Many schools are currently selecting books and resources for summer and fall professional development. But leaders should be careful. Particularly in predominantly white institutions, a focus on consuming and intellectualizing stories and histories of racial trauma can further perpetuate a savior mentality, inspiring pity rather than encouraging people to understand one another and work as accomplices and co-conspirators against racism. If books that center whiteness (such as Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility) are on the summer reading list, what else is being offered? There must be a balance of centering BIPOC history and narratives while also learning about culture, identity and joy.

At the end of the day, no matter how many books, podcasts, and documentaries your staff reads, an intellectualized account of racism will never outweigh the voices and lived experiences of BIPOC.

How will BIPOC be supported in this work?

There is a fine line between centering BIPOC and expecting them to do the work for others. While BIPOC should have the opportunity to lead this work, schools cannot expect or demand they expend more emotional labor in both experiencing racism, and having to educate others about it.

If you're asking BIPOC on your faculty and staff to lead ABAR training, how are you ensuring they are additionally compensated? If books and resources are being assigned that center racial trauma, what trauma-informed practices will you use with staff members of color?

How are you working to create long-lasting change in your community?

Having a person or a group that drives ABAR work forward is important (especially if these people have the power to hold the community accountable), but the goal is to embed ABAR within the culture of your school.

If this person left the position or the committee disbanded, how would you ensure all focus wouldn't disappear? ABAR is a lens that must be applied to school policies, curriculum, pedagogy, and interpersonal relationships. It is not just a teaching strategy.

Pay attention to the significant institutional support needed by those leading ABAR work. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and those who are the most active are likely to face emotional fatigue.

Despite being framed amidst the violence targeting the Black community, anti-racism work is often glamorized in the mainstream media, and some people do enter from a place of saviorism and expect recognition, which can lead to burnout for those who have been committed far before the latest media cycle.

The truth of the matter is, when you commit yourself to ABAR, you're in it for the long uphill battle. Prioritizing ABAR is not comfortable. Mistakes will be made. Parents and caregivers may complain. Some staff members may leave. It is unrealistic to expect that your school will get it right at the first try. At the end of the day, it is our job to center our students, and that means improving ourselves to set the example for the world they will inherit.

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Anti-Racist Work in Schools: Are You in it for the Long Haul?

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Last year I received a consultation request from a school after two students posted pictures in blackface on social media. When I asked what time and resources they were committing to this issue, they said they had set aside forty-five minutes of their upcoming staff meeting to address bias and racism.

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This article is more directed at leadership than at classroom teachers, but is still thought provoking.

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A window into the black expat experience. Some episodes do address international schools/education/TCK experience, others do not.

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The Black Expat | Black Identity + International Living

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Podcast - The Black Expat | Black Identity + International Living

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Posts about Podcast written by Amanda Bates

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A book on mobility in international schools, and what international schools can do to support highly mobile students and faculty. There's a lot of great stuff in here about decentering whiteness in this context.

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Safe Passage: How Mobility Affects People

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The Book | Safe Passage: How Mobility Affects People and What International Schools Should Do About It

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Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging at an International School

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Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging at an International School

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This is a great and uncomfortable mirror for us as international school educators, especially for those of us based in Asia.

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GROWING UP IN TRANSIT: The Politics of Belonging at an International School is the first book to address structural racism in international schools.

The number of international schools that claim to promote ' global citizenship' has grown rapidly over the last few decades, shaping the identities and worldview of millions of young minds. Yet, the ideology of being 'international' that is at the heart of the ethos of these schools is Western centric.

'Very powerful and insightful and deeply personal all at once.'
- International school alumnus & educator

Despite the cosmopolitan rhetoric, hierarchies of race, culture and class shape popularity, friendships and romance on campus. Not surprisingly, this has an adverse effect on students' self-perception and sense of school belonging.

By going back to high school for a year in Indonesia, Danau befriended transnational youth, often called ' Third Culture Kids', to present their struggles with identity, belonging and internalized racism in their own words.
'So, who are the popular kids?' I asked a couple of seniors.

'Well, popularity isn't such a big deal here, but I suppose the white kids that like to sit over there are considered popular,' Melinda answered as she pointed at the benches near the high school office.

'The white kids?' I repeated suspiciously, as I was sure they were not all 'white'.

'Yeah, the white kids.'

I leaned over to do a double take on the group she was referring to. Many of them were Caucasian, but there were also two blacks, one South Asian, and at least three were of mixed Caucasian and Asian descent. Melinda did not notice the irony in her choice of words.

GROWING UP IN TRANSIT
The result is the first engaging, anthropological critique of the way Western-style cosmopolitanism is institutionalized as cultural capital to reproduce global socio-cultural inequalities.

Paperback now available!

GROWING UP IN TRANSIT is available in paperback, hardback and as an eBook from Berghahn Books.

Growing Up in Transit is available in over 700 university libraries across the world, including Yale University, Princeton University, National University of Singapore, University of California Berkeley, Australian National University and Fudan University
As students flood out of the classrooms at the buzz of the recess bells, one can hear a Russian teenager speaking fluent, colloquial Indonesian to a classmate; Indian teenagers speaking English with an American accent, then switching to an Indian accent and back again within a matter of seconds, depending on who they were talking to; and a Taiwanese teenager speaking English, Mandarin, and Indonesian in one sentence. Children of international marriages were part of the norm. 'This well‐written and engaging book gives new interesting information and fresh analytical perspectives on an increasingly common phenomenon that has not been widely studied among anthropologists until now...[It] can be recommended to anyone interested in multiculturalism and migration; looking at the more privileged migrants provides food for thought also for scholars studying migration in less privileged contexts.' * Social Anthropology

It was no wonder that [The International School] proudly presented itself as an ideal setting for raising 'global citizens.'

But an intimate look at the social lives of its students reveals that crossing cultural boundaries-even among internationally mobile young people-is not a straightforward process.

GROWING UP IN TRANSIT
'The pace of the book is methodical and thorough. Following an admiring Foreword from Fazal Rizvi, the 18-page preface is an enlightening and necessary account of the author's own heritage, life and intellectual development, establishing her authority as a quadrilingual emic researcher in several of the student communities... It is its objectivity and methodology that facilitates it which make this book so original...This ground-breaking book offers a foundation for studies in the new generation of international schools.' * Journal of Research in International Education

'[This volume] makes a riveting read... Danau Tanu delivers an exceptional, genuinely interesting, thought-provoking account of her experiences in a secondary school in Jakarta... [that is] tightly researched and presented in lucid prose,... [and] a must-read for all leaders of international schools because it presents the opportunity for them to question the most fundamental purpose of what they do, i.e. shape the contexts in which identities develop.' * International Schools Journal

'Growing up in Transit is a welcome addition to the emerging literature on elite schooling in the Global South. Its rich ethnographic details, critical but sensitive rendering of the lives of privileged youth, and attention to contemporary political economy present a nuanced and evocative analysis of privilege. The book will be of interest to anthropologists and sociologists of education.' * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI)

'The book is an exceptional contribution to the theory and practice of cosmopolitanism among privileged students with high mobility in transnational spaces such as an international school... The author's unique experience growing up as a Third Culture Kid enabled her to breathe life into the ethnographic data, making sophisticated concepts and complicated processes discussed in the book engaging and relevant.' * Asia Pacific Journal of Education

'This book offers profound insights on how class and race can play out among globally mobile children. I highly recommend it.' * Ruth E. Van Reken, co-author, Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds

According to Devraj, Indian students switched accents because in India they get teased and laughed at if they speak with an American accent. 'It means that you've lost yourself,' he explained. Devraj had strong opinions about this.

Devraj spoke to me with an American accent as we casually sat in the library with his friends and said, 'I speak to you like this. I switch.' He implied that he switched to the American accent for my sake because I was an outsider.

Switching accents enables the speaker to access the privileges that English entails, while simultaneously resisting its power to define their identity.

The switch comes naturally to them, Devraj explained: 'You don't think about it. It's, like, when you switch from one language to another, do you think about it?' He was referring to my ability to switch between English, Japanese, and Indonesian at will.

'No,' he answered for me, 'well, it's the same.'

GROWING UP IN TRANSIT

'This book is the first that not only allow insight into the mechanism of cultural reproduction of transnationality with western norms set by International Schools, but the author goes beyond her perspectives from inside and, not least through her appealing and relaxed style, allows the reader to participate.' * Anthropos

'This ethnographic study offers a valuable correction to our understandings of the 'third culture kid' phenomenon.' * Huon Wardle, Centre for Cosmopolitan Studies, University of St Andrews

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Growing Up in Transit - Out in Paperback! - Danau Tanu

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The first study of structural racism in an international school context & among Third Culture Kids based on yearlong research at a high school.

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Officially we teach international mindedness/global citizenship, but what do we unofficially teach?

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"Racism" and "global citizenship" sound incompatible-like oil and water. This past year, however, we've been forced to acknowledge that systemic racism exists even within the "international school ecosystem," to borrow AIELOC's expression.

It exists even in international schools with a diverse student body. But how?

According to Nick, a North American teacher at an international school in Indonesia, it gets taught as part of the "hidden curriculum."

"It's what we say we teach, which I believe we believe in and we're trying to do, but by the very makeup of the institution, we are teaching this hidden agenda," Nick explained. "It's not like anybody's setting out to try to teach it, but it's being taught because it's our daily experience here."

Pennies before rupiah

An alumna of Nick's school believed the curriculum shaped the cultural hierarchy on campus. Lianne said, "I think because our teachers were mostly Americans, a lot of our study material was based out of the States. I learned what a penny was before I learned about the Indonesian rupiah!"

Lianne was referring to the math problems in her textbooks, which used currencies that were not used locally.

"And social studies was always about [western] history before world history," Lianne added. Scientists and literary authors also mostly had English or other European names.

But it isn't just about who or what is included in the textbooks. It is also about what is omitted.

Missing pieces

Large portions of the world do not appear in these textbooks. Or, if they do, it's tokenistic.

By high school graduation, an international school student who grew up in Asia might have learnt about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and its role in the start of a major war between European powers. They might also be able to write essays on Medieval Europe and the European Renaissance.

Yet, they might not know the significance of the 1955 Bandung Conference in Indonesia when the heads of newly decolonized African and Asian states held a large-scale summit for the first time. They might know very little about Asian history and may not even have heard of the Ottoman Empire. It is also likely that they have never learnt about the legacies of colonialism in present-day political structures.

Students may be familiar with the European origins of "Roman numerals" but they might not have heard of the Indo-Arabic origins of the numbers they use daily.

After graduating, Lianne went on to study English literature in Australia. "Then I go to university," she recalls, "and it's like, ooh, colonization? Hmm, how come I didn't study that at school? Duh, we were being colonized!" Lianne let out a laugh.

But it isn't just about textbooks.

The operating system

"I honestly think that it was just the system," Lianne offered. "It was the operating system of the school: the workbook, the teachers, and then most of the kids were of course American kids. It's the oil kids, Mobile Oil, Castrol, right?"

Nick gave a more specific example. "For certainly the vast majority of our students," he pointed out, "they see Indonesians in subservient positions-primarily drivers, nannies, maids, gardeners, secretaries, electricians, and what have you."

The large number of local cleaning, gardening and security staff on campus generally remained nameless and faceless to students and teachers.

"How many Indonesians do they see in positions of power?" Nick asked. "They don't, right?"

Most of the teachers were white, including Nick. At the time of my interview with him, all five of the leadership positions in the high school administration were filled by white men. This was despite the use of international recruitment processes in a female-dominated industry.

Token diversity?

Although there were some non-white educators at the school, this does not prove the absence of racial bias in the hiring process.

It is possible that some were hired because they fit the existing images or stereotypes of non-white educators. Around half of them taught languages other than English. Only two were Black: a male physical education teacher and a female guidance counselor.

While I had not given it much thought at the time, it was uncanny to hear Ryan Haynes, a counselor who works at another international school, say in an interview recently on The Global Chatter podcast that people often assume he's a physical education teacher due to the stereotype of Black men as athletic. Haynes also noted that guidance counselors are sought after internationally.

Internalizing the structures

The racial composition of those in positions of authority does not go unnoticed by students.

Teachers like Nick could see the negative impact of the hidden curriculum on their own children who also attended the school. Nick, who was married to an Indonesian, observed that his seven-year-old, mixed-race daughter looked down on Indonesians.

A senior student at Nick's school also shared a story that illustrates how students unknowingly absorb the racial biases of a hidden curriculum. "One of the things that I find really strange is," said Tim, "when I'm here, most of the workers in McDonalds ... in all these restaurants are Asian, and then going back to the States and having [to give] orders to someone who is white or Caucasian is really strange to me. It's really weird. I don't know why."

Tim was not used to seeing white people in working class occupations serving others. He had expected them to be in positions of authority.

Enduring patterns

The demographic makeup of international schools has undergone major changes across the world over the past few decades. But little has changed in terms of the hidden curriculum. Nick and his students' description of the school in 2009 closely echoed that of Lianne's experience in the 1980s to 90s.

Today, the same stories are still being told in many places. Last year, the Organisation to Decolonise International Schools (ODIS) led by two recent graduates of international schools stated, "Many international school alumni have testified that their education was too Westernised and centred on white culture, history and achievements."

This does not mean, however, that international schools have completely failed.

Although he was critical, Nick also said, "There's no other school I wanna send my children to. I really believe that it's an incredible [education] that we're offering-the multiculturalism and all of those aspects that are powerful and good."

But he added, "There is this dark underbelly that isn't being addressed there. I think it poisons the system to some degree."

Danau Tanu, PhD, is an anthropologist and the author of Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging at an International School, the first book on structural racism in international schools. Available now in paperback. www.danautanu.com
Related articles:

Portions of this article first appeared in Growing Up in Transit, edited for this post. Pseudonyms have been used for all interviewees to protect their privacy.

Osmosis: When children internalize racism through school (October 2020)

Strange Bedfellows (September 2020)

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The Hidden Curriculum | The International Educator (TIE Online)

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"Racism" and "global citizenship" sound incompatible-like oil and water. This past year, however, we've been forced to acknowledge that systemic racism exists even within the "international school ecosystem," to borrow AIELOC's expression. It exists even in international schools with a diverse student body. But how?

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Osmosis: When Children Internalize Racism Through School

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Osmosis: When Children Internalize Racism Through School

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Another great article by Dr. Danau Tanu

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Above: An open forum by TCKs of Asia. Learn more: tiny.cc/ask7dz (Poster design by Asako Noda).
_____________________________________________________________________________

When there's not a pandemic on, children spend an enormous chunk of their lives-at least seven hours a day, five days a week, 180 days a year-at school. It gives them plenty of time to internalize the social hierarchies that they experience at school. This includes social hierarchies that are informed by race-the kind of subtle racism that happens even when nobody intends for it to happen.

So, what happens when children internalize these racist structures?

Those structures become the stick by which children measure themselves, their peers, their parents, and their world.

Children learn these structures at a very young age through, among other things, the language they speak, the authority figures they see, and the curriculum they learn.
The power of English
"When I spoke English, I felt smart!" Lianne laughed as she looked back on her childish self when I interviewed her at her kitchen table in the condominium that she shared with her Indonesian husband.

Lianne is an international school alumna whose father is Singaporean and mother is Indonesian. Lianne didn't learn English until she started attending kindergarten at an English-medium international school in Indonesia. Up until then, she spoke Indonesian at home. So, when she first started school, she was placed in an "ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages)" class.

It did not take long for Lianne to learn that English was a language of power. She soon learned to use English to challenge her mother's authority.

"My mom spoke to me in Indonesian. My mom speaks great English but she prefers to speak in her native tongue. But, you know, the more I learned English, the more I was able to talk back to her in English. And it made me feel smart... so much more clever than my mom!"

Lianne remembers that she also picked up hand and facial gestures at school that she would deliberately use at home knowing that those mannerisms were foreign to her Indonesian mother.

Unbeknownst to Lianne at the time, her mother had continued to speak to her in Indonesian from a desire to pass on her heritage. "Later on I find out, when I'm eighteen or whatever, she didn't want me to lose my native tongue."
Standing on a pedestal
The sense of superiority that Lianne picked up at school spilled over into her views towards fellow Indonesians besides her mother. While she now no longer judges others for their accent or fluency in English, she admits she was not like that as a child.

"When I was a little kid, I would've been a complete snob about it because it means I'm much more superior." Lianne explains that she learned these attitudes through the international school. "All of a sudden you're on a pedestal. There was a feeling of superiority because of the affiliation, because of the command of language, because of people you hang out with, because of the extracurricular activities that were bountiful."

As a child, Lianne says that she felt her international school "was much more advanced, if not interesting, than the local schools."
White like Dad
Nick, a white American teacher at an international school, was also candid about the way his mixed-race daughter, Lara, internalized racism. "It's weird because Lara is actually a little bit of a racist. She really kind of looks down on Indonesians," said Nick.

According to Nick, Lara refuses to identify as Indonesian like her mother, and instead chooses to identify as white, like her father. "I made some sort of a deprecating joke about being the only bule [pronounced 'boo-leh', Indonesian slang for 'white people']," Nick recalled of a family dinner, "and Lara's like, 'No, I'm a bule.'" Nick said he tried to explain to his daughter that she is "mixed" but Lara rejected the label. "'No, no, no, I'm bule'-that's the way she sees herself," Nick continued.

Nick taught at the same international school that his daughter attended. While he firmly believed in the multiculturalism that the school promoted, he didn't feel the school was doing enough. "I just don't want them to look down on their mother because they go to school in this environment," he worried.

Nick believed that nobody at the school was intentionally teaching racism, but that it was being taught anyway because "there's institutionalized racism." He added, "I think it's hard to escape that. I can see that that is part of the culture that my daughters are growing up in and that concerns me."
Unlearning racism
As adults, many who have internalized the belief that their own kind are inferior may come to terms with their mistake and recognize the pain it had inflicted on others and themselves. They may learn to keep their racist attitudes in check by not acting on them.

But to unlearn and dismantle something that was implicitly absorbed and internalized over 12 or more years of daily exposure at school-and often reaffirmed outside of school-takes time.

Prevention is the better antidote.

Danau Tanu, PhD, is an anthropologist and the author of Growing Up in Transit: The Politics of Belonging at an International School, the first book on structural racism in international schools. Available now in hardback and eBook. The paperback edition will be available in December 2020; see www.danautanu.com for a 25% pre-order discount code. Portions of this article first appeared in Growing Up in Transit and ha ve been edited for clarity. Pseudonyms are used for research participants who appear in this article.
Further learning
Language & Power: Stories from Asia - Third Culture Kids of Asia discuss how language fluency intersects with social hierarchies in shaping their childhoods and view of the world. Listen on Third Culture Stories, a podcast by TCKs of Asia.

A Foreigner in My Own Family: The Hidden Loss of Language & Intimacy - When a child's strongest language is different from that of their family, it can create a sense of cultural disconnection that affects the parent-child relationship, even into adulthood. An online forum hosted by TCKs of Asia on October 6, 2020.

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Osmosis: When Children Internalize Racism Through School | The International Educator (TIE Online)

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Above: An open forum by TCKs of Asia. Learn more: tiny.cc/ask7dz (Poster design by Asako Noda)._____________________________________________________________________________ When there's not a pandemic on, children spend an enormous chunk of their lives-at least seven hours a day, five days a week, 180 days a year-at school.

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What can you find in your local stores/market? If it's something you would normally find in someone's home in your host country, why isn't it in your school?

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A framework/lens/way of thinking that is absolutely relevant to early years.

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Identity-Centered Learning | A Framework for Educators

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Identity-Centered Learning is a framework for strengthening diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in schools.

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Language Norms to Support Translanguaging at Columbus School

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Language Norms to Support Translanguaging at Columbus School

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What are the language norms in your classroom and at your school?

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Most Ts set up behavior norms/agreements w/ Ss. This year, @columbus_school, Ts are experimenting with language norms to support translanguaging. We value all the language assets our #ells bring w/ them. #tcslearns #wida @WIDAConsortium @responsiveclass

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Most Ts set up behavior norms/agreements w/ Ss. This year, @columbus_school, Ts are experimenting with language norms to support translanguaging. We value all the language assets our #ells bring w/ them. #tcslearns #wida @WIDAConsortium @responsiveclass https://t.co/umLpY4NtXE

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Don’t miss what’s happening

People on Twitter are the first to know.

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Most Ts set up behavior norms/agreements w/ Ss. This year, @columbus_school, Ts are experimenting with language norms to support translanguaging. We value all the language assets our #ells bring w/ them. #tcslearns #wida @WIDAConsortium @responsiveclass pic.twitter.com/umLpY4NtXE
— Matt Hajdun (@HajdunHomeroom) August 15, 2019

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Most Ts set up behavior norms/agreements w/ Ss. This year, @columbus_school, Ts are experimenting with language norms to support translanguaging. We value all the language assets our #ells bring w/ them. #tcslearns #wida @WIDAConsortium @responsiveclass https://t.co/umLpY4NtXE

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Most Ts set up behavior norms/agreements w/ Ss. This year, @columbus_school, Ts are experimenting with language norms to support translanguaging. We value all the language assets our #ells bring w/ them. #tcslearns #wida @WIDAConsortium @responsiveclass https://t.co/umLpY4NtXE

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Most Ts set up behavior norms/agreements w/ Ss. This year, @columbus_school, Ts are experimenting with language norms to support translanguaging. We value all the language assets our #ells bring w/ them. #tcslearns #wida @WIDAConsortium @responsiveclass

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Translanguaging: Designing Equitable and Multilingual Spaces

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Translanguaging: Designing Equitable and Multilingual Spaces

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Shout out to the amazing educators over at KIS for making this resource available so that we can all up our game!

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As our learning spaces continue to evolve into more equitable and inclusive ones, it's imperative that we keep adding to our best practice toolkits. Translanguaging is an essential tool in our repertoire. Our learners are eager to engage in culturally responsive classrooms and content, and