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AAM - Perspectives on Poverty/Free Reduced Price Lunch and Students Acquiring English

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AAM - Perspectives on Poverty/Free Reduced Price Lunch and Students Acquiring English

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When working with partners/teachers, let's be very aware of the tendency of some to view students and their families through a deficit lens when it comes to socioeconomics and language. An asset-based perspective is critical.

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There is persistent discrimination, oppression and injustice in this country with roots in the enslavement of Africans and near genocide of Native Americans, etc. that differs from the injustices that exist for people with other marginalized identities. Although there is potential for intersectionality when we think of diversity, equity and inclusion, Iet's also be aware of the temptation to pivot to addressing types of oppression/injustice that may feel "safer," and avoiding what feels harder/less familiar.

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Zaretta Hammond, author of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain shared that she thinks that culturally responsive teaching differs from Multicultural Education and Social Justice Education. I worked with a teacher who was confused by this. A clear understanding of what we mean by CRTL is going to be critical, especially considering that the CRTL domain currently includes all three.
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/culturally-responsive-misconceptions/

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Gloria Ladson-Billings is a CRT expert, and here is how she defines it:
https://www.brown.edu/academics/education-alliance/teaching-diverse-learners/strategies-0/culturally-responsive-teaching-0
This definition also differs from what's included in the CRTL domain. We are trying to ensure that teachers and students in monocultural classrooms engage in this work as well. We should say why.

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Clearly defining CRTL is key, especially considering that there are many interrelated terms involved in this work:
Culturally Responsive
Culturally Affirming
Culturally Competent
Culturally Proficient
Culturally Relevant
Culturally Inclusive
Multicultural Education
Social Justice Education

By choosing outcomes, indicators (look fors) strategies and artifacts to support this domain, we have already made a statement re: what we believe CRTL is . . . but it differs from how some CRT experts CRT define it. It will be challenging to become the preeminent organization in North America for supporting educators to design and sustain culturally responsive learning environments for students with a definition of CRTL that differs from how CRT experts define it.

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As an organization I'm am glad that we have such a diverse group. I have not experienced

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There's something about "all educators" that sounds a lot like "all lives matter". I wonder how/if/when we get real specific.

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I am curious what the work towards this vision will look like for individual teams, and what tasks each team will be responsible for. Also, will there be opportunities here for cross team collaboration?

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I agree with MJ'c comments around the all language that can be hiding what we need to do to support students who are currently not serve equitably

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I like what I think is intentional language from students to educators to BetterLesson employees knowing that we are all stakeholders in this work.

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I wonder what this document will look like in different teams/departments.

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I like the theory of change style of the prose--vision leading to beliefs and implications. Curious about the 3-year timeline and think that we should include clear definitions of important words/phrases (as others have stated).

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How do we prioritize culturally responsive learning environments with other more individualized areas of growth for teachers?

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It's definitely a bold vision. Reminds of Google's 'Don't Be Evil' motto that they had for a few years. I think it creates a good inflection point for a cultural shift for the company. It's not about just being great human beings out to help teachers. It's about going one step further and embodying this greatness into the work that is done.

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All educators need opportunities...  seems soft and less like a mandate. Opportunity doesn't mean execution?

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how do we define "culturally responsive"?

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I like the therefore part of the Vision and Beliefs

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"All students need opportunities to be leaders, creators, and complex problem-solvers --now and in the future." I think this is true, but might be unnecessary in explaining the why of CRTL. I think the following sentences on the right to self-awareness and culturally informed education stand as reason enough for engaging in this work.

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I believe in and value everything that I am reading, but I wonder how we can take these theories and hopes, and make them actionable within the systems our teachers are working within. 

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I believe in and value everything that I am reading, but I wonder how we can take these theories and hopes, and make them actionable within the systems our teachers are working within. 

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JTM (Julie)

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(re: All members of this community need to be authentically engaged...")

How do we measure one's level of authenticity? Whose standard of authenticity will we all be held to?

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are we including administrators and educational leaders in the term "educators" here "All educators need opportunities to develop skills, strategies, mindsets, and dispositions that prepare them to design and sustain culturally responsive learning environments." If not, how do we address what we believe about our impact on that set of leaders?

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Really like the call to action for the whole BL team.

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I like that there is a coherent flow between sections.  I think the vision is clear and so are the beliefs.  I wondered about the time frame and whether that was chosen to give the BL team time to become more culturally responsive first and to try out some of the new course content with teachers.

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To Morgan's point earlier, how does BL tackle the post-modernist disease of "fake news/fake history" as one of our strategies?

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How do we define our CRTL work in relation to the various forms of CRTL systems and methodologies that currently exist?

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I am excited to rally behind all beliefs and implications as listed.

I wonder who is the audience for the bold vision, and why it's important that BL is "the preeminent organization" for supporting the work? I align with BP's note about the  "authenticity" of this vision.

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I suggest adding a statement around instilling democratic values in students

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I am glad we are doing this and really look forward to how it plays out and the impact we will have internally and externally

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I like the vision and beliefs.  I am curious about why 3 years, specifically.  Also, a definition of what "culturally responsive" means/looks like to our org.

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I think it is important to define what we mean by culturally responsive.

The therefore piece feels important to begin making this actionable.

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"Every member of the BetterLesson Team needs to commit to engaging authentically and courageously in the difficult work of developing our own skills, strategies, mindsets, and dispositions in order to take bold action that will move us forward as individuals, a company, and a society."

Agree that it starts from the ground up in our org. Curious about what this looks like in action for our team.

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I hope that this can be integrated and not something separate from the other examples of authentic work that we honor.  Specifically I think about the idea of solving real world problems - this can be in relation to cultural or other problems.  I hope we have an integrated approach to this so that CRT/L doesn't get end up in a silo as something that is only for teacher who address culture in their standards!

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"BetterLesson needs to cultivate and commit to systems, strategies, policies, supports, and structures that promote the ongoing development of our cultural competence as an organization." I agree, and also see this as something that ought to stand on its own as an organizational goal, distinct from the CRTL program.

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- I really like the logical sequence. Students first and adult behaviors that need to be garnered and professionally developed to realize those outcomes.

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All educators need opportunities to develop skills, strategies, mindsets, and dispositions that prepare them to design and sustain culturally responsive learning environments.

I think that in addition to opportunities, that educators need support from their administrators and their coach in order to design and sustain a culturally responsive learning environment.

I am curious how we will communicate that necessity to partners.

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for students learning in more homogeneous environments, I wonder what it would look like to expand this statement "In order for that to happen, all students need to become self-aware and learn in environments that are inclusive of/responsive to their culture(s), identities, and experiences.
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I would love to hear an example for each thing listed in bullet 2 of therefore, could be cool to brainstorm too. I.e. a system, a structure, a policy

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I like that the belief statement recognizes a systematic shift in the company in order to be able to support work in the field.

I also think we have to be very clear about what we mean when we say culturally responsive teaching and learning...

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I love that I will be able to work at an organization that clearly defines this work as a priority!  I think it's important for us to spend some time defining culturally responsive for us. I wonder if there's room for intersectionality here.

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I like what is written so far. I would love for us to put this into practice, at select team meetings. It may be useful to role-play or even apply these in a practical way.

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what does culturally responsive mean? Would benefit from universal definition

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I know we are just starting the work but I am interested in hearing more about the three year timeline.

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Love the draft overall, but want more specifics on a) what exactly we mean when we say CRT/CRL and b) what is the bold action we're committing to taking? How do we begin to achieve these big goals?

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AA- Love the vision and beliefs- Would want to see CRL defined and maybe give examples of everything described. 

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AA- Love the vision and beliefs- Would want to see CRL defined and maybe give examples of everything described. 

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In order for that to happen, all students need to become self-aware and learn in environments that are inclusive of/responsive to their culture(s), identities, and experiences.  I think adding inclusive of/responsive to their culture and the cultures of others seems important to add.

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I think this looks right, but I think something that's missing is a definition of what we mean when we say "culturally responsive." I think it will be vital to the process to use clearly defined terms to ensure common understanding across the team.

Similarly, how do we define cultural competence?

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Love the draft. Worry that "culturally responsive learning" may become (is already?) a buzz word that does not represent the authentic intent. Wrestling with that now in the web copy...so don't have a brilliant idea to contribute yet. Perhaps we can crowdsource?

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I like the big picture of this vision and think it's a great starting point. I would put an even greater emphasis on the importance of leading with the internal work as a company to nurture our own cultural competency, so that we are fully and authentically equipped to support the external-facing work of equipping teachers and supporting students.

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Missing piece about starting from the margins-- something designed to help " all" often only helps those already with an advantage, which reinforces the existing paradigm

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-Really love the "therefore" piece, and the vision in general.
-I think, for me, this feels more urgent than three years, but also can appreciate that these things take time. Can you expand a little on why "
"in three years"?
- @MJ, love your point of the existing paradigm. Think it's important to be aware of my own stance in this work, and that I bring an advantaged POV
- @LEL, +1
-@Chuks...hear, hear. +1

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I can get behind a whole lot of this and really appreciate how we are being bold and broad in our thinking. One thing I want to keep thinking about together is how we collectively name things explicitly and define and engage on them together, including:
-CRT
-our own cultural competence