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Structural Racism is a term I will never be comfortable with, but I am quite familiar with it. “Structural racism is more difficult to locate in a particular institution because it involves the reinforcing effects of multiple institutions and cultural norms, past and present, continually reproducing old and producing new forms of racism.”  We recently had a discussion that was centered on this very idea at our last faculty meeting- and it was everything in the definition. The discussion was about sharing the results of the firefighter physical ability tests with prospective employers rather than just “pass” “fail” status when Pass/fail is all that the job flyer requires. Structural racism is the hardest form of racism to fight. And maybe the most important.

Transformative Learning is now my newest favorite word. This term was like receiving a gift! About three months ago I had the epiphany that I love providing people with transformational experiences. This is what makes me happy. That is the joy I have found in every career and interest I have ever had. As I read the definition of transformative learning, I recognized it! It spoke to me. That is my classroom. Those are my lesson plans. These are my outcomes!  It turns out that perspective transformation has been my life’s work! And every week I get emails from students that show me how well it works.  Having the terminology to describe it, was a gift I received from this lesson.

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Strength Based Thinking- is a term and practice I enjoy using in my courses and life in general.  In what ways are we able to perceive and think positively about all of who we are as well as others? To fully embrace in practice, mind, culture, outward appearance, inward thoughts, and feelings as a source of strength & positive self-esteem and awareness.

Student-Ready College: An institution ready to serve group of students, measures learning outcomes to improve performance, and adopts practices and organizational structures to ensure student success.
I would like to reflect on and explore this concept more.  I know that we have data collected, analyzed and shared. However, how responsive are we in actuality to the data that we collect and measure?  How may I better use the data that is readily available to me to decrease equity gaps in my courses?  I got excited by this prompt and will begin with my Child Development 107 course.  Inquire about what type of data is collected on this course and encourage the adjunct faculty to do the same.

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Transformative learning is one of the terms I'm familiar with through the writings of bell hooks. When I started teaching full time I read through her teaching trilogy, which starts with a book called Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Building atop the work of Paolo Friere, hooks talks about how teaching can be a path to transformation (and ultimately liberation) for students but only if teachers recognize their own frames of reference and work with students to undo theirs. The definition was great in expanding on this: "the educator's role is to assist learners in becoming aware and critical of assumptions" -- which is what we do every day when we teach critical thinking (which is covered in the third book in hooks' series!).

One term I would like to understand better is the obligation gap. I believe it's talking about the chasm between the work the institution is currently doing to combat equity issues and the work they are obligated to do as institutions who are part of the problem. Sometimes it feels like because we are part of the system that was built atop and continues to uphold systemic racism and white supremacy, it's hard to make systemic change from our position. But I feel a large personal responsibility and know there is a massive institutional obligation gap.

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Bias is a term familiar to me, and we talk a lot about the different types of bias in my nutrition classes. I find confirmation bias interesting, which is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.Student-Ready College is a new term that references an institution ready to serve students, measures learning outcomes to improve performance, and adopts practices and organizational structures to ensure student success. I think this is also something that our college could improve upon and e more consistent in collecting data to become a student-ready college. 

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Bias is a term familiar to me, and we talk a lot about the different types of bias in my nutrition classes. I find confirmation bias interesting, which is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.Student-Ready College is a new term that references an institution ready to serve students, measures learning outcomes to improve performance, and adopts practices and organizational structures to ensure student success. I think this is also something that our college could improve upon and e more consistent in collecting data to become a student-ready college. 

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Bias is a familiar term I've encountered it in different contexts. This was one of the first words that brought to the forefront the idea that opinions are not impartial, but influenced by opposing thoughts.

Three other terms that needed more reflection to understand their meaning fully were structural racism, obligation gap, and educational equity gap. I know about racism but never thought of it in terms of it being structured so that it perpetuates without conscious control to eliminate it. The word racism by itself is understood to be a collective behavior. However, the idea that structural racism is purposely sanctioned by normalizing it brings a new awareness when seeing it in organizations--from public schools to the marketing of specific images in commercial ads. The term equity gap I have seen without diving deeply into its implications in education.

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Strength-Based Thinking was a term I became aware of a few semesters ago and really try to remind myself when I feel frustrated with what my students are not doing versus thinking about all the stuff they are doing. I also felt familiar with Transformative learning as I have worked to integrate these into my courses by providing an opportunity to transformative learn. I also read the book How to be an Anti-Racist so that was familiar as well.

I was not familiar with the term obligation gap, but I definitely see how policies the state or college enact come from more and more leaders understanding that the system needs to be changed, but still more needs to be done to really close the gap.

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Structural racism is a concept and reality that I have learned to see and examine within different institutions and spaces for several years now due to trainings, readings, documentaries, and personal experiences shared by friends, colleagues, students and people I follow on social media. I plan for my ongoing education, self reflection, growth, and advocacy in challenging structural racism to be a lifelong endeavor.

I was also unfamiliar with the term obligation gap, though the concept is something I've been thinking about in and outside educational settings. I guess I equate this to the responsibility and accountability that I feel as a faculty member (as a representative of the institution) and community member. I really appreciate that we have this term to use when discussing how we advocate for institutional change.