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A Framework for Anti-Bias Education

The Social Justice Standards are a road map for anti-bias education at every stage of K-12 instruction. Comprised of anchor standards and age-appropriate learning outcomes, the standards provide a common language and organizational structure educators can use to guide curriculum development and make schools more just and equitable.

Divided into four domains-identity, diversity, justice and action (IDJA)-the standards recognize that, in today's diverse classrooms, students need knowledge and skills related to both prejudice-reduction and collective action. Together, these domains represent a continuum of engagement in anti-bias, multicultural and social justice education. The IDJA domains are based on Louise Derman-Sparks' four goals for anti-bias education in early childhood.

Each of the IDJA domains has learning outcomes and school-based scenarios organized by grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12.

Download the Standards

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The Social Justice Standards are a road map for anti-bias education at every stage of K-12 instruction, providing a common language and organizational structure educators can use to guide curriculum development and make schools more just and equitable.

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Willingness to give the other person the space and time needed for them to say their thoughts without interruption

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Willingness to give the other person the space and time needed for them to say their thoughts without interruption

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good communication is aided by keeping a sense of humor/ability to laugh at yourself

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good communication is aided by keeping a sense of humor/ability to laugh at yourself

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What?

Fishbowl is a strategy for organizing medium- to large-group discussions. Students are separated into an inner and outer circle. In the inner circle, or fishbowl, students have a discussion; students in the outer circle listen to the discussion and take notes.

After reading

Fishbowl is an engaging and student-centered strategy that builds comprehension of complex texts while developing group discussion skills. In the inner circle-or "fishbowl"-students practice responding to multiple viewpoints. Observations from students in the outer circle provide insight into what makes for effective small-group discussions. Research supports the use of fishbowls as a particularly effective way to engage students with a range of abilities and in multiple settings.

1. Choose a central text. The text can be read independently before class or with the class in the Close and Critical Reading phase.

2. Begin by selecting four or five students to join the fishbowl group. Only students in the fishbowl are allowed to talk.

3. Instruct the outer circle to remain quiet, observe and take notes on the content and process of the inner circle's discussion.

4. The first few times, play the role of the facilitator yourself. Once the process is familiar, select a student facilitator. The facilitator does not participate in the discussion, but poses questions along the way to prompt deeper discussion and to make sure everyone inside the fishbowl has a chance to talk.

5. Identify the focus of the discussion and provide text-dependent questions for students to answer during the fishbowl discussion.

6. Allow the conversation to progress where students take it. Rotate students in and out of the fishbowl throughout the course of the discussion. Set up a procedure ahead of time so students know to expect this rotation. Allow the fishbowl discussion to continue for at least 15-20 minutes.

7. After all students have rotated through the fishbowl, divide the class into small groups and invite students to debrief. Students can use their observations from the outer circle to highlight strengths of the discussion and make suggestions for ways to engage each other more meaningfully. These discussion starters can facilitate the conversations:

What did you observe during the discussion of the text?

What is one thing you heard that you agree with?

What is one thing you heard that you disagree with?

How did you feel while on the outside of the fishbowl?

How did you feel while on the inside of the fishbowl?

8. Wrap up the process with a full class discussion about the discussion. Pose a final question and give everyone an opportunity to respond by turning and talking with a partner or doing a quick write: What is one thing you have learned from the fishbowl process about discussing texts?

English language learners

Fishbowl is appropriate for intermediate English language learners (level three or above). The strategy engages students in a low-stakes activity with high verbal communication structure. English language learners may need extended practice identifying the characteristics of meaningful text discussions. Adding these specific questions to the guiding questions will help scaffold their experience:

Observer question: What helped you understand the information that was being shared (non-verbals, contexts clues, etc.)?

Fishbowl questions: How did you feel knowing that peers were listening intently to what you were saying? What do you wish you could have said more clearly/what point do you wish you could have made?

Connection to anti-bias education

Fishbowl can be used to explore the ideas of membership, identity, belonging and shared experiences. The structure lends itself well to discussions of complex texts and to challenging topics of cross-cultural significance. By providing all students both a speaking and listening role and a stake in the discussion, fishbowl can help build an inclusive and supportive learning environment. The observation aspect of the activity allows students to identify appropriate ways to participate in discussions. If used on a consistent basis, fishbowl discussions can establish boundaries and norms critical to anti-bias communication.

Sample fishbowl guiding questions:
To the observers:
Was it difficult to not respond to the fishbowl students' comments? Why or why not? If so, what kinds of comments did you want to respond to?

Did you hear anything from the fishbowl that surprised you?

What helped you understand the information that was being shared (non-verbal indicators, contexts clues, etc.)?

To the fishbowl students:

How did it feel to share your feelings about the text knowing that your peers were listening closely?

Do you usually have opportunities to share your perspectives on _______?

What do you wish you could have said more clearly/what point do you wish you could have made?

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Fishbowl is a strategy for organizing medium- to large-group discussions. Students are separated into an inner and outer circle. In the inner circle, or fishbowl, students have a discussion; students in the outer circle listen to the discussion and take notes.

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Advisory structures - setting daily themes and allowing students to lead. One structure of "spotlight" where each student gets an advisory session to talk about themselves and have questions directed to them

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Consistency of platforms between grade levels / teams / teachers so parents know how and where to connect

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Things we did during remote learning in the Spring...

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Provide parents/guardians with "conversation kernels" to be able to start dialogue with their kids about school.

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Provide parents/guardians with "conversation kernels" to be able to start dialogue with their kids about school.

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Things we did during remote learning in the spring that worked well...

Snack with a teacher: 2-3 students and a teacher spent 15 minutes eating snack and chatting just as we would in the classroom

Greeted in child individually when they entered the meeting...during upcoming remote learning period we will assign the job to a student as greeter

Had individually checkins with Students who didn't regularly attend remote learning in person

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Loved Sarah's example of students having a dance party during the countdown to re-enter the main group from break-out rooms

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Setting boundaries during the pre-school conference around their role and what success looks like for their learners and continuing to revisit that as learning progresses. 

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Setting boundaries during the pre-school conference around their role and what success looks like for their learners and continuing to revisit that as learning progresses. 

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Add essential questions in our newsletter.

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We discussed the merits of using the text feature in the google voice/phone app. It is a culturally responsive method as many parents might be essential workers and/or have limited time to send formal emails or have long phone calls.

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Deciding which tools we are ALL going to use and stick with those tools. Admin's call.

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Having after school check-ins 1-1 with kids to get to know them better.

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Having after school check-ins 1-1 with kids to get to know them better.

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We will continue with our newsletters but talked about having a monthly "happy hour" or something with teachers and parents for our grades.  The idea would be for casual connection and a chance to ask and answer questions and connect in a non email capacity

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We will continue with our newsletters but talked about having a monthly "happy hour" or something with teachers and parents for our grades.  The idea would be for casual connection and a chance to ask and answer questions and connect in a non email capacity

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We talked about using break out rooms for kids to partner and explicitly teaching norms around being in rooms without a teacher- as a chance for students to build independence. 

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We talked about using break out rooms for kids to partner and explicitly teaching norms around being in rooms without a teacher- as a chance for students to build independence. 

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digital check-ins with advisory via email.

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digital check-ins with advisory via email.

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As early childhood folks, we know the value of regular, proactive communication with the parents/guardians. We aim/need to continue this!

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As early childhood folks, we know the value of regular, proactive communication with the parents/guardians. We aim/need to continue this!

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with each other

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A way to connect with parents besides just emails, like perhaps a monthly "happy hour with your kid's teacher/advisor" to build trust. Something like, "bring a positive attitude and a great questions"

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A way to connect with parents besides just emails, like perhaps a monthly "happy hour with your kid's teacher/advisor" to build trust. Something like, "bring a positive attitude and a great questions"

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Assigned study groups to collaborate on assignments

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Teacher lunches/snacks where students are invited.

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Teacher lunches/snacks where students are invited.

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Individual check ins.

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what was the most important idea, thought, activity?

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We liked the idea of individual check-ins. Not necessarily only at the beginning of classes, but also during small group work, at the end, or during office hours.

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designating students to be class greeters for different days

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designating students to be class greeters for different days

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Offering LS office hours for students and parents.

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Things that worked for us in remote learning in the spring:
-Sending home packets
- Letters to students
- Weekly newsletter
-Mystery reader with parents, family members, and Westside admin

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We like the idea of having casual lunch/snack/hangouts with students, maybe advisory groups to facilitate some non academic connections and play

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We like the idea of having casual lunch/snack/hangouts with students, maybe advisory groups to facilitate some non academic connections and play

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Talked about a set place to have a zoom meeting. This should be in a quite room (preferably by themselves), settling in one place, having parents around but not on screen for supervision.

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Introductory phone call at beginning of school year

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Individual check ins, specialty clubs--especially club ideas from students themselves. Students suggest an idea and a teacher helps student run/facilitate club

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Individual check ins, specialty clubs--especially club ideas from students themselves. Students suggest an idea and a teacher helps student run/facilitate club

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We are interested in further exploring how to communicate to parents/guardians via the google classroom.

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We are interested in further exploring how to communicate to parents/guardians via the google classroom.

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Using more breakout rooms with students responsible for keeping groups in line with agreements

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Using more breakout rooms with students responsible for keeping groups in line with agreements

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We thought that scheduling lunch hangouts with rotating teacher supervision could help students connect virtually without adding too much for each teacher.

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Things we did during remote learning in the spring that worked well...

Penpals-students we given an addressed stamped envelope to send a letter to a classmate

Morning Share- every morning students responded to a question in flipgrid and responded to each other

Made personalized birthday videos and posted to google classroom with wishes from classmates, teachers and staff

Show and Share in flipgrid- students could share videos of new toys, share exciting news, and ask each other questions.

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Having built in unstructured time during remote days where kids from different cohorts can play together.

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Students need to be able to talk to each other in distance learning

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Students need to be able to talk to each other in distance learning

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They like small group work and hearing from each other.

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Giving each other feedback about their assignment

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Giving each other feedback about their assignment

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We talked about sending really clear expectations to parents on how they support their kids in our first week newsletter and then revisiting them on our parent night. We also talked about having parents support kids in setting up learning spaces at home intentionally and being thoughtful about our requirements- making sure they are promoting equity and are anti-bias. 

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We talked about sending really clear expectations to parents on how they support their kids in our first week newsletter and then revisiting them on our parent night. We also talked about having parents support kids in setting up learning spaces at home intentionally and being thoughtful about our requirements- making sure they are promoting equity and are anti-bias. 

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Letting students decide what clubs they want and let them facilitate (with guidance).

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Zaretta Hammond - Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain.

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Zaretta Hammond - Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain

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Hey. Thanks for stopping by my blog. You might have found your way here through a number of possible paths. Maybe you heard about my book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Or, maybe you typed in www.ready4rigor.com and those shadowy internet puppeteers redirected you here. Maybe you ended up here because you were doing a Google search for culturally responsive teaching practices

Or maybe your school is reading Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain in a book study and you wanted to know more about this Zaretta Hammond chick who wrote it.

It doesn't matter how you got here. What's important is that you and I are now connected.

Since you are an equity-minded educator like me, you are probably waging your own private movement to bust the myths behind student engagement (or the lack of) among low performing students of color, poor students, and English learners.

Well, you are in the right place. This is a blog where we can get answers to our collective and individual questions about how we can help students become confident and competent learners. In this space, I want to highlight what I am learning from being out in schools and classrooms with teachers who are successful with diverse students. I want to focus on how we can take everyday strategies and practices and put them to work in their classrooms to be more culturally responsive.

So, again, welcome!

Just to let you know, on average, I publish a new post every other week - two times per month at the least (sometimes a few more). That gives me time to be in schools and to write. If you don't want to miss updates on what I am seeing and learning, sign up for my newsletter by pushing that button below.

Binge-worthy Posts and Podcasts

Books are good, but sometimes you want your knowledge in bite-sized doses. That's what I like to deliver: consumable, usable, and entertaining food for thought (and action). Here are some of the most popular blog posts and guest podcast interviews to sample.

About Zaretta Hammond

It's funny. These days a lot of folks are calling me "Dr. Hammond" since the book has become required reading in many teacher education programs and school districts. Well, to set the record straight, I am not a PhD. I do have a Master's degree, but I consider myself a "boots on the ground" teacher. I call myself a former writing teacher turned equity freedom fighter. My heart is forever with children and teachers in the classroom, not in an ivory tower, even if these days most of my "students" are new leaders and pre-service teachers. [ A quick note: Not throwing any shade at all the PhDs out there doing the work.]

When I was in the classroom back in the day, I taught composition (expository writing). It was where I started to understand how important literacy was to equity, and how neuroscience and culture should inform our instructional practice.

Since leaving the classroom, I have done work as a curriculum designer and professional developer at organizations such as the National Equity Project and the Annenberg-funded Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC) in the San Francisco-Bay Area. I am a trained facilitator in anti-bias processes and have facilitated groups focused on learning to talk about issues of racial politics and privilege.

My primary work has been linking instruction, equity, and literacy. I have spent time as an adjunct instructor at Saint Mary's College in Norther California where I taught Adolescent Literacy and trained tutors and parents in reading support strategies for struggling students of color.

As an undergraduate, I attended University of California, Berkley before finishing up my degree at New York University where I majored in English Literature with a minor in Writing. I completed my Masters in Secondary English Education, with a Concentration in Writing Instruction at University of Colorado, Boulder where I simultaneously did my teacher certification program (starting three months after the birth of my son. I do not recommend this).

For the past 25 years, I've maintained a small, independent education consulting practice from which I do my research and writing as well as support schools doing deep instructionally-focused equity work.

Stay in touch

I hope this blog inspires, motivates, and challenges you to try some new practices that move you toward being more culturally responsive. If it does, send me a note. I'd love to hear from you. The best way to keep in touch with me is to sign up for free email updates (where you get all kinds of exclusive goodies).

Other Ways to Connect

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About - Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain

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Hey. Thanks for stopping by my blog. You might have found your way here through a number of possible paths. Maybe you heard about my book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Or, maybe you typed in www.ready4rigor.com and those shadowy internet puppeteers redirected you here.

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Yes, I recommend the podcast in that link--the idea is to use the waiting room, let 3-5 students in one at a time, have a quick conversation with them, the let everyone else in. Over a week or two, you've ensured that you're connecting with each student.

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An idea I got from Dave Stuart Jr. is to intentionally plan quick, private conversations with students to make a connection, and then track that on a roster with a few comments on what you talked about: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/genuine-connection-online/

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Sponsored by Pear Deck and UL Xplorlabs

If you're reading this in August of 2020, you're most likely in the midst of juggling a hundred different things right now. You're managing all the messy details of starting a new school year under constantly changing circumstances. You're scrambling for resources. You're debating the pros and cons of various reopening scenarios. You're wondering how any of this can possibly be accomplished, and deep inside you're pretty sure it can't.

As all of this swirls around us, it can help if we stop, get very quiet, and focus on one thing, arguably the most important thing we need to accomplish as we move forward into the school year: building relationships with our students. While this goal is important during any school year, in 2020 it's crucial. This virus has robbed us all of the human connections that help us to grow, support us through hard times, and make life on this planet so rich. For students whose home lives are not always safe, lockdowns have introduced trauma that regular school attendance may have prevented. We're all still hurting. And we're still not out of the woods.

If you're one of many teachers who will be starting the school year online, or if you end up returning to online instruction at some point during the year, making those connections will be more challenging than in a face-to-face classroom.

To help you navigate this change, I invited Dave Stuart Jr. to share one of his most effective strategies for connecting with students. Stuart is a high school English teacher who helps teachers do their work better through his website, books, and online courses for teachers on student motivation, time management, and classroom management. His newest offering is a free mini-course, 10 Tips for Staying Motivated When Teaching in Times of Uncertainty. You can find all of his courses at cultofpedagogy.com/dave. (I am an affiliate for all of Stuart's courses, so if you enroll in any of his paid courses through my link, I receive a small commission.)

Dave Stuart Jr.

I have been a fan of Stuart's work for years now. Not only is he a really likable guy, but he goes pretty deep with his work, making sure he understands the research behind the principles he encourages in the classroom.

We're going to focus on one specific strategy Stuart uses for building relationships with his students. He calls it making Moments of Genuine Connection (MGCs), which are just one small part of his overall approach to building trust in his classroom. First we'll look at the strategy in general, and then we'll explore some ways to make these moments happen in remote teaching situations.

What are Moments of Genuine Connection?

Stuart developed this approach out of necessity. He knew how important relationship building was, but the time it took to do it well was overwhelming.

"The first three years of my career," he says, "I would spend 10, 15 hours per week solely focused on building relationships with students...before school, after school, during lunch. Massive amounts of time, time that I could not invest into feedback on student work or planning lessons."

Needing a more efficient approach, he started experimenting with shorter interactions, limiting them to just 1 to 3 minutes, and tried to see how many students he could realistically and genuinely connect with in a day. It ended up working really well, allowing him to make many more students "feel valued, known, respected, and safe."

Now, years later, Stuart has established clearer protocols for MGCs. To work best, your MGCs should fit these criteria:

MOMENTS. In other words, brief. No more than 3 minutes each.

GENUINE. You have to mean what you say. "We as teachers work hard in our hearts to actually want to connect with our students, to actually like them," Stuart says. "Not every personality fits nicely with every other personality. MGCs call upon the teacher to do some inside work, some self-examination when negative feelings crop up with students."

CONNECTION. "What you're after in these encounters is that set of feelings: valued, known, respected," Stuart says. "So we call out specific things that we notice about the child, specific things that we know about them from information that they've given us."

EMBEDDED, NOT EXTRA. The moments are embedded inside the work you're already doing as a teacher. "So they're before class, right after class, during independent work."

TRACKED. Stuart keeps track of the MGCs using a class roster on a clipboard-jotting a few brief notes about the encounter-and doesn't allow himself to start a fresh sheet until he has attempted an MGC with each student. Notice the word attempted: Stuart doesn't insist on a successful connection every time and knows they may sometimes be awkward; he just holds himself accountable for trying. "We can't control the emotions of a child," he says. "We can just try to influence them in a direction that's going to help them and us."

PERSONAL AND ACADEMIC. Attempt connections about both personal and academic topics.

Ways to Create MGCs Online

Waiting Rooms

Zoom offers a feature called Waiting Rooms, which allow a moderator to hold all participants in one space and only admit them into the conference one at a time. If you conduct synchronous class meetings, you can use this feature to have quick chats with a few students as they enter the larger space (this may work especially well with those who arrive early) or use the private chat feature to welcome them and add an MGC while you're at it.

If you're using another videoconferencing tool, look for a feature similar to this or brainstorm with your colleagues how you might creatively make something like this happen within your current platform.

Brief Office Hours

Consider requiring students to attend office hours via videoconferencing a few times per semester. If you schedule students in small batches, maybe alphabetically by last name, you can meet with each student for just a few minutes at a time and make those meaningful connections that way.

Embedded in Feedback

When you give students feedback on their work, many digital tools will allow you to attach audio or video clips to that feedback, and audio feedback in particular has been found to have a much more powerful impact on student work than its written equivalent.

So instead of setting aside extra time for an MGC, just add it on to the feedback you're already giving to students. "Give audio feedback on student work," Stuart says, "and go ahead and tag at the front or the back of that, Hey, I really appreciate the growth that I'm seeing in your writing, and I've noticed it. "

Personal Videos

Stuart picked up this idea from community college instructors who have years of online teaching under their belts. It's built on the idea of "video postcards" teachers send to all students at once. "It's you in a place outside of school, going about your life where you just say, Hey, I'm thinking about all of you guys."

These videos could be done occasionally for individual students. Although Stuart admits this would be more work than other methods, it may be worth the effort every once in a while, and creative, tech-savvy teachers may be able to find ways to make it more efficient.

Phone Calls

For students who do not have reliable internet connections, or with whom other attempts have not been successful, your best bet may be to pick up the phone and call.

"They don't need to be long at all," Stuart says. "They can simply be a Hey, I'm checking in. Is anything getting in the way of your learning right now? And then, I just want you to know that I was thinking about this thing that we talked about previously. Or, I think you're really going to like what's coming up due to the interests that you shared on your survey."

If you're struggling to wrap your head around the upcoming school year, check out Dave's free mini-course, 10 Tips for Staying Motivated When Teaching in Times of Uncertainty. You can learn more about all of Dave's online courses at cultofpedagogy.com/dave (affiliate link).

Come back for more.
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Creating Moments of Genuine Connection Online

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Making each student feel known and respected is always important. So how do you do it when teaching online?