Dialogue without action

Dialogue without action is white privilege. ~ Paul Gorski

I had the privilege to attend the Minnesota NAME conference a few Saturdays back. The keynote speaker was Paul Gorski (@pgorski) and his words, thoughts, and ideas fanned the fire of my equity work and my aim to be a culturally responsive administrator. The quote that started this blog is one of the first things Paul shared in his keynote message, and I immediately went to an emotional place because I knew that recently I have been doing more talking than acting. With the push from Paul’s presentation and others at the conference I was challenged to do more than just talk. In a hope to walk the walk and talk the talk I need to take action steps. I'm blogging about it to hold myself accountable. I plan to use the framework of Paul Gorski's equity literacy as my guide. So let's go!

Step one - Where am I at currently?

1. Recognize inequity (even subtle)
1. In the recent past, and I would say within the past 6 months my ability and desire to recognize inequity has increased quite a bit. By no means do I want to paint myself as the epitome of recognizing inequity, but I am certainly more aware than I was before. My journey really started when I attended a Beyond Diversity training with our entire staff. It was truly the first time that as a white male I was challenged to see multiple perspectives, and sparked a desire to continue to seek multiple perspectives. The work done through Beyond Diversity then led me to reading more books about equity in education and having conversations with colleagues who hold perspectives other than mine. During the growth of my own awareness of my whiteness and the privileges it has afforded me, I sought out people who would challenge me in my thinking and push me to better recognize inequity. My "critical friends" have pushed me on a daily basis to recognize inequity and to respond to that inequity.
2. Respond to inequity (immediate term, interpersonal or institutional)
1. As an administrator in a school building I have the unique opportunity to respond to inequity, if I choose to do so. Let me be clear, as a white male in a position of power, I could certainly choose to not respond to inequity and continue to live a fairly comfortable life. In the same vain, I have the choice to engage and respond to inequity, and that is the path I decide to take on a daily basis. But the desire and action to respond to inequity took time.
2. Scholars have become my biggest advocates for inequity going on within my building. They share the most honest and authentic views of how they are being treated, and often times they share perspectives I would have not seen on my own. Out of a desire to do better for ALL my scholars, especially black and brown scholars, I have taken the time and energy to step into spaces, situations, and confrontations where inequity exists. I have stepped into classrooms to collect data on a specific area of equity, most often around race. There are days I have challenged staff and scholars alike to seek a different perspective and to see the inequity that lies within the situation.
3. Redress inequity (institutional or systemic)
1. More and more of my days are now spent reading, analyzing, and planning in regards to redressing inequity. Before I can take any action, I have to plan how I can go about redressing inequity. So I am immersing myself in the understanding of the multiple kinds of inequity and some of the best practices in redressing them being practiced by others.
4. Sustain equity
1. This is the most critical of the work. Sustaining equity means staying in a conversation, confrontation, or situation when it matters most. It means leaning into my "critical friends" when I feel personally challenged. To ensure my goal is to deepen my own understanding and work, and decrease my own white fragility. Sustaining equity currently means choosing on a daily basis to recognize my own whiteness, the privileges I am afforded because of that whiteness, and how I am using that privilege to positively influence the lives of my scholars of color.

Step two - What actions am I going to take to move forward in the work?

1. Recognize inequity (even subtle)
1. The first step I have taken is to remind myself on a daily basis to be looking for inequity.

2. I have asked that my "critical friends" help me to identify "blind spots" when it comes to my ignorance of certain kinds of inequity. If I don't see them, I can't address them.
2. Respond to inequity (immediate term, interpersonal or institutional)
1. My current practice is to hear scholars out and step into classrooms when I can. But as an educator I want to be able to not only provide support but possible strategies for scholars and staff to employ when they see inequity. Over the next few weeks, along with conversations with my "critical friends", I hope to create a list I can refer to when it comes to responding to inequity. Once that list is created, I plan to share it on the blog so others can share their ideas as well.
3. Redress inequity (institutional or systemic)
1. This step requires me putting on my "big boy britches" and be willing to take a step of courage and confront some of the institutional or systemic inequities I am seeing in my building and within my district. Where I see this playing out is during meetings for assistant principals, and challenging the status quo. I can also step up and take the time to be a part of the planning team for the PD provided to assistant principals. I can take advantage of opportunities with community members that can influence the work that is being done within our buildings. This part of the process requires me to stop trying to be the lone man on the island, and working in multiple teams to create change.
2. Another way I look to redress inequity, specifically in my building, is to create an equity team. We have worked on many areas of need in our building and equity is critically important. I have reached out to our district level supports to ensure that our team starts out on the right foot. Teachers have stepped up to be a part of the team. My work will be to lead this team in the direction of redressing inequities happening in our building. I will take time on this blog to share progress being made within that team.
4. Sustain equity
1. Sustaining equity is refusing to sit back, become complacent, or tired in the work. Not allowing myself to say that I have done "well enough". Continue to seek out critical friends, and adding people who challenge my own thinking to my PLN. Sustaining equity is continuing to be an advocate for my scholars and pushing my staff to continue in the work as well. And if I'm really being honest, it's about changing my habits both inside the school and out. Sustaining equity cannot be contained to the work I do if I truly hope that the work makes a lasting impact.

This work will not be easy, but I firmly believe the work is more than worth it!