Breaking the Silence: Ushering in Courageous ... - NCCRESt

National Center for
Culturally Responsive Educational Systems
presents
“Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in
Courageous Conversations
About
the Impact of Race on
Student Achievement
Friday, February 17, 2006
Glenn E. Singleton
Presenter

“Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
What is “the achievement gap” and why does it exist?
What essential step(s) must be taken to eliminate the racial achievement gap in
American public schools?
My Social Construction of Knowledge
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“Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
College Board SAT I (Verbal)
Average scores by family income and race
Source: College Board (1982–1993)
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“Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
Factors Educators Believe
Impact Student Achievement
Family
Engagement
Poverty
Language
Mobility
What Do These Factors Have In Common?
They disproportionately define children of color!
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They allow educators to avoid addressing race, directly! 3

“Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
I Dream
I am from a clash of color,from an idea of love, modeled for others’ perception.
I see me as I am, but am hidden from others’ views.
I am who I am, but a living contradiction to my peers.
I see life as a blessing, a gift granted to me.
Why should my tint describe me? Why should my culture degrade me?
Why should the ignorance of another conjure my presence?
Too many times I’ve been disappointed by the looks, by the sneers and misconceptions
of the people who don’t get me, who don’t understand why it hurts.
I dream of a place of glory and freedom, of losing the weight of oppression on my back.
I dream of the enlightenment of people, of the opening of their eyes.
I dream for acceptance, and for the blessing of feeling special just once.
One moment of glory…for the true virtue in my life.
For the glimmer of freedom, and a rise in real pride.
Pablo Vega
Chapel Hill High School ‘04
December 2002
Your Thoughts
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“Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
Our Belief…
The most devastating factor contributing to the lowered achievement of
students of color is Institutionalized Racism!
Pacific Educational Group, Inc.
Fall 1995
To what degree do you, personally, share Pacific Educational Group’s belief? What is your
evidence?
To what degree do you believe Your School Community shares Pacific Educational Group’s belief?
What is your evidence?
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“Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
Equity is…
Raising the achievement of all students while;
narrowing the gaps between the highest and lowest performing students and;
eliminating the racial predictability and disproportionality of which student groups occupy
the highest and lowest achievement categories.
Anti–Racism is…
Our conscious and deliberate, individual and collective action that challenges the impact and
perpetuation of institutional White racial power, position and privilege.
Glenn Singleton
Asilomar, 1997
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“Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
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“Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
Challenging the “Just Tell me What To Do!” Syndrome
Personalization
Courageous Conversation
Critical Race Theory
Relationships
Instructional
Improvement
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Courageous Conversation is…
…utilizing the Four Agreements, Six Conditions and Compass in order to engage, sustain and deepen interracial
dialogue about race, racial identity and institutional racism for the purposes of examining schooling and improving
student achievement.
Four Agreements
1.
2.
3.
4.
Six Conditions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
“Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
6. 9
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“Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
Race in my life?
…how much is my life impacted by race?
(0 – 100%)
%
Six Conditions of Courageous Conversation
1. Establish a racial context that is personal, local and immediate.
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“Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
What Does it Mean to be White?
“I repeatedly forgot each of the realizations on this list until I wrote it down. For me white privilege has turned
out to be an elusive and fugitive subject. The pressure to avoid it is great, for in facing it I must give up the
myth of meritocracy. If these things are true this is not such a free country; one’s life is not what one makes
it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own.”
Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”
Wellesley Collage Center for Research on Women, 1988
“If our organizations are going to be fair for all so we can leverage the diversity of the workforce, we as whites
must expose the positive cultural bias that organizations have for us to the light of day.
We must make it visible and acknowledged and known.”
Judith H. Katz, “White Culture” 1999
Six Conditions of Courageous Conversation
6. Examine the presence and role of “whiteness” and its impact on the
conversation and the problem being addressed.
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“Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
Pacific Educational Group’s
Eight Progressive principles of
Equity/Anti-Racist Learning & Teaching
1. Raise Expectations: “How who teaches what to whom!”
2. Center Equity: All Students, Narrow Gaps, Eliminate Racial Predictability.
3. Practice Courageous Conversation: Four Agreements, Six Conditions, Compass.
4. De-Center Whiteness: Universal Perspective, Individualism, Avoidance, De-Contextualization.
5. CARE: Reflective, Inquiry-Based, Continuous Improvement, Focused Instruction.
6. Deliver Culturally Responsive Instruction: Realness, Rigor, Relevance, Relationships (Gay).
7. Engage Intrinsic Motivation: Inclusion, Attitude, Meaning, Competence (Ginsberg).
8. Amplify Positive Deviance: Community, Problem, Relative Success, Transfer, Amplify (Sternin). 13
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“Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
We Need to Really Talk
I am overwhelmed.
Don’t make me wash the colors, the heritage, the language I don’t want to.
We need to really talk…as though no one is judging but everyone is listening.
It’s easy to forget that life is complex enough that love and hate,
acceptance and fear grow in one.
Don’t just like me, ask me, make me question, make me uncertain and in this time of doubt,
Let’s do something. Forget stereotypes, lose our words to internal thoughts.
I am not saying we’re going to move the world but we can provoke a shift in our minds,
Moving away from ignorance, discrimination and the belief that
We understand without experiencing.
J. Lagoo
Sophomore, Chapel Hill, NC
November 28, 2001
©Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools
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“Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence”
Ushering in Courageous Conversation
about the impact of Race on Student Achievement
February 17, 2006
For Additional Information, Please Contact:
Pacific Educational Group, Inc.
1539 Taraval Street, Suite 202
San Francisco, CA 94116
Phone: 415.346.4575
Fax: 415.346.4559
www.pacificeducationalgroup.com
For a Professional Development Video, Contact:
The Video Journal of Education
Closing the Achievement Gap featuring Glenn Singleton
Use Order Code #PRSNTR 1201
801.566.6500
Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools
By Glenn E. Singleton and Curtis Linton, Corwin Press, Sherman Oaks,CA. 2006 ©. Now Available
through Pacific Educational Group, Inc. www.pacificeducationalgroup.com
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