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What is an effective way to get buy-in from staff as we roll out our DEI work?


If you’re a leader and have decided to implement broad-based DEI efforts in your organization, you may be wondering, “How do I get Buy-In”? It’s a reasonable question. DEI work is complex. Let’s dissect it. First, we are talking about change. Change is hard for many of us. Most organizations are rooted in a pre-established routine of policies and practices. Introducing anything new into the mix evokes fear, uncertainty, anger and resistance. We call people resistant to change C.A.V.E.R.S. – Colleagues Against Virtually Everything. The true credit for this term goes to one of our senior partners, Briana Williamson. We all know those colleagues. They are the people that already know that anything new is going to be more work and be more trouble than it’s worth.


Exacerbating the challenge is that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion begins to challenge individual values and ideals. When a staff member feels that the institution is “forcing” work that conflicts with a personal belief structure, resistance is the natural outcome. Conversely, leaders feel the weight of political pressure to walk a neutral line. The result is a lukewarm DEI effort that is often thought of as window dressing. The victims are diverse students and their families.


A true commitment to implementing a DEI plan means systemic change. Culture shift takes time and BUY IN. REAL DEI work is not a ONE-OFF training or event. It is woven into the fabric of the organization. Now, we are at the heart of the original question.

“What is an effective way to get buy-in from staff as we roll out our DEI work?


1. Begin with Open Conversation

Talk to your staff about what DEI work really means. Hold several small group discussion opportunities to create a trusting environment that invites open communication. Remember, ambiguity encourages the imagination to run wild, so be ready and willing to listen and respond to concerns and questions. Here are a few natural questions to consider:

•What are your organizational goals for equity and inclusion?

•Why does the organization want to focus on this work?

•How does DEI work interface with individual performance expectations and organizational deliverables?

These are just some of the questions that staff will be asking.

Set ground rules for your dialogue groups. Here are is our 5S Ground Rule System:

1. Seek to Understand

2. Show Respect

3. Share and Be Open to Others Sharing

4. Shield Your non-verbals and engage in active listening

5. Speak from your own perspective and experience – Use “I” statements


2. Focus on Information and Self-Awareness

It’s critical to provide definitions of terms and data that has informed your DEI work. You can only work from common ground, if everyone involved understands the language of the work.

Define Diversity

Define Inclusion

Define Microaggressions

Define Equity

Next, tie self-awareness education to the work. It’s critical to help your staff connect their own experiences, stereotypes, and conceptual ideas to the DEI terms and expectations that you are trying to implement. Here again, training can’t be a once per year experience. DEI training must be integrated into all professional development experiences.


3. Use data to inform your practice

Comb through your organizational data to demonstrate why DEI work is critical. If you’re in an educational organization, here are some questions that the data can answer:

What are the racial demographics of your district?

What is the academic performance data of your students by race, gender and age?

How many students of color are identified as gifted?

How many students of color enroll in AP classes?

What is the disciplinary break-down by race?

How many students of color participate in extra-curricular activities? Break this down by activity and race.

What are the graduate rates of students of color in comparison to White students?

What does the community data tell you?

If you find disparities, it’s important to use this as a discussion topic with your staff.


4. Focus on creating a safe learning environment


What does a safe learning environment look like? Ask your staff to create the ideal classroom that encourages inquiry by all, promotes equity, and teaches respect.


5. Work collaboratively to create an action plan


It’s critical to have everyone involved in the planning and implementation of a DEI action plan. Here are a few of the topics that should be considered:

•Academic Achievement

•Allies and Accomplices

•Inclusive Curriculum

•Community Engagement

•Family Involvement

•Equity-based district policies and practices

Use an equity lens to look closely at each of these areas, as you develop your plan. A tool like Kinect’s trademarked Equity Rubric will help you further examine areas that may be lacking on the equity scale. If you have your entire team involved in the process, you’ll find greater buy-in to the greater goal of systemic change. Start by tackling low-hanging fruit. What does this look like?

-Do you have passive education and Equity positive messaging in your buildings?

-Do teachers have multicultural books and resources in their classrooms?

-Do your leadership meeting agendas always include diversity, equity and inclusion as a regular agenda item?

As you begin to chip away at the quick-fix items, begin setting your sights for loftier goals. This might include hiring a cohort of teachers of color, closing the achievement gap completely, and an actualized bias response process.


6. Don’t rely on your staff of color to lead the conversation or the work


The process of infusing DEI into your organization requires courageous leadership. A courageous leader does what needs to be done, regardless of political fall-out. The responsibility for directing the work falls upon the shoulders of organizational leadership. Resist the urge to rely on staff of color to advise and guide the process. DEI work will only be successful if everyone is on board. Incentivize and reward those staff that go above and beyond, but don’t allow staff to opt out. Momentum means everything, but follow-through is key. Once everyone understands that your organization is embodying DEI work for the long-haul, it will be an expected part of the culture and the job.





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Updated: Jul 7, 2021

As you end your year and begin thinking about the next, I encourage you to use this time to engage in self and organizational reflection. Try this activity out to help you in the process:


  1. Write your name at the top of a piece of paper.

  2. List the 10 values that you have about diversity. For example, I value learning about different cultures. I value being challenged when I'm not diversity minded. I value being inclusive with others, etc.

  3. Renumber those top 10 values in order of importance - 1 should be your top value - 10 should be the lowest on your list.

  4. On a new piece of paper, write down your top 3. Don't worry about the other seven.

  5. Now, use the top 3 to write a personal mission statement related to your diversity journey.

  6. Take the activity one step further and create a personal to-do list to help you live out your mission. For example, if learning about a different culture is important, what can you do to infuse this learning into your daily walk?

In three months, repeat the activity, without looking at the original. Once you've done this, compare the two and note the progress that you made.


As an end-of-year activity, try this same activity with your staff to conduct a mission audit of your organization or department. As a teaching or departmental staff, what are you doing to further diversity work at a systemic level? How does your mission dovetail with the larger, organizational mission? What can you do to weave diversity work into the fabric of your work mission?


Kinect Education Group has a variety of training tools available to help you in your quest to further diversity education for faculty, staff and students. Check out our product page. If you're interested in specialized training, we have you covered. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you with your next professional development or in-service training!




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Updated: Mar 15, 2021


What’s Popping in Education?!


We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for a SNACK BREAK !


News, tips and information you can digest during a short break in your regular day.


Hot mic catches high school basketball announcer's racist slurs

Announcer Matt Rowan called members of an Oklahoma high school girls' basketball team the n-word after they knelt for the national anthem.

Source: CNN



Over the weekend, you may have seen the above story. If not, the link to the entire broadcast has been included above. Our most attended certification experience Unraveling Bias: The Pandemic Edition, challenges educators to put themselves into situations such as this, and consider the trauma and impact this has on student learning and the balance between institutional ability and institutional responsibility to create a safe and welcoming learning environment for not just some students, but all students.


The Power of Language

Students learn best when they feel welcome, comfortable and safe.


Extra curricular opportunities like sports and clubs, provide the unique opportunity to enhance student learning and development outside of the classroom, however we find, all too often, school leaders and educators drop the ball when it comes to ensuring a safe extra-curricular experience for all students. In this situation specifically, there was a great responsibility for school administration and leadership to intervene and immediately secure and protect the students involved. This refers to not only the Black students participating in freedom of speech and expression, but also the students who are actively digesting the response of the institution (or lack of response) to this bias incident.


If You Permit it, You Promote It

At Kinect, we have a mantra; If You Permit It, You Promote It.


per·mit

verb /pərˈmit/

  1. give authorization or consent to (someone) to do something.

pro·mote

verb

/prəˈmōt/

1. further the progress of (something, especially a cause, venture, or aim); support or actively encourage.

2. give publicity to (a product, organization, or venture) so as to increase sales or public awareness.


If we ponder for even a brief moment, the definition of Permit and Promote, we can quickly digest this mantra to the fullest extent. As educators and administrators, we are equally complicit when we permit bias incidents to go unchecked in our schools, classrooms, programming, curriculum etc. The list is endless.


Do's and Don'ts of Bias Incidents in Education

Do intervene.

Don't Ignore.


In this situation, over the intercom, all players and attendees heard the racist slurs, hateful and biased messaging spewed from the mouths of the announcer (s). He was allowed to announce for the remainder of the game, which was essentially a signal of nonverbal permission and promotion by the adults and school representatives at this school event. Has not been terminated or faced immediate action and consequences for the act.


Without immediate intervention, the school officials horribly failed to protect and provide a safe and welcoming learning environment for the students who had been wronged and targeted.


Do report.

Don't make excuses.


In this situation, someone attending the event reported and shared the incident with the media. It should not take for a bias incident to go viral or receive media attention to solicit action by the institution. In this case, immediate intervention did not occur, and the institutions delayed response only further demonstrates a need for Bias Response Training and Education, individually and collectively.


While an "investigation" has been announced by the district, we must also note that not only was the announcer allowed to explain, further harm to the students may have occurred as the apology was not genuine and blamed the racial slur on a seemingly unrelated medical condition.


In the formal apology released by the announcer, he indicated that as a diabetic, the students decision to kneel, directly affected his blood sugar, and caused him to say things that he wouldn't have otherwise said (assumably in public).


Do hold space for the students most affected, separate from the majority group to meet with a school counselor, administrator, or social emotional well-being practitioner to unpack the trauma of this experience.


Don't assume that students are strong enough to unpack, digest and heal from this on their own.


Being called a racial slur in front of a gymnasium full of peers, players and spectators can be a very traumatic experience for the Black students attending a predominantly white school. It is not something that can be treated lightly or brushed under the rug and must be addressed with the respect and honor the incident deserves.


As this bias incident made local and national news, there are a few different responses required of the school district in this situation.


Bias Check

If you find yourself grappling with whether or not the announcers were in the wrong, should have been removed from the game or should face immediate termination, that would be an immediate indication of your personal and internal need as an educator to learn more about the biases that you hold as an educator and consider the harm that your biases have on the students you are there to support and serve.




Take a Test. Project Implicit is a non-profit organization and international collaboration between researchers who are interested in implicit social cognition - thoughts and feelings outside of conscious awareness and control. The goal of the organization is to educate the public about hidden biases and to provide a “virtual laboratory” for collecting data on the Internet.


On their site, there are a wealth of different tests that serve as a great starting point for taking inventory of your own personal biases and can be an excellent tool on your personal journey with bias which is something we all possess.


Training: Consider offering a district wide training on Bias Incidents and educator responsibility for managing bias an ensuring equity in learning, curriculum and programming. While we always hope that you will consider Kinect for your equity and inclusion training needs, more importantly it is our hope that you will seek the tools and education needed to prevent bias incidents from permeating and staining the culture of your school.


Upcoming Training dates for Unraveling Bias: The Pandemic Edition


March 25, 2021

April 16, 2021

April 20, 2021

As a leader, understanding how to manage racially charged situations, is the best defense against large-scale problems. The reality is clear; if a bias incident is your first encounter, as an educator, having the skill to handle these situations while also ensuring a welcoming and inclusive learning environment for all is key.

Join Kinect Education Group for an immersive, bias response education experience that will dramatically increase educator capacity to respond and manage common bias incidents that occur in an educational setting. Learn about strategies for successfully building staff capacity to manage bias with an equity lens, explore commonly reported bias incidents by protected class such as Religion, race, immigration, sexism and practice every-day bias .


Have Dialogue with Students: Be intentional about holding space for difficult conversations with students about their experiences with trauma as they pursue an education. It is an indicator of an unhealthy learning culture when administrators and educators ignore, breeze over and act as if bias incidents do not have an impact on the greater school culture.


Being open and honest about the issues that create a traumatic learning experience for some students more than others, is a foundation to creating a school culture that is welcoming learning environment for all students, not just a select few.


Edutopia shared a great tool for creating ground rules for difficult conversations with students. Review the video below as an excellent starting point for creating your own rules for how you proceed with difficult conversations.



Have Dialogue with Educators:



It is equally important to have conversations with educators regarding bias incidents as it is to have conversations with students. Creating ongoing learning and dialogue with educators, can proactively address bias incidents in school culture rather than creating a reactive culture.


Click here and enter code FREECASESTUDY at check out to request your free copy of The N Word case study that can be used to address the use of racial slurs in the classroom, and the impact it has on students.




See you during the next Snack Break from Kinect!

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