Welcome to Becoming a More Equitable Educator!
ABOUT THIS COURSE
Every day, teachers make thousands of decisions: what content to teach, what activities to assign, who to call on, how to respond to a student question, how to react to student behavior. These day-to-day decisions can have an enormous effect on the lives of young people, for good and ill. They can open new doors or cause lasting harm; they can make students feel seen and valued, or dampen their interest in school.
In this course, we will investigate day-to-day decisions and interactions between educators and students, rehearse responding to difficult scenarios, and develop a set of equity teaching mindsets and practices to support all of our learners, especially underserved students.
With colleagues from your school or organization and online learners around the world, you will participate in four cycles of inquiry, practice, and action, and then complete a final action project. In each cycle of inquiry, learners will examine and re-examine dimensions of inequality through educator mindsets, imagine community change through documentary case studies, rehearse taking action in thorny situations through digital practice spaces, and begin to lead change through action-oriented assignments. Our early investigations will focus on relationships and interactions with individual students, and pan out to examine the effects of bias on classrooms, schools, and communities. As you complete activities with peers online, you will develop a rich set of resources and exercises to use with your students and colleagues in your local context.
At the end of the course, you will have a better understanding of yourself and your students, new resources to draw on for helping all students thrive, and an action plan for working in your school community to advance the lifelong work of equitable teaching.
COURSE DATES
Unit 0: Mindsets and Practices for Equity Teaching (available March 17, 2020)
Introduction to educator mindsets for seeing sources of bias and inequality, discussing identity and practices for more equitable teaching.
Unit 1: Seeing and Valuing Individuals through an Equity Lens (available March 24, 2020)
Developing an imagination for how every individual student can learn and grow.
Live Zoom Office Hours - Wednesday, March 25, 6:00-6:30 PM UTC
Unit 1 Assignment: Small Changes in Practice to Address Student Needs - Suggested Due Date April 8, 2020
Live Zoom Office Hours - Wednesday, April 8, 6:00-6:30 PM UTC, password: equity
Unit 2: Seeing and Valuing Students through Asset Framing (available April 9, 2020)
Rethinking classroom instruction through asset framing.
Unit 2 Assignment: Roster Audit - Suggested Due Date April 22, 2020
Unit 3: Seeing and Valuing Differences through Challenging Conversations (available April 23, 2020)
Acknowledging and discussing our differences while connecting to our shared humanity.
Live Zoom Office Hours - Friday, April 24, 2:00-2:45 PM UTC, password: equity
Unit 3 Assignment: Practicing Challenging Conversations - Suggested Due Date May 6, 2020
Unit 4: Addressing Inequality in a Community Context (available May 7, 2020)
Understanding young people in a whole context that acknowledges structural inequality and histories of discrimination.
Unit 4 Assignment: School and Community Asset Map - Suggested Due Date May 14, 2020
Unit 5: The Lifelong Work of Equity Teaching (available May 7, 2020)
Engaging students and colleagues in the work of equity teaching through mindsets and practice spaces.
Live Zoom Office Hours - Friday, May 8, 6:00-6:45 PM UTC, password: equity
Unit 5 Assignment: Inviting Colleagues to Learn Together - Suggested Due Date May 26, 2020
Live Zoom Office Hours - Friday, June 12, 4:00-4:45 PM UTC, password: equity
New Certificate Upgrade Deadline: June 23, 2020 at 11:59 PM UTC
New Completion Checklists Deadline: June 30, 2020, 11:00 PM UTC
New Course End Date: June 30, 2020, 11:30 PM UTC
New Date Certificates Available: July 1, 2020
COURSE CALENDAR
The calendar below includes course dates. If you have questions, look at the list of dates above.