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In this episode, Dr. Daman Harris, the author of "The Anti-Racist School Leader," advocates for personal commitment, vision casting, and professional learning experiences as key components of antiracist leadership in schools. Daman discusses implicit bias and the role of homophily, suggesting that the tendency to gravitate towards the familiar can inadvertently foster discrimination. He also talks about the importance of continuous evaluation of the impact of professional development on student learning and growth and what this might look like.
Dr. Daman Harris is the manager of professional development schools and higher education partnerships in Anne Arundel County Public Schools. He is also a co-director of the Building Our Network of Diversity Project, a Maryland-based nonprofit that supports male educators of color. Dr. Harris has had a wide range of experiences as a teacher, instructional coach, administrator, author, adjunct professor, speaker, and consultant. He leads courses related to effective teaching methods, research protocols, antiracism, teacher recruitment, and teacher retention. The Big Dream Everyone belongs and can achieve. Daman wants to see schools where antiracist values are not just talked about but acted upon. He believes that antiracism is a behavior, not a static characteristic, and encourages all school leaders, teachers, and community members to actively contribute to creating change. Alignment to the 4 Stages: Mindset, Pedagogy, Assessment, and Content The Table of Contents in Daman’s book aligns closely with these four pieces. In terms of mindset, he advocates for recognizing and understanding our biases and committing to change. Pedagogically and curriculum-wise, he emphasizes the importance of creating an inclusive curriculum that encourages critical consciousness among students and teaches antiracism. We also talk about assessment of learning for adults, specifically that we should have ongoing evaluation of professional development and its impact on student learning. Mindset Shifts Required Rather than identifying our in-group as race, religion, language, or political beliefs, we can see our school community as our in-group and strive to give all students and families the benefit of the doubt. I absolutely LOVE this framing! Action Steps What are the early steps we can take? The following steps are aligned to the first 3 chapters of Daman’s book. Step 1: Educate Yourself and Commit Learn information about and recognize the dynamics of racism. Commit to making a change. Step 2: Cast an Anti-Racist Vision Develop a vision for your school where anti-racism is not just a buzzword but a lived experience. Share your ideas, and then co-create with stakeholders. Step 3: Plan Professional Learning Experiences Develop a professional development plan that promotes critical consciousness and equips teachers with the skills to promote anti-racism. Use backwards planning to start with the end in mind. For Daman, this is the development of critical consciousness for all students! Challenges? Sorting through competing priorities. So there's a lot to do as a school leader. Here’s Daman’s approach to address it: Antiracism is a part of the solution to all of the competing priorities. This is not one of the competing priorities, this is a part of all of them. So when you think about holistic remedies for the obstacles for your students and their families, this is where you start. One Step to Get Started Find an accountability partner. Begin having these conversations about what you claim you want to do or what you claim you are going to do. Be a sounding board for that partner as well, and push each other to learn more. Stay Connected You can email Dr. Daman Harris at: dharris@bondeducators.org You can find his latest book at www.SolutionTree.com/Antiracist. For additional information on the book, click here. To help you identify white supremacy culture and related adaptive challenges in your school or district, I’m sharing my Diagnosing Adaptive Challenges Mini Workbook with you for free. And, if you’re looking for more details on the ideas in this blog post, listen to episode 149 of the Time for Teachership podcast. If you’re unable to listen or you prefer to read the full episode, you can find the transcript here. Quotes:
If you enjoyed this episode, check out my YouTube channel where I share the most important checklist for a root cause analysis:
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Time for Teachership is now a proud member of the...AuthorLindsay Lyons (she/her) is an educational justice coach who works with teachers and school leaders to inspire educational innovation for racial and gender justice, design curricula grounded in student voice, and build capacity for shared leadership. Lindsay taught in NYC public schools, holds a PhD in Leadership and Change, and is the founder of the educational blog and podcast, Time for Teachership. Archives
January 2024
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