As per course,
Read: Chapter 2 “If I Have to Have a Police in my School, I Don’t Need to Be Here: The Need for Critical Self-Reflective School Leaders” Culturally Responsive School Leaders, Muhammad Khalifa (2018)
Khalifa calls on critical self-reflective leaders to possess 3 skills:
The ability to identify and understand the oppressive contexts that students and their communities face
The willingness and humility to identify and vocalize ones’ own personal background and privilege; which allows leaders to see how they are directly involved or complicit in oppressive contexts
The courage to push colleagues and staff to critically self-reflect upon their personal and professional role in oppression and anti-oppressive works and to eventually develop responsive school structures
The awareness and development of these three skills will frame this course. Embedded in each of them is the ability to define and vocalize one’s own identity. Identity refers to race, ethnicity, culture, education, positionality, gender, gender identity, sexual preference, status in Canada, religion, and still other intersectional positions in societal and political constructs.
After reading Khalifa’s Chapter 2, take time to journal the aspects of your identity. Which ones grant you power, privilege, and inclusion and in what contexts? Which create barriers or exclude you and in what, or perhaps all, contexts?
Discussion:
Post your response to the following:
“How do I personally reflect on my histories with privilege, power, and oppression?”
I began this journey through education to reaach students and provide the system with something I thought it was missing, being student voice. As a student, I had voice, but I didn't quite know or understand how to utilize it, how to foster it and make it something that was helpful rather than detrimental to a community.
When I think about critical self-reflection, the idea of being open and honest with yourself and those around you immediately, however when evaluating how I understand the reading and looking at the prompt, I find that I am over thinking my process of self-reflection most times. The process of self-reflecting for me comes as something that is done everytime I have a one to one discussion with anyone on any level. I often feel ashamed that I have had opportunities and a life that some haven't been fortunate enough to experience, (understanding that the guilt isn't the goal in a critical self-reflection), but understand that I do truly advocate and appreciate others as well as their needs for advocacy.
I personally participate in extra-curriculars and why I do that is not so much because I like spending time away from my family, but for the reason that I know it is appreciated, it makes people feel good to know, you want to spend time with them. I look at a lot of my behviours and social interactions from a lens of time as a valuable thing. In this world, the only the thing that remains is what we have created by the end of our time. I evaluate and reflect what I do as effective, and/or empathetic then determine who it will have an impact on. When I do things that are seemingly "self-fish" I need to really reflect on what I have done for others and evaluate if its deserving to do this (personally).
In way professionalism, leadership and teaching I personally look at my staff and colleagues, I ask very kindly if anything needs to be said at the end of our meetings, I personally call out the names of each person and ask them, "Joe, is there anything you want to address before we leave the meeting today?" and so on. In my classroom, I walk to each student as much as possible and inquire on their studies, their wellness. When I do these things I reflect inwardly on what this discussion yields, every interaction should be able to take me one step closer to better knowing and understanding that person or student.
The most apparent way that I evaluate my privilege though would be through my journalling, I often journal and sometimes go back to read what I had written in the past and observe what kind of differences I have made in my life, the life of others and my goals.
In a way, I guess by making it a point of being as personable as possible with colleagues, and students I am avaluating the impact of my life and work on their own life and work. In reflecting on these interactions I try to bring more than just ocontent delivery to the table.
Citations
Alber, R. (2015, December 15). Check Yourself: Why Self-Reflecting on Privilege Matters. Edutopia.org. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/check-yourself-why-self-reflecting-privilege-matters-rebecca-alber
Khalifa, M. (2018). Culturally Responsive School Leadership (Race and Education) (pp. 50-63). Harvard Education Press.
Holland, N., & Leger, M. (2023, January 11). 5 Ways to Implement Equity-Centered Leadership Practices. Edutopia.org. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-tips-equity-centered-leadership-practices-schools
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Response:
My name is Carmelo Bono, in my family I am a second generation Canadian born citizen. My grandparents all came overseas at various times, but are people who adopted the North American of the life at the time they arrived. Being caucasion there in Canada is a perceived privilege, especially having gone to university and speaking English. I can't say I immediately identify as a minority myself while living in Canada, but being in China at the moment, my personal attributes have opened doors for me being an expert in my field of work and minority here in China.
I personally do my best to advocate for and/or with people who are demonstrating that they feel they need to be heard. This goes for students as well as community members. Being a Canadian-in Canada, I tried to apply what resources (time, expertise, etc) to helping where I could in various communities.
Being in China, I use my perceived privlege as a part of my position to advocate and help students in reaching their goals in school, communicating with aspiring English speakers in my community. With said privilege I do allocate aspects of resources to various areas of need within the community, having more rather than less. This is includes blood and currency.
Notes on Khalifa, 2020 Culturally Responsive School Leadership: Historical and Community Based Epistemologies
-Quote by Amilcar Cabral, Anticolonial Activist
-The need to not merely observe but illicit change is necessary, especially in the way of education
-Racial Autobiographies to observe and reflect on the privilege that prinicpals have in their position (page 51)
-There is a desperate need to instil a professional duty to self-reflect one's privilege and the role it plays in being a principal in education (pg.51)
-Three important skills for leaders to have in regards to anti-oppression and equity pedgagoy/leadership/culturally responsive school leaders (pg.52)
-->The ability to identify and understand the oppressive contexts that students and their communities face
-->The willingness and humility to identify and vocalize ones’ own personal background and privilege; which allows leaders to see how they are directly involved or complicit in oppressive contexts
-->The courage to push colleagues and staff to critically self-reflect upon their personal and professional role in oppression and anti-oppressive works and to eventually develop responsive school structures
-Data used to reflect includes, student, teacher, schoolwide and program data, parent, community and student voice (pg.53)
-Data that develops a regard to racism is often times buried in data and numbers from across the system, but it goes beyong racism and generally calls for a look at equity in general across all identifiers. (pg.53)
-Often times the opporessive traditions in education carry forward because principals do not look at the data wholesomely or recognize what is outside of the norm (that has been developed through an oppresive system). (pg.53)
-Humility as a principal, being able to admit you need to chnage is important (pg.54)
-Engaging with the parents and being transparent about how students are educated is important, this could be understood as an opportunity to offer student voice. (pg.55)
-Case Study, student "Marwan", is in "Rhonda's class" and is being exlcuded through consistent removal as consequence of disruptive behaviour. The Principal (Joe), brought them all into the office to speak of this directly. Student Marwan describes how he felt he is picked out in class. Rhonda describes how he is doing poorly in class. (pg.57)
-Joe created voicing for his student and met with the student alone, in this meeting it was observed that in Marwan's last scchool he experienced exclusionary treatments and was devlaued as he could not seem to mesh into the school community through their standards (experiencing oppression) (pg.57)
-Rhonda was met with afterwards and introduced to Joe's background as well as asked to be inclusive of all students as well as do what is expected of us as teachers/educators, provide educational opportunities to members of the community in general, not specifically to one kind of student. (pg.57)
-The rap sessions that Joe hosted with his students were opportunities to attended to minoritized students, not the general masses; students responded well to it and Joe provided them with advice. (pg.58)
-The rap session being an excellent example of welcoming local-based epistemologies into the school community led to Joe revisiting the policies of the school when a student discussed with him the idea that when a student speaks loudly in class, they are sent to the principal's office, but some students speak like that at home. (pg. 60)
-Critical self reflection can only work if a) there is a direct observation of data spanning across gifted classes through to Special Education classes and b) staff (as well as leaders) take part in critical conversations that are professional but allow for metacognition of day to day interactions with various students or student groups throughout the day (pg.61)
Reflective Discussion Questions for Principals (pg.64)
1. In what ways do you instituionalize critical self-reflection in your school? How can you strengthen this institutionalization across the multiple types/spaces of critical self-reflection?
2. How do community epistemologies impact the policies in your school?
3. Site improvment-plan for critical self-reflection of the organization. Share your plan and critique it.
For the Teacher Leaders and Equity Leadershio Teams
1. What is a breif activity you can do during the meetings to give staff an opportunity for critical self-reflection?
2. The centering of student and community voice-and giving that voice equal weight in decision making and policy in a school-is something that makes many teachers feel uncomfortable. How would the equity team build both trust and allies with staff in your building?
3.
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