Using Protocols for Equity
SRI Affiliate Jeanie Philips wrote a new blog post for the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education about using SRI protocols for equity:
…Protocols, facilitated well, provide structure to do this crucial work. They are workhorses that help schools identify their shortcomings in creating structures that produce “high outcomes for all” students. A well thought out protocol session makes space for unearthing assumptions, uncovering biases, and exposing inequitable practices and policies. And protocols can help us fine-tune our work so that we are increasingly able to help every learner reach their full potential.
Let’s begin to explore some of the ways we can use protocols to create more equitable schools for all Vermont students. We’ll start by using structures to examine texts about equity….
2019 Fall Meeting – Call for Reflective Learning Group Facilitators
SRI Fall Meeting 2018 will convene in Boston, November 7-9. At the center of our annual conference are reflective learning groups, the experience that sets SRI Fall Meeting apart from other educational conferences.
Reflective learning groups at Fall Meeting will provide opportunities for every learner to:
- engage in rich and meaningful conversations focused on equity, and specifically, racial equity;
- place themselves on their equity journey;
- articulate their identities, assumptions, and biases and how they can show up in teaching, learning, and facilitation;
- use SRI tools and practices to make their practice public and sustain challenging and complex learning.
Each reflective learning group is led by two co-facilitators. Facilitators create the conditions for authentic collaborative and reflective discourse to occur. At Fall Meeting we focus the work of the group through a lens of equity and hold space for conversations about racial identity. We plan and co-design agendas for our group, AND actively participate in the group’s learning. By reading verbal and nonverbal cues that might signify safety or danger, we manage potential anxiety and dissonance in ourselves and in our groups. Learning in these ways together demands that we facilitate for the success of the group without becoming the facilitator-as-expert. Less about us, more about others.
Please consider applying to co-facilitate a reflective learning group this year. And, if you know someone who would be a terrific Fall Meeting facilitator and you’d love to co-facilitate with them, please reach out and ask them to apply!
Read More and Apply to Facilitate
SRI Summer Learning Events
Leading SRI Reflective Learning Communities Institute – July 29-31 San Antonio
This three-day institute is designed for educators who are often called upon to facilitate meetings or deliver professional development and need support in designing, implementing and supporting adult learning. Using research-based tools and strategies, participants learn how to nurture ongoing conversations designed to improve teaching and learning. The Institute provides in-depth study of protocols; introduces adult learning theory; builds explicit connections between adult learning and student success; supports participants to ask for and receive feedback critical to their success; and enables participants to design action plans that facilitate the improvement of teaching and learning through the lens of educational equity and excellence.
Using Protocols in the Classroom – Creating a Reflective Learning Community for Students – August 15-18 Olympia
This two-day session is designed specifically for classroom teachers who are interested in utilizing SRI tools and practices to create a classroom reflective learning community. We will focus on how to create the conditions for community to flourish, while also utilizing and focusing on how to introduce and regularly use protocols to support holistic student learning. Please Join Kari Thierer August 15-16, 2019 in Olympia, WA. Each participant will receive a copy of the SRI Resource and Protocol Book, along with a copy of Protocols in the Classroom. Early-bird registration is $500 before June 30th, regular rate is $575.
Do you have news to share? Interesting things happening in your area? Please let us know so we can share with our community! Email Chris Jones, chris@schoolreforminitiative.org.
Thank you,
Deirdre Williams, Kari Thierer, and Chris Jones
On behalf of School Reform Initiative
