EduDesign: Centering Early Career Black, Indigenous and People of Color Educators

Overview

Teachers have a unique perspective about what they need to improve their practice. EduDesign is a learning community that supports teachers to engage in a collective process of inquiry and productive struggle. The fellowship is an extended experience that includes multiple convenings throughout the year. Each cohort provides space for fellows to build community, make sense of big ideas together, grow their justice work, and support one another as professionals. EduDesign is not your typical professional development. Instead, it is a collective approach to learning.

This cohort is specifically designed to build a community to support new Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color (BIPOC) teachers to navigate their roles in schools. We will affirm and celebrate the expertise, wisdom, and agency that teachers of Color hold and bring into the classroom. In addition to learning about tools to name and challenge systems of oppression that have historically affected our racialized communities, we will also focus on exploring the different ways we can thoughtfully and consistently co-create liberatory educational experiences with our BIPOC students. By centering ourselves and BIPOC students, our cultural knowledges, histories, communities, and families, we will think through asset-based pedagogies to affirm our presence in schools and strengthen our work towards educational justice. This cohort is organized and supported by a team of College of Education BIPOC staff and regional BIPOC educators who have been in the field for multiple years.

Course Objectives:

Our time together will be responsive to the interests and needs of the cohort and will include opportunities for community building and collective mentorship. Some of the questions we plan to explore together include: 

• How can we come together as a BIPOC teacher community for self care and collective care to sustain ourselves and our work?

• How can we support one another to identify and advance our justice goals? 

• How can we understand the impact of our intersectional identities in our justice work with the communities represented in our schools?

• How do we navigate between our personal commitments to racial justice and our professional commitments to schools that continue to perpetuate oppressive systems? 

• How can we reflect upon and celebrate our successes as early career BIPOC educators?

Responsibilities

Early Career EduDesign Learning Communities are extended experiences that will kick off with a 3-hour Saturday session in November. In addition, we will gather again in the school year for four 1.5-hour Tuesday workshops and close with a final Saturday hybrid session (with an option for an in-person additional celebration). Participants will be asked to attend all or nearly all of the sessions. The November session is an especially important session as it will lay the foundation for our community and our work together.

Fellows are committed to the following efforts:

• Come prepared and focused to engage in community and conversations for all sessions. (There will not be any pre-work required to attend.)

• Share what you know, what you’re learning, what you’re wondering, and what you are challenged by.

• Try out ideas with your students and colleagues.

Course Details

Fall Kick-Off: Saturday, Nov 4 (9:00 AM - 12:00 PM) ONLINE

Tuesday Sessions: Dec 12 | Jan 9 | Feb 13 | March 12 (4:30 - 6:00 PM) ONLINE

Final Saturday Session: May 4 (9:00 AM - 10:30 AM) HYBRID (+ OPTIONAL 10:30 - 12:00 IN-PERSON Celebration)

Clock Hours for full participation: 10.5