[GuidedPathways] "Let this Be the Beginning of Progress" | Register for the Constellations Workshops
Jennifer Whetham
jwhetham at sbctc.edu
Wed Apr 21 10:09:52 PDT 2021
My dear friends and colleagues:
The Constellations Workshops<http://bit.ly/3a6MHcc> are beginning this week!
Yesterday, ex-officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of all three charges in the killing of Mr. George Floyd. As our Governor Jay Inslee wrote yesterday: "Let this be the beginning of progress rather than the end of one trial." And as our executive director Jan Yoshiwara wrote this morning to our agency staff:
I very much appreciate the statements of Governor Inslee, our college and university presidents, and countless others that have been emerging this afternoon and evening. I am proud to be working in a college system where half the students are students of color, ten of our colleges are majority students of color, and 18 out of 38 college presidents, chancellors and CEOs are leaders of color. I continue to be encouraged by the State Board’s bold vision statement, and that the college system is facing the difficult, essential work of advancing racial equity for our students, faculty, staff, and communities.
As educators, we have a critical role in eliminating systemic racism and closing racial equity gaps in our society. The majority of our students would not be in college if we were not available to serve them. This is especially true for students of color. This is why I work in the community and technical college system, the difference we make for tens of thousands of students and their families every day and the promise of making a bigger difference for tens of thousands more. We have a lot of work to do to achieve a just society for all.
I hear Jan's call to action loud and clear, and I hope you do too. If you are feeling ready for next steps in your journey as an antiracist educator, the Constellations workshops will invigorate you and show you clear next steps.
Please see below to read a beautiful and inspiring message composed by my colleague Ambar Martinez, equity consultant to SBCTC, with more information.
Contact me with your questions.
Peace,
Jen
[Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges compass]Jennifer Whetham (pronouns: she/her/hers)
Student Success Center & Strategic Initiatives | Policy Associate
Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC)
jwhetham at sbctc.edu<mailto:jwhetham at sbctc.edu> • o: 360-704-4354 • c: 206-310-1291
Join a STEM Community of Practice<https://bit.ly/2PHRW7z>
Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecology Grant: Read More<https://bit.ly/2CcZoo0>
SBCTC Vision: “Leading with racial equity, our colleges maximize student potential and transform lives within a culture of belonging that advances racial, social, and economic justice in service to our diverse communities.”
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: ambar martinez <ambar.mtz.e at gmail.com<mailto:ambar.mtz.e at gmail.com>>
Date: Wed, Apr 21, 2021 at 8:21 AM
Subject: [DEHPD] Register now | The Constellations Workshops are Beginning this week
To: <dehpd-wactc at googlegroups.com<mailto:dehpd-wactc at googlegroups.com>>
Good morning Familia & Amigos,
I hope this message finds you well in the context of this significant moment of justice for Black Lives. We are acknowledging that this is not the end or enough, but it can be new fuel in the journey, a reminder of our power to practice together freedom and bring that liberated future into this present.
May our heart and whole being continue to chant that BLACK LIVES MATTER!
The Constellations Workshops are beginning this week. Thank you all soo much for your love and support. We are soo excited to connect with you this Thursday at our Opening Workshop|Grounding Ourselves in the Constellations: New Roots. It will be a full house and an afternoon of collective learning and co-creating to transform our educational system in service of social justice.
As a reminder: The deadline for Workshop#1 in this series is coming up. Register now <http://bit.ly/3reqcYu> for this amazing session.
Workshop #1: Decolonizing Pedagogy
* Time & Date: Thursday April 29th, 2021, 2pm to 5pm
* Register by April 28th, 2021 before 5pm: http://bit.ly/3reqcYu
* Cost: $200 for full-time faculty, $150 for part-time faculty
Also, the title of Workshop #2 has changed, and it will be powerful. See below.
Sincerely,
Ámbar Edith Martínez Escobedo,
she, her, hers
ambar.mtz.e at gmail.com<mailto:ambar.mtz.e at gmail.com>
Constellations Workshops for Collective Wisdom, Justice and Love
Short URL to this Document: http://bit.ly/3a6MHcc
Are you an educator who
* Experiences perpetual exhaustion when subjected to superficial, “Check-the-Box,” corporate approaches to equity?
* Hears the call to develop strategies and tools that challenge notions of “achievement gaps” and assimilationist models of education?
* Feels compelled to create a positive impact within the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) and the 34 colleges that make up the Washington State Community and Technical (CTC) System?
* Yearns to truly center Black and Indigenous students and the diverse communities we serve?
If so … the Constellations & Instruction Core Team,<http://bit.ly/36Ye4Dk> as part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in WA CTCs autonomous initiative(DEI in WA CTCs<https://bit.ly/3hXYdbZ>), invites you to join with us and like-minded colleagues!
Through feedback collected through the 2020-2021 DEI Faculty Needs Survey<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfc8pqvaqFQy5cTxrxLhhrB0LhJ4hNlPbzyQp2s8cP-V8IEvg/viewform?usp=sf_link>, we heard your voices: we are answering the call for more opportunities to learn about antiracist practices, pedagogies, and theories.
This workshop series will provide you with opportunities to
* Immerse yourself into a holistic approach to antiracism grounded in the Constellations Framework<https://bit.ly/2QDUFTf>;
* Discover tangible liberatory practices in instruction: assessment, teaching, and learning;
* Re-imagine our educational system with justice at the center and you as a powerful contributor.
These are professional learning experiences that will engage not just your mind, but your heart, your body, and your spirit. Each workshop is an invitation to inspire change. Designed to be interactive and intimate, the structures and spaces of this workshop series will encourage and support you to reflect and be curious-- while challenging you to greater vulnerability, humility, and commitment to dismantling systemic racism and white supremacy. Together, we will explore practices, attitudes, beliefs, and/or policies in personal, professional, and systemic spaces.
While each 3-hour workshop is a stand-alone experience, all seven are connected through the Constellations Framework<https://docs.google.com/document/d/10rhqv7ewhT8QTzJYDRgAShjb5lbICnSVwiqcLEfXvpE/edit?usp=sharing>, which was developed over the last year in response to the two pandemics: Systemic AntiBlackness and COVID-19.
What is the Constellations Framework?
The work of being anti-racist is non-negotiable and a moral responsibility. The Constellations Framework<https://docs.google.com/document/d/10rhqv7ewhT8QTzJYDRgAShjb5lbICnSVwiqcLEfXvpE/edit?usp=sharing> invites us to learn, together, how to build new antiracist and liberatory ways of being, learning, doing and loving … all the while acknowledging that we work and teach within racist systems.
Built collaboratively, the Constellations Framework
* Offers an opportunity to co-create a shared understanding of what we mean when we create visions that use phrases such as “lead with racial equity” and “create a culture of belonging.”
* Provides a way that is descriptive (not prescriptive!) to reframe and build power, learn how to center Blackness and Indigeneity, and partner with our BIPOC students and the communities we serve.
* Fosters a deep and profound understanding of a simple truth: in learning to be anti racist, we stand on the shoulders of greatness. We will win.
Sign Up for the Workshops
Opening Workshop: Grounding Ourselves in the Constellations: New Roots
* Time & Date: Thursday April 22nd, 2021, from 1pm to 4 pm
* Cost: No Cost
* Registration Closed: Workshop Full
* Presenters: Migetu Tuncap & Ambar Martinez
* Constellations Collaborators: Amanda Chin (Green River College), Carolina Forero (Seattle Central College), Claudine Richardson(Community Colleges of Spokane), Maribel Jimenez (Yakima College), Vicki Howell-Williams(Pierce College), Xyan Neider (Whatcom College), Yesenia Rodriguez (Yakima College), Jennifer Whetham (State Board Community and Technical Colleges), and Marc Barrington (Green River College).
* Who Should Attend?
* This workshop is for those invested in transforming their personal, professional, organizational and systemic practices in order to build relationships that uphold and create liberatory antiracist ecosystems in service of a just society.
* What is the Focus of the Workshop?
* We seek to honor the historical and present Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) struggles that lead to the system to create vision and missions aspiring to “Lead with Racial Equity… to advance racial, economic, and social justice.” We will share the Constellations Framework, in which we collectively explicate what these visions look like in action to us. Building on the work of this and past generation of antiracist BIPOC within and outside the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, we have created an aspirational, iterative, multidimensional, liberatory framework that seeks to contribute to healing, reunifying, body, mind and spirit, to one another, and the land.
* Why Should You Attend?
* Leading with race requires us to target the root causes of racism in order to seek transformative justice. We will offer an opportunity for people to reflect and practice applying the constellations’ values to their work. We will practice using a common language that can connect antiracist efforts across the 34 colleges that make up the Washington State Community and Technical College System.
* How will the workshop be facilitated for your learning and action?
* We will embody and enact personal reflection, individually and collectively. We will take time to identify our personal constellations, the moments and experiences that have shaped who we are and how we interact with liberatory work. We will pair, share and in small groups engage in meaningful discussion examining the five chants. Each chant and rezo is our way to remember the constellation and identify ways in which we can actualize them in our daily actions. Lastly, we will enjoy a gallery of collective strategies and opportunities for attendees to take with them to implement in their current roles.
Workshop #1: Decolonizing Pedagogy
* Time & Date: Thursday April 29th, 2021, 2pm to 5pm
* Register by April 28th, 2021 before 5pm: http://bit.ly/3reqcYu
* Cost: $200 for full-time faculty, $150 for part-time faculty
* Presenters: Carolina Forero (Seattle Central College) & Zahra Alavi (South Seattle College)ollege)
* Description
* Constellations Collaborator: Yesenia Rodriguez (Yakima C
* This workshop addresses colonization, culturally responsive teaching, and dismantling barriers for BIPOC students. This session will benefit any institutional agent (faculty and staff) who is interested in engaging in an in-depth reflection exercise to transform their instructional practices and spaces so students can find a place of belonging by creating agency and community beyond the classroom. Using the critical action research framework presenters will connect the Constellations chants and rezos to decolonizing practices in the classroom. Participants will reflect on and analyze their instructional and departmental practices in order to develop a set of guiding actions to continue their decolonizing journey.
* Who Should Attend?
* This workshop is for faculty interested in engaging in deep self-reflection about the impact of their classroom practices on Black, Indigenous and students of color.
* What is the Focus of the Workshop?
* The focus of the workshop is to
* Reflect on questions that address our own classroom practices from within the constellations framework as a foundation.
* Collectively develop awareness, skills, and attitudes to decolonize our teaching practice.
* Why Should You Attend?
* Decolonizing your pedagogy is an important step towards dismantling an education system that was not built for BIPOC students.
* How will the workshop be facilitated for your learning and action?
* We will use the constellations framework as a foundation. The reflection questions will address each of the constellations/chants.
* We use the critical action research framework to investigate decolonization in our teaching/learning.
* We recommend that participants bring their syllabi and other class materials to put these frameworks into practice.
Workshop #2: I Joined the Book Club, I Read the Books … Now What Do I Do?
* Time & Date: Friday May 14th, 2021, from 10 am to 1 pm
* Register by May 7th before 5pm: https://bit.ly/2PoYuea
* Cost: $200 for full-time faculty, $150 for part-time faculty
* Presenters: Vicente Lopez (Yakima College) & Elizabeth De Villeneuve (Yakima College)
* Constellations Collaborator: Maribel Jimenez (Yakima College)
* Description
* Are you a faculty member who wants to create a learning environment where Students of Color can bring their holistic selves to class? The first step to creating a culture of belonging in your classroom is to reflect on your own culture and how you show up. Participants will examine identity and cultural frameworks privileged by higher education, understand how white supremacy culture shows up in daily practice, and practice strategies that disrupt oppressive systems.
* Who Should Attend this Workshop?
* Middle/Intermediate Level: We invite white faculty who are starting to see the service gaps and the problems caused by white supremacy. If you’ve read some books, had some difficult conversations, are at the beginning of your antiracist work, and are not sure of next steps...then this workshop is for you.
* What is the focus of the workshop?
* Historically, higher education systems and structures operate under a low-context cultural framework while most Black, Indigenous, and Students of Color have lived experiences from high-context cultural frameworks. This gap between cultural frameworks creates a disconnect between Students of Color, the institution, and faculty. The workshop will focus on understanding the difference between cultural frameworks at play and how faculty maintain privileged identities and cultural frameworks if unexamined. The workshop will focus on how white supremacy culture permeates our classrooms and on ways of disrupting the unintentional reinforcement of oppressive systems.
* Why should the participants attend this workshop?
* This workshop will provide practical strategies to disrupt white supremacy culture in the classroom.
* How will the workshop be facilitated for the participants' learning and action?
* This workshop will utilize equitable protocols to lead participants in structured activities and discussion through individual reflection and large and small break out groups.
Workshop #3: Confronting and Addressing Anti-Black Racism: From Classroom to Community Contexts
* Time & Date: Friday May 21st, 2021, from 12pm to 3pm
* Register by Friday May 7th, 2021 before 5pm: http://bit.ly/3cgGhIW
* Cost: $200 for full-time faculty, $150 for part-time faculty
* Presenters: Vickie Howell-Williams (Pierce College) and Xyan Neider (Whatcom College)
* Constellations Collaborator: Marc Barrington (Green River College)
* Description
* Prismatically utilizing the Constellations framework to illuminate anti-Black racism in order to see the historical rootedness as the thread that is interwoven through current policies, practices, and pedagogies, this session will draw back the veil of white supremacy so that we can identify and address anti-Black racism. Once our vision is cleared and we can identify anti-Black racism, we can take action to address and thereby, interrupt and eradicate anti-Black racism in our spheres of influence. We will be sharing strategies and approaches for disrupting anti-Black racism utilizing the Constellations model in order to move toward racial healing and reconciliation.
* Who should attend this workshop?
* This workshop is for faculty, staff, and administrators who wish to have a deeper understanding of how anti-Black racism impacts campus environments and student access and success.
* What is the focus of the workshop?
* This workshop will focus on being able to identify and interrupt anti-Black racism.
* Why should you attend this workshop?
* Participants should attend this workshop to gain a deeper understanding of what anti-Black racism is, how it shows up, and how to interrupt it when it rears its ugly head.
* How will the workshop be facilitated for your learning and action?
* We will give a presentation, utilize breakout rooms for smaller group discussion/reflection/and processing – while being mindful of racialized identities (so groups will be broken up by white identified, Black, and other POC). We will also share resources for continued learning.
Workshop #4: Trauma-Informed Pedagogy
* Time & Date: May 25th, 2021 from 12:00pm to 3:00pm
* Register by Monday, May 10th, 2021: http://bit.ly/3cYC4bL
* Cost: $200 for full-time faculty, $150 for part-time faculty
* Presenter: April Stapp (Pierce College)
* Constellations Collaborator: Vickie Howell-Williams (Pierce College)
* Description
* This workshop parallels the Constellations framework to highlight the importance of trauma-informed and culturally responsive practice in the academy. Participants will walk away from the workshop with the skills to, broadly speaking, understand what trauma is and how it affects socio-emotional regulation from a neuroscience perspective. Most importantly, presenters will add to this understanding and focus on how in particular, there are social, cultural and structural complexities of trauma, often forgotten, from Adverse Childhood (or community) Experiences, to racial and historical trauma. We will also express how the academy perpetuates these very forms of trauma, leading to the realities of attrition, equity gaps and dreams deferred for many marginalized student populations. To move towards racial healing and reconciliation, understanding trauma and how it impacts marginalized students in particular, this workshop will provide participants multiple opportunities to recognize what racial trauma looks coupled with opportunities to work towards developing concrete skills to incorporate trauma-informed and culturally responsive practices in various social settings across the academy.
* Who Should Attend?
* This workshop is for faculty, staff, and administrators who want to incorporate trauma-informed and culturally responsive practices in their everyday work.
* What is the Focus of the Workshop?
* To identify the mental, emotional and spiritual impacts of racial and historical trauma and how to concretely incorporate tools into their work to attend to and address trauma and racism in their work.
* Why Should You Attend?
* Participants should attend this workshop to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of trauma, broadly speaking, and racial and historical trauma on marginalized communities. The workshop will allow participants the opportunity to develop concrete ways to address trauma in their work.
* How will the workshop be facilitated for your learning and action?
* The workshop will include a presentation including the lived stories/histories from both participants as a reflection upon their work with marginalized students from various backgrounds (Black and Indigenous), and will utilize breakout rooms for group discussion/reflection/processing information and collectively brainstorming solutions.
Workshop #5: Abolitionist Classroom Assessment: Promoting Academic Honesty
* Time & Date: June 4th 2021, from 12 to 3 pm
* Register by Friday, May 14th, 2021: http://bit.ly/3lJPpst
* Cost: $200 for full-time faculty, $150 for part-time faculty
* Presenter: Xyan Neider (Whatcom College)
* Constellations Collaborator: Migetu Tuncap
* Description
* This workshop will explore ways to create assignments that promote academic integrity. We will explore creative ways to construct high-fidelity assignments, creating assignments that are meaningful to students, and ways to minimize time evaluating these assignments.
* Who Should Attend?
* This workshop is for faculty who wish to dig deeper with their classroom assessments and to do so in creative ways to amplify academic integrity while minimizing time spent evaluating student work.
* What is the Focus of the Workshop?
* This workshop will focus on classroom assessments – formative as and summative.
* Why Should You Attend?
* Participants should plan to attend this workshop if they are wondering how antiracism and assessment connect, what they can do to up their antiracism game in the classroom, and how to minimize academic integrity issues.
* How will the workshop be facilitated for your learning and action?
* This workshop will begin with a presentation, with plenty of time for question/answer and discussion. We will utilize smaller breakout groups to brainstorm and strategize assessment strategies with an interdisciplinary group (so bring something – an artifact or an idea to work with). The facilitator will also share resources for continued learning.
Workshop #6: Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy
* Time & Date: June 17, 2021, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm
* Register by Friday, May 28th, 2021: http://bit.ly/3rhcJit
* Cost: $200 for full-time faculty, $150 for part-time faculty
* Presenter: Guava Jordan (Whatcom College) & Todd Waters (Whatcom College)
* Constellations Collaborator: Amanda Chin (Green River College)
* Who Should Attend?
* This workshop is for both white educators and educators of color who operate in white institutions/classrooms who are looking for opportunities to center racial justice in their online pedagogy.
* What is the Focus of the Workshop?
* The goal of this workshop is to learn about, discuss, and implement culturally responsive and equity-focused teaching practices in your course design.
* Why Should You Attend?
* The Whatcom Community College course design chart emphasizes practical components of course design, research-based teaching and learning practices, and student-centered methods, placing student experiences at the forefront of their online learning experience. The chart is divided into three core levels, surviving, striving, and thriving, which includes all instructors, regardless of where we are in our journeys.
* How will the workshop be facilitated for your learning and action?
* Using the chart, participants will work to edit, alter, change, and refine their courses, creating more inclusive, intuitive, and equitable classes for our students.
Frequently Asked Questions
* Question: I am not teaching faculty, but I’d really like to attend. May I still register?
* Answer: Yes. Anyone interested in the topics and areas of focus may register. However, these workshops are designed to have a focus on instruction, with specific emphasis on assessment, teaching, and learning.
* Question: Will these sessions be recorded?
* Answer: To foster safe/brave spaces for both facilitators and participants, these sessions will not be recorded. Materials such as slide decks and handouts will be shared with participants.
* Question: What is your cancellation/refund policy?
* Answer: We will accept cancellations and offer refunds up to 30 days before the date of the workshop. After that we will not issue refunds if you have to cancel as we cannot ensure we can fill your space.
* Question: The workshop(s) I want to attend is/are already full! Is there a waitlist?
* Answer: We will run a waitlist for each workshop. SBCTC staff will contact people on the waitlist with updates.
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