If you’re doing a video-centered lesson, watch the videos in advance in a quiet space where you have room to take them in, and reflect upon your own relationship to the subject matters the videos deal with.
Reflect on your own ‘positionality’ [hover to get definition: Positionality indicates how your identity (in terms of things like race, class, gender, sexuality, ability status, Nationality etc.) influences, and effects your understanding of and outlook on the world.]
Jot down some key aspects of your own identity and relationship to privilege:
Use some of what comes up in your brief self-intro to the class. For teachers who are already in relationship with their students, this will be an opportunity to build deeper bonds by revealing more of who you are to your students.
It might also be advisable to give members of marginalized groups (e.g., racialized participants, participants with disabilities, etc.) a heads up before you dive into these topics–to ensure that they have the time and space to emotionally prepare. This is especially important in school communities where there are very few racialized or marginalized students.
* these short vignettes from emerging youth facilitators were created by participants of an AMES program called “DisPLACEment”, which brought together migrant, refugee, and Indigenous youth to create videos and workshops that address issues of displacement, dispossession and discrimination facing those communities
Watching these videos might help get you into the zone to steward this critical work.
6 Ways to be an Antiracist Educator
Educator Dena Simmons on engaging in antiracist work in the classroom.
Building Critical Consciousness for Educational Equity
On a critical exploration of marginalization, Nicole leads us through what social change in schools would lead to in a truly equitable education system.