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1/ This is a crucial time for #OntEd ted: 3 school boards will be hiring Directors of Education - @PeelSchools @tdsb & @DurhamDSB. With any shift in power, opportunities exist for a rise in justice-oriented practices and/or a rise in corrupt, back-door deals.
2/ School boards need to hire anti-racist leaders, *especially* as Directors of Ed.
Trustees - what criteria are you giving to search firms to choose your next Director? Are hiring committees racially diverse including trustees with critical, anti-racist mindsets & experiences?
Trustees - what criteria are you giving to search firms to choose your next Director? Are hiring committees racially diverse including trustees with critical, anti-racist mindsets & experiences?
3/Leadership of school boards MUST BE INTENTIONALLY #AntiOppressive #AntiRacist. It is the only way to close gaps.
So, what might this look like?
Here are some suggestions based on the research and preliminary findings from our current study on anti-racist leadership.
So, what might this look like?
Here are some suggestions based on the research and preliminary findings from our current study on anti-racist leadership.
4/ Ways of Knowing
- Theoretical understanding of Critical Race Theory as it relates to leadership practice
- Critical self-awareness - how identities & positional power influence how they lead/learn
- From deficit to equity/asset lens in understanding/disrupting disparities
- Theoretical understanding of Critical Race Theory as it relates to leadership practice
- Critical self-awareness - how identities & positional power influence how they lead/learn
- From deficit to equity/asset lens in understanding/disrupting disparities
5/ Ways of Knowing
- Understanding the history of racial & other forms of oppression in schooling and how racism operates in systems/structures connected to schooling
- Accountability is to students, families, communities
- How whiteness operates to subvert anti-racist efforts
- Understanding the history of racial & other forms of oppression in schooling and how racism operates in systems/structures connected to schooling
- Accountability is to students, families, communities
- How whiteness operates to subvert anti-racist efforts
6/ Ways of Knowing
- Understanding the distinct nature of the #Decolonizing work required to support Truth & Reconciliation and meet the needs of Indigenous communities & students vis-a-vis necessary equity work
- Understanding the distinct nature of the #Decolonizing work required to support Truth & Reconciliation and meet the needs of Indigenous communities & students vis-a-vis necessary equity work
7/ Ways of Being
- Shift from the individual leader to the collective
- The ability to name, identify & disrupt structural inequities based on racism & other forms of oppression
- A track record of trusting and respectful relationships with historically oppressed communities
- Shift from the individual leader to the collective
- The ability to name, identify & disrupt structural inequities based on racism & other forms of oppression
- A track record of trusting and respectful relationships with historically oppressed communities
8/ Ways of Being
- Strong relationships with communities and ability to collaborate around transformative solutions for schools/districts
- Track record of being able to hold difficult conversations while prioritizing the needs of Indigenous, Black & racialized & marginalized Ss
- Strong relationships with communities and ability to collaborate around transformative solutions for schools/districts
- Track record of being able to hold difficult conversations while prioritizing the needs of Indigenous, Black & racialized & marginalized Ss
9/ Ways of Being:
- Ability to disrupt colonial and racist discourses, practices, policies and structures
- BOLD leadership that takes intentional risks to prioritize student well-being, student achievement and student engagement above personal gain
- Ability to disrupt colonial and racist discourses, practices, policies and structures
- BOLD leadership that takes intentional risks to prioritize student well-being, student achievement and student engagement above personal gain
10/ Trustees: What criteria are you using to determine the next Director of Education? Communities deserve leaders with the knowledge, skillset, capacities & track record of addressing #racism & #oppression in education- it is your job as elected officials to ensure this.
11/ To support this, your committees need to reflect a diversity of identities, perspectives (esp. critical, anti-racist perspectives) and representation by geographic location in the board AND your criteria must focus on closing gaps for #Indigenous #Black & #marginalized Ss
12/ No school board in ON (or anywhere) has been able to #closegaps yet & humanize ed for the most #underserved students. #Trustees in #OntEd: we cannot lose another generation to failed educational leadership that does not prioritize Black, Indigenous and racialized students.
