ERIC Number: ED616061
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 16
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Cultivating and Applying Race Equity Mindsets among K-12 Education Leaders: Key Questions for Reflection
Buckner, Laura
WestEd
Equity work can be deeply personal and may include unlearning and shifting individual biases, beliefs, and practices. This paper builds on the premise that ongoing self-reflection in equity work is critical, as failing to attend to this internal work may result in education leaders reinforcing the very systems they are seeking to disrupt. And yet, cultivating a personal race equity mindset is not enough to shift entrenched education systems. Leaders committed to equity must work in partnership to apply the same rigorous reflection to the systems in which they operate. The information and resources in this paper are for K-12 education leaders who are committed to advancing equity by developing their own race equity mindsets and reflecting on the systems in which they operate. It draws on key concepts presented through the Equity Accelerator project, which aims to support California's county offices of education in improving how their whole-child and whole-school efforts align and cohere with a vision of cultivating fundamental and sustainable change to achieve more equitable education systems. This document offers several sets of reflection questions and ideas to help individuals and groups examine their current systems and begin creating change from within by first identifying their own roles and levers of influence. The long-term goal is to address inequitable impacts -- brought about inequitable systems, policies, and practices -- on the students whom K-12 education systems serve. At the core of this document are five sets of key questions that equity leaders in local education agencies and county offices of education can use in group settings as they examine and seek to shift their education systems to be more equitable. The first two sets are for initial high-level examination of current conditions in an education system. The final three sets of questions focus on beginning to undo racial harm and creating opportunities to include more diverse perspectives in an education agency.
Descriptors: Racial Bias, Equal Education, Administrator Attitudes, Leadership, Elementary Secondary Education, Reflection, Racial Discrimination, Educational Change
WestEd. 730 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94107-1242. Tel: 877-493-7833; Tel: 415-565-3000; Fax: 415-565-3012; Web site: http://www.wested.org
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
Authoring Institution: WestEd
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A