Equity Professional Learning Pathways

We recognize that every person, school, and office in our organization has different needs when it comes to equity professional learning. We are all on different points on the road toward equity. As such, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has taken an approach that addresses both individual and collective learning.

Our team of Equity Training Specialists have developed a set of core pathways that address both the relational (mindset, beliefs, relationships, etc.) and technical (action oriented) aspects of equity work. These pathways offer a variety of learning opportunities and different points for engagement.

Vision

In order to cultivate prosperity and liberation for students and staff, starting with historically marginalized populations, by removing barriers, increasing access and inclusion, building trusting relationships, and creating a shared culture of social responsibility and commitment to organizational accountability, we need to:

  • Possess the knowledge that helps build our own awareness of the various facets of equity broadly and racial equity specifically,
  • Enhance the skills that support the application of this knowledge to our day to day practice and to our spheres of influence, and
  • Demonstrate the mindset that this vision for equity is a central force in our work as educators, staff, and administrators.

Guiding Principles

Recognizing Privilege

Gain resources and strategies to confront and acknowledge privilege and how this contributes to individual work and the larger system.

Racism is Systemic

Acknowledge that racism is systemic—woven throughout all of the structures of our nation.

Historical and Cultural Understanding

Engage with multiple historical frameworks and cultural perspectives in order to avoid falling victim to centering a single story in teaching and learning.

Reflection

Intentionally reflect on individual role in anti-racist work, the larger sytem affecting that work, and the current environment.

Courageous Conversations

Actively engage in cross-cultural dialogue, confronting issues, owning difficulty, and being vulnerable. Actively work to listen without bias or judgment.

Ownership

Understand the importance of individual role in anti-racist work. Gain strategies to support my role in implementing anti racist education.

Transformative Learning

Use primary sources, various types of media, and differentiate individualized learning to support and not hurt the narrative.

Trust

Engage in professional learning activities that will be designed to provide a brave space and build trust.

Introductory Series

In the Introductory Series, learners will understand key equity concepts and terms, begin having critical conversations about race and equity with a diverse set of peers, and engage in identity development and self-work in order to address inequities in their own lives.

Learning Opportunities Available:

  • Implicit Bias 101
  • Identity, Power, and Privilege 101
  • Microaggressions 101
  • History of Race and Racism 101
  • Racial Equity and the History of Philadelphia
  • Equity Talk: Intro to Core Equity Concepts 101
  • SDP Equity Framework: A Deeper Dive

Equity Professional Learning Series

The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is excited to offer another year of the Equity Professional Learning Series, an opportunity for SDP employees to enhance their personal and professional growth in areas of anti-racism and advancing equity. These sessions are designed to take a critical lens to the world in which we live and work in order to cultivate prosperity and liberation, starting with historically marginalized populations within the SDP community. This series is targeted to employees in 440 as a way to extend the learning opportunities that the Office of DEI offers to schools

Deep Dive Opportunities (in-person at 440)

  • Wednesday, Sept. 18th 10-11:30AM: Identity & Telling Our Stories
  • Wednesday, Sept. 25th 10-11:30AM: Inclusive Language Advances Equity
  • Tuesday, Oct. 1st 1-2:30PM: Engaging in Critical Conversations
  • Tuesday, Oct. 8th 10-11:30AM: Policy to Practice: SDP Equity-Centered Policies
  • Thursday, Oct. 24th 10-11:30AM: Adultification Bias of Black & Brown Children

Participants can register for one of the following virtual series to join a cohort of colleagues for collective learning.

Foundational Series

  • Uprooting White Supremacy Culture
  • Implicit Bias
  • Microaggressions

Intersectionality Series

  • Linguistic Racism
  • Intersection of Disability & Race
  • Supporting LGBTQ+ Students

Racial Identities Series

  • Indigenous Communities
  • Dismantling Latin American Stereotypes & Biases
  • Model Minority Myth/Perpetual Foreigner Myth

Register on PowerSchool

Foundational Equity Knowledge, Skills, and Mindsets

In this pathway, learners will be provided the opportunity to (re) learn the root causes of institutional dysfunctions that produce racial inequities, and develop skills to address them.

Learning Opportunities Available:

Module 1: Telling Our Stories & Identity

Module 2: Checking and Challenging Biases

Module 3: Shared Language – How Inclusive Language Advances Equity

Module 4: Equity Detours & Traps

Module 5: Power, Privilege & Internalized Oppression

Module 6: Racial Literacy & Anti-Racism

Module 7: Engaging in Conversations about Race

Module 8: Intersectionality and its Impact on Inequities/Oppression

Systems-Level Change and Leadership

In this pathway, learners will be provided a guide to implement and sustain change in their schools on the institutional level. They will shift their practices and beliefs to create culturally responsive learning environments for their students and staff. Additionally, they will integrate their vision for equity into the development and assessment of equitable policies, practices, procedures, and institutional culture.

Learning Opportunities Available:

  • Leading Courageous Conversations
  • Problems of Practice
  • Designing for Equity: Process as Product
  • Uprooting White Supremacy Culture
  • Equity Centered Leadership
  • Asset-Based Parent/Community Engagement
  • Resource Allocation & Hiring BIPOC Talent

Tune Up Tuesday

At Tune Up Tuesday, learners will gain an understanding of the foundational equity knowledge, skills, and mindsets and how they can apply those understandings to their own work/practice

Learning Opportunities Available:

  • Dismantling Latin American Stereotypes & Biases
  • Indigenous Communities in the US
  • How to Have Critical Conversations About Race
  • Developing Asset-Based Family & Community Relationships
  • Uprooting White Supremacy Culture
  • Myths of the Model Minority & Perpetual Foreigner

Register on PowerSchool