Читать книгу Five Practices for Equity-Focused School Leadership - Sharon I. Radd - Страница 21

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Let's return to Ezra in Meadowbrook, who has been working hard to dig deeper and understand the systemic nature of inequity. He now wants to engage his staff in considering this broader lens and designing a more systemic approach. In a recent faculty meeting, Ezra led a data-focused exercise during which teachers examined student achievement, discipline, attendance, and participation data by race, first language, special education status, and free/reduced lunch status. These data revealed the same types of disparities that exist across the nation. Many teachers felt discouraged and defensive, given that the school had implemented several initiatives to "close the gap." As Ezra facilitated the conversation, he was disturbed by many of the responses he heard:

 "These kids don't want to learn."

 "Their parents don't care."

 "My colleagues aren't capable/cooperative/invested."

 "I don't need this. I 'get it' and I have the outcomes to prove it."

 "I don't need this. It isn't relevant to me."

 "But I have to raise test scores. That's what this is all about."

These are not the responses Ezra expected. He realized the staff had developed these narratives over time to comfort themselves in the face of stalled progress and continuing inequities. His challenge was to respond in a way that would re-engage his staff in thinking more systemically and critically.

As he sought to do so, he remembered that everyone develops and uses stories to explain the events and circumstances in their lives. We know that this is the way the human brain works: People use stories to make sense of what they see and experience. That said, the stories people tell are not the whole story. Instead, stories reflect a person's sense of what matters, what is relevant, what serves the purpose of the story, and what serves the purpose of the telling. For complex and complicated issues, people often tell simplistic stories that make them feel better about the reality of the difficulties they and others experience. As a result, even in their best efforts to be fully honest, the stories people tell involve omissions, inaccuracies, even exaggerations. Sometimes, stories truly misinform and misrepresent what's going on.

Stop and think about that for a minute!

Consider how stories come from within you, are all around you, and reveal a specific message rather than a complete picture or the whole truth.