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Anti-Racism:

Having Difficult Conversations

City College of San Francisco

Annual ESL Colloquium, Grateful Ed

August 11th, 2020

Neela Chatterjee, Kate Frei, & Chriss Yanuaria

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Outline

Defining Anti Racism
Conflict
Resources & Strategies

The Art & Science

of

Difficult Conversations

Presentation Outline

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Defining Anti-Racism

3 Definitions

Racism
Not Racist
Anti-Racist

The problem of “Neutrality”

KQED: Anti Racism- What it means & How to be anti-racist

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Why Are We Here?

Key Take-Aways

Internal awareness and reflection on having difficult conversations.

External and classroom strategies to deal with difficult conversations.

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Internal Awareness & Reflection

CONFLICT

Discomfort … … … Comfort

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Negative connotations of conflict
Constructive conflict

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Building a Foundation

Pre-Emptive Conflict Work

Classroom values
Syllabus / First-day Handout
Rules of conduct
Modeling inclusive behavior & actions
ESL lesson content, images

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Understanding Conflict

Defining Conflict

Disagreement between two people who perceive that they have incompatible goals.

Types of Conflict

1. Pseudo conflict

2. Fact conflict

3. Value conflict

4. Policy conflict

5. Ego conflict

6. Meta conflict

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Dealing with Classroom Conflict

The B.A.S.I.C.s

Build Self-awareness Of Your Emotional or Rational Response
Apply Strategies Defer or Dialogue
Identify the Type of Conflict

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Uncomfortable

Conversations:

Break Out Room Discussion

Discuss with your group

(10 min)

Situation
Reaction Vs Response
Outcome
Reflection: Positives / Changes

Share briefly with the larger group.

Neela- Explain, Chriss Manage group feedback, Neela Follow Up PUT this slide in chat so they can copy then paste / have it in breakout rooms!

Strategies for difficult conversations

Provide framework for discussion- ex: defining biased language
Elicit examples from audience
Break up into groups for discussion
Regroup into larger review discussion

Review class management strategies (notes / Qs from kf-1- In what ways has race come up in your classroom? Describe the situation(s). <Should we give an example or two to kick it off?> 2- How did you react / respond? And how did Ss respond? 3- Did you feel it was successful / constructive? Compare notes with peers. Have they had similar experiences? How did they handle it? Share ideas and strategies. What might you do differently next time? / 3-4 people in breakout rooms)

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Types of Conflict

1. Pseudo-conflict - light teasing, taunting, and mocking behavior.

2. Fact conflict - dispute over the truth or accuracy of a piece of information.

3. Value - disagreements about deep-seated moral beliefs.

4. Policy conflict - disagreement over a plan or course of action.

5. Ego conflict - disagreement insisting on being the “winner” of the argument.

6. Meta conflict - disagreements about the process of communication itself during an argument.

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Strategies for

Difficult Conversations

Part I

Inspired by Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University.

Difficult Conversations Vs

Harmful Moments

Dialogue Vs Defer

Dialogue

Stop & Reflect
Opening Up Dialogue
Acknowledge
Build Interdependence

Defer

Resources
Intentional Follow Up

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Strategies for

Difficult Conversations

Part II

Community of Practice

Share
Get Perspective
Evaluate
Resources

Mentality: This is a marathon, not a sprint

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Productive

Difficult Conversations

Measuring Efficacy

Qualitative Vs Quantitative

Changing mindsets
Building empathy
Creating opportunities to reflect and grow

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Putting it

Into Practice

A Sample Lesson

Participate as a student
Watch 1st half of video
Describe what is happening
Watch 2nd half of video
Share your reaction
Ask “Why”

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epuTZigxUY8

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Wh- Questions

-Nouns

-Emotions

-Visual Clues to Predict Meaning

L 1-2

- Ask & Answer Wh Questions

-Write sentences from Screenshots

Simple Past

-Chronological Events

-Main Ideas & Key Details

L 3-4

-Put statements in chronological order

-Group sentences into main ideas Vs Details

Modals

-Main Ideas & Key Details

-Fact Vs Opinion

L 5-6

-Rewrite the story in groups

-Label statements as Fact Vs Opinion

Conditionals

-Fact Vs Opinion

-Clarification Str.

-Implicit Vs Explicit Information

L 7-8

-Label Statements…

-Model Socratic Method for Clarification

-Persuasive/Research Paragraph

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Resources

& Next Steps

Let’s Keep Learning

Defining Anti Racism
Conflict
Resources & Strategies

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Where to Start?

Ask:

-Who isn’t represented in current content?

-Whose perspective is missing from this narrative?

- What norm is invisible to me?

Identifying Bias

in Everyday Content

Kate- (structural racism, unspoken whiteness of everything, omission of everything else) Retrain ourselves to notice this and bring Ss attention to it, too. And to change that. There are SO MANY little ways. Ex: Marriage unit- Neela’s idea of this short video about interracial marriage. When talking about stereotypes. Americans?, People from your home country? African Americans? Angi’s idea about diving deeper into a unit about jobs. Who tends to have certain types of jobs in the U.S.? Why?

You might live in a diverse urban area, but until you start seeing the people who are different from you, it will be hard to recognize the norms in your life. If you have a child who is disabled, you will always be asking yourself, “Will it be accessible for my child?” Similarly, we should be asking ourselves, “Will this be accessible/equitable/welcoming/supportive for my black friends, neighbors and colleagues?”

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Holidays,

Current Events

& Media Literacy

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The Possibilities

are Endless

-art

-music

-literature

-guest speakers

Lay the FOUNDATION. Classroom rules and acceptable behavior. ONE WAY. Also, Lay the FOUNDATION to talk about race. Bring it in. Name it. Make connections to it. Every time it comes up, the conversation gets easier. There is background knowledge, context, raised awareness. (Practice! Try again, fail again, fail better) What are some other ways you can envision talking about race in the classroom. Art? (murals from Oakland) Music? Literature (The 57 bus, local story, covers race and gender identity, guest speakers, such as Tarik Farrar, CCSF AFAM chair & history professor (retired), Dr. Patricia Nunley, current CCSF prof in Child Development, recently quoted in the New York Times: Patricia Nunley, Ed.D., a professor for early childhood development at the City College of San Francisco, urges parents to move with caution here. “Language is directly tied to culture.” she said. “Parents must group language in with other concepts of learning to properly utilize it. Children have to find the appreciation of culture before truly appreciating another language.”

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“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

We are in this together.

Anti-Racism:

Having Difficult Conversations

Neela Chatterjee, Kate Frei, & Chriss Yanuaria