Friends. I am so delighted that, in such a short span between inspiration and fruition, that this bell hooks inspired workshop has come into existence. I am renewed in spirit, nerves still calming after such a wonderful workshop energy. Thank you to the 28 beautiful people who came out to be together, here. First, a huge swell of gratitude to Kathy at the Initiative for Minority Excellence (IME). A moment to really express my gratitude for her: when I came to UNC, I made an effort to go to the IME breakfast, for, after all, they had helped me get to UNC financially. Kathy was there, with her wonderful warm, unconditionally accepting presence. After that day, my showing-up was scarce (see: grad school) and yet, when I could make it, she had a big, genuine smile and hug for me. Never a passive word about my absence. It's this unconditional love that inspired me, moments after dreaming this kind of workshop could be a possibility, to dream of doing it with Kathy and IME. So Thank you, Kathy, for hosting this wonderful coming-together. <3 It is only with the help of Kathy and others like her that I am able to move forward with the social justice work that I do. IME set up our tables, provided lunch, make copies, and set up my A/V as well. Thankyouthankyou. A HUGE thank you, also, to my bestie-colleague Eileen, for coming early, making me coffee, and doing all of our transcription so that our work lives on. The workshop largely ran itself. I played the roll of welcomer, explainer, and timekeeper--ie facilitator. It ran neatly, keeping to the time schedule I set, just running over by a few minutes as we had so many cool ideas to share in the final circle. In brief summary, the workshop ran as follows. Please check out my facilitator notes if you want to see the details and even run one yourself! Phase 1: Thoughtful Reflection > group discussion around bell hooks quotes >reflective writing exercise >small group discussion around writing findings >Share values & challenges with large group Phase 2: Syllabus Reconstruction >Individual time to brainstorm >Small group discussion time to work on each person's ideas Closing: coming together to share "take-aways" A quick word on the closing. It was beautiful. One man, standing up to leave, asked if he could sing his, almost joking, but opened up with a beautiful rendition of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall, "We don't need no education / We don't need no thought control / No dark sarcasm in the classroom / Teachers leave them kids alone." Much joy erupted in laughter, and I asked everyone to follow his model and stand up to share. They took this to mean "everyone stand up now" (not my intention!) but it worked out so beautifully! Everyone stood up, and I invited them into a big circle. Our closing had everyone sharing, everyone seeing everyone, no longer divided by tables or chairs. It was beautiful--something I'm now going to repeat! Here's what our group came up with. We built these into our google doc during the workshop in real time, saved for everyone, shared here with you! Prompt: What do you value in critical pedagogy, especially in your classrooms? What concerns do you have about incorporating critical pedagogy?
(Prompt) In closing: Let’s each share 1 sentence about something that is resonating with us right now, something we want to share, something we’re taking away, or something we want to remember.
And we said:
To see what else we came up with, specifically around syllabus design, I invite you to check our living repository, here!
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AuthorWoman of color, surviving the academy, writing myself down Archives
March 2018
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