Hello everyone! If you have been paying attention to the news surrounding education at all, then you have probably heard people debate over terms like anti-racism, whiteness, decolonization, and white supremacy. As someone who is deeply invested in being better for my students, I feel like it’s my duty to understand these highly contentious debates, the terms used, and why certain parties feel the way they do.
In part 2 of my discussion with Felecia Rose Chavez about the Anti-Racist Writing Workshop, we dive into her personal experiences in the writing workshop, and open up the above terms in ways I believe truly help everyone involved learn why these terms are used, and what they actually mean in the context of our work in the classroom.
Felicia Rose Chavez is an award-winning educator with an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Iowa. She is author of The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom and co-editor of The BreakBeat Poets Volume 4: LatiNEXT with Willie Perdomo and Jose Olivarez. Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, she currently serves as the Creativity and Innovation Scholar-in-Residence at Colorado College.
You DO NOT want to miss this one. If you missed it last week, click here.
This episode is sponsored by Heinemann—the leading publisher of professional books and resources for educators—and their professional book, Start Here, Start Now: A Guide to Antibias and Antiracist Work in Your School Community by Liz Kleinrock.
Most of us want to help cultivate an antibias and antiracist classroom and school community, but we don’t know how or where
to start. This book helps us set ourselves up for success and prepare for the mistakes we’ll make along the way.
Start Here, Start Now addresses the challenges that educators committed to antibias and antiracism face every day. Liz provides concrete strategies to overcome some of the barriers that prevent us from engaging in this work and includes lessons and activities we can start using in our classrooms right away.
This book will help break habits that hold us back from this work, as well as build positive, sustainable teaching for the future.
Start Here, Start Now is available as a book, ebook, and audiobook. To learn more and download a sample, visit Heinemann.com.
