Are WE ready for the 21st century? Diversity Training for staff and students

By:  Sheri Crandall

A year ago, Linn-Mar’s HS Teacher Leadership took over the job of designing the High School Professional Development days.  We have worked together as a team to organize and plan these five days each school year.  In addition to focusing on our PLC work, we also wanted to work on diversity.  As our student population at Linn-Mar becomes more and more diverse, it poses the question of are we ready?  What are we doing at LMHS that is right and where could we be doing more to make our curriculum, teaching strategies and activities more diverse?  Joe Nietert, associate principal of LMHS, had this same question.  He and I worked together to get Diversity Speaker Dr. Eddie Moore to come work with us at Linn-Mar.

When I first contacted Dr. Moore, he was very willing to work with our staff, but indicated to me that he would love to also work with our student body.  Joe and I worked together to set up a second day with Dr. Moore that would be for student assemblies. 

Dr. Moore spoke to our HS staff, both classified and certified, during our professional development day on Monday Jan. 18^th, ironically enough, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day.  

He presented us with the workshop entitled: Diversity, Privilege and Multicultural Education: Are Teachers Ready?   

This interactive, informational, challenging and energetic session examined and explored issues of diversity, privilege, oppression and leadership across America. Dr. Moore led our teachers on a journey to learn how to take action against hatred, bigotry, privilege and oppression and have honest conversations about diversity so they do not perpetuate white privilege, racism and white supremacy in our classrooms.

Teachers at many levels encounter texts and conversations--both in and out of the classroom--that contain bias, both hidden and explicit, and they are often at a loss as to how to prepare students (and themselves) to interact sensitively and effectively. 

How do we spot it?  How do we stop it? He stated that we need more leaders for social justice and equity across America and asked us if we felt we had the skills and ability to lead?

On Tuesday January 19^th, Dr. Moore worked with our students.  The student assemblies were entitled: America Is Changing: Are You Ready? 

The freshman attended an assembly first block, the sophomores during second block and our juniors and seniors attended during fourth block.  During lunch Dr. Moore worked with a select group of students on diversity. 

This session challenged students to examine their own biases, behaviors and belief systems. Additionally, they learned how to take action against hatred, bigotry, privilege and oppression. Again, Dr. Moore stated that we need more student-leaders advocating for peace, equity and justice in the world (Iowa).  He questioned students as to whether they believed they had the skills, ability and courage to lead.

 I asked Dr. Moore what he was hoping to bring to Linn-Mar and he said the following:

     “What I wanted to bring to the Linn Mar community was really three things.  One, I wanted to challenge the students to think about the changing diversity across America and to understand how it will challenge, impact and provide opportunities for everyone. Two, Additionally, I wanted to provide students with some suggestions on how to be more culturally competent, confident and courageous in the 21st century. I wanted them to consider being Advocates for Peace, Equity and Justice. Three, I wanted to help the students understand the concepts of power and privilege, because if they are going to be effective and culturally competent leaders of the 21^st Century, it is essential they understand issues of diversity power, privilege and leadership comprehensively. Lastly, I wanted to accomplish all of this in an open and trusting environment where the students felt they could ask me courageous questions and receive honest answers.”

I also asked him how he felt about our time together.  Dr. Moore said the following:  

     “My time at Linn-Mar was spent in honest and engaging conversation with bright, inquisitive students who are concerned about their future and the future of America. I believe the best testament to how well the sessions went was the number of questions asked, and how every session ran out of time because of students wanting to hear Moore! The kinds of issues student questions covered included police and racial profiling, future of diversity, [derogatory vocabulary], being an ally, my personal inspiration to do this work, and how to talk to family members about these difficult issues.  I left feeling informed and challenged.  I definitely challenged the students, wanted to leave them with some good information, but most importantly some tangible and achievable action goals for them to work on.”

We asked some of our student council members how they felt about their time with Dr. Moore.    They were asked 3 questions:

1.   What did you learn/What stuck with you?   (Some responses were)

•  One thing I heard Dr. Moore say was that the people you hang out with begin to shape you.  (you are who you hang out with.)  He also said that there are many different ways to do the same thing. 

• Dr. Moore’s presentation really made me realize how racism is/does affect many people.  It’s not a thought I usually have but the way he explained how who you are and who you hang out with affects how you deal with racism, really made me think about how big of an impact racism has on society.  Not only does it affect one’s present self, but their future.  The decision they make because of how they were taught by the people around them could really change a lot of factors in their life.  I learned that racism is still affecting many people today and it amazes me how it is still happening. 

• I enjoyed Dr.  Moore’s presentation very much.  He was a great interactive speaker. He made his speech interesting and worthwhile.  I learned a lot of diversity.  It’s not just limited to race.  There are so many stereotypes out there that I didn’t realize I was thinking of.  I should be open to loving everybody.  Just because someone has a race, religion etc. background that isn’t my own doesn’t mean I should hate/dislike them. His story about his life really makes me think and makes me want to try and include and treat everybody more fairly. 

• His quote “You can’t just be a good person anymore, you need to make an effort to block prejudice.”

• This was one of the most phenomenal speeches I’ve ever had the opportunity to hear.  It was necessary, and I feel like everyone got at least something out of it.  I’ve always been a very open person, so it was awesome to hear someone speak my thoughts in words with such elegance.  His past fascinated me and I think his success story will stick with me.

     2. What are some ideas you can take away that you could apply to either student council, a sports team, another club or your own life? (Some responses were)

•      To be positive and shut down wrongful doings or actions towards other people.
•      Don’t hang around trash and you won’t be trash. 
•      Listen to your friends or supporters and be supporter to someone who’s struggling.

      3. Please share any comments or feelings you had about attending the presentation. (Some responses were)

•       I never really understood how important it is to associate with different groups of people, until Dr. Moore explained how diversity will affect our lives through college and work.  I hope that our generation becomes even more accepting towards every diversity as we grow up and I’m glad that we had this opportunity to hear Dr. Moore’s experiences and advice that will hopefully help all students at Linn-Mar become accepting to all people.

•       I am still left wondering how to go about being diverse – he said you have to do more than be nice – what else should you do? 

We know that making changes toward becoming more diverse is not a one or two day journey, but rather a lifetime journey.  We wanted to at least make progress on our journey.  Dr. Moore got us talking, thinking and asking ourselves – what next? I think the majority of our staff would agree with the student above – what are our next steps and how do we go about it? What else should we/could we be doing?

We will continue on our diversity journey next month, as we learn more about our LGBTQ students and Mental Health issues.  The more knowledge we have about many diverse groups, the better we can support them.  As we begin to work on Professional Development for next year, we want to keep these questions and the focus of diversity in the forefront of our focus and work.