Event details
- What: Professional Development Conference for K–12 Educators
- Title: The Intersection of Anti-Racism and Trauma-Informed Practices
- When: March 20, 2021
- Location: Zoom
- Sponsor: Seattle Pacific University School of Education
- Clock hours (5) will be offered for this event. (Fee: $15 plus transcript fee)
- Recording: This event will be recorded.
You will receive a confirmation email when your registration is approved.
Agenda and speakers
9–10 a.m. Welcome and introduction of the keynote speaker
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Keynote: (Un)Educable: A Leader’s Journey to Eradicate the Labeling of BIPOC Children
Dr. Kimberly White-Smith
Dean and Professor of Education
University of LaVerne
“Un-educable” was the label the social worker gave my foster brother in the 1970s. It was my first taste of anti-blackness as a schooling practice and policy. Today we use labels like SED, ED, and Traumatized (Adverse Childhood Experiences) to limit BIPOC students’ access to academic curriculum. Using Dis/Crit as a theoretical framework, I critically examine the systemic inequities in teacher education and the role trauma plays in educators’ bias toward students. By dismantling the historical silos that segregate the preparation of special education from multiple and single subject general education teachers, we create opportunities to change some of the schooling practices weaponized against students and communities of color.
Presentation
10–10:15 a.m. Break
10:15–11:30 a.m. Concurrent Session 1
Speaker: Andre Stout
School Principal
Tacoma School District
Session title: Stop Reforming and Start Transforming Public Education to Finally Close the Achievement Gap
Session summary: My presentation critically analyzes the evolution of academic standards and high-stake testing, the hegemonic educational practices, the lack of teacher diversity and the negative impact these elements of public education have on minority and poor students’ academic achievement. I will detail how the study, A Nation at Risk spurred on the 1980s educational reform with its emphasis on high-stake testing. By 2001, the Elementary Secondary Educational Act of 1965 (ESEA) was revised with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and high-stake testing became the norm. I will show, despite all these efforts to reform public education, Black, Hispanic and poor students continue to reside in the achievement gap. I will present recent Washington state Smarter Balance Assessments results from a few similar districts, display the sudden increase of student diversity in those districts over the last 15 years and the lack of diversity among teachers in those districts. The presentation will end with strategies and conversations to address these equity issues.
Presentation
Speakers: Conrado Julian
School teacher/Interventionist, Lochburn Middle School/Cloverpark School District
Melissa Rosaaen
School Counselor
Chambers Primary School/University Place School District
Session title: Historical Trauma: Stop the Assaults and Start the Healing
Session summary: The assault on communities of color continues to prevent the healing from trauma endured for generations. In understanding these effects of historical trauma on our students, it provides an opportunity for racial and educational justice. The work begins with you learning how to stop the assault, so we may start the healing.
Speakers:
Greg Fritzberg, PhD, Professor of Education, Seattle Pacific University | A former alternative high school in the Skyway neighborhood of South Seattle, Dr. Greg Fritzberg arrived at SPU in 2001. Dr. Fritzberg’s scholarly writing has focused on the policy implications of equality of educational opportunity in the United States. His attempts to live out the values espoused in his writings include extensive involvement with the Seattle Public Schools, where he has taught classes, consulted on programs, and led a tutoring non-profit that served 30 Seattle public schools.
James Bible | James Bible has been addressing high profile civil rights and criminal cases for near 20 years. Mr. Bible, a graduate of the Seattle University Law School, served as the President of the King County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) between 2007 and 2013, and also served as Legal Redress Chair for several state’s NAACP conferences. Mr. Bible is the founder of the Bible Law Group. James lives with his son Santiago in Bellevue, Washington.
Bruce Miller | Bruce Miller has served as Lawndale Christian Health Center's (LCHC) Chief Executive Officer since 2008 and served previously as LCHC's Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer since 1998. In this role Bruce is responsible for leading the organization to ensure that it achieves its mission. Bruce earned a B.A. degree in Sociology from Geneva College and an M.H.A. from the University of Pittsburgh. Bruce and his wife Kathryn have three children and reside in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago.
Session Title: One Modest Improvement in Racial Justice Education: At Least Doing MLK Day Better in Schools!
Session Summary: American educators have honored Dr. Martin Luther King throughout the years since his untimely and unnecessary death, but have not done justice to the full range and power of his teaching. Public and private schools should introduce young people to King’s ideas beyond the famous 1963 “I have a Dream” speech on the Capitol Mall. All students should learn of King’s broader but lesser-known reflections on systemic economic injustice that disproportionately disadvantages non-whites, his advocacy for global peace and justice during the Vietnam War, his later-career deliberations on the painfully slow pace of white progress on racial inclusiveness, and myriad other powerful ideas of this great leader.
Presentation
11:30 a.m.–12 p.m. Lunch
12–1:15 p.m. Concurrent Session 2
Speaker: Paul Youngbin Kim, PhD
Professor of Psychology
Seattle Pacific University
Session Title: Model Minority Stereotype and Racial Microaggressions: Implications for Effective Practice with Asian Americans
Session Summary: This presentation will focus on informed practice with Asian Americans. Racial microaggressions frequently experienced by Asian Americans will be described, and their associations with mental health and academic outcomes will be summarized. Also, the model minority stereotype will be highlighted as a phenomenon impacting educational and psychological experiences.
Presentation
Speakers: Dr. Raedell Boateng (Cannie)
Director-Network, EdWork Technology Access Foundation (TAF)
Saara Kamal
Program Manager, Martinez Fellowship
Session Title: Disrupting Racism in Family Engagement and Social-Emotional Learning
Session Summary: In this session we will explore how structural and interpersonal racism impact family engagement and social-emotional learning. Family engagement and social-emotional learning spaces can be strong opportunities to launch more sensitive and interpersonal conversations. And, if we don’t consider our own biases and blind spots, we can unintentionally impose and invite cultural insensitivity. Let’s challenge and dismantle racism in every area of practice!
Presentation
Speaker: ChrisTiana ObeySumner
Principal and Owner
Epiphanies of Equity
Session Title: Intersectional Erasure: Disability Justice, Racial Equity, and a Call to Action
Session Summary: This workshop will discuss the intersection of race and disability as a guide through a larger conversation around intersectional erasure. Intersectional erasure is when a part of a person’s intersectionality or lived experience is erased — either due to apathy, unawareness, or hyperfocus on another identity. Through the 10 principles of Disability Justice, this workshop will provide areas of insight and tools for continuing development around deepening awareness of intersectionality and frameworks for “reasoning backwards” in inequitable situations.
Presentation
1:15–1:30 p.m. Break
1:30–2:45 p.m. Concurrent Session 3
Speaker: Aidan Key
Transfamilies
Session Title: Gender Diversity: Understanding Transgender and Gender Diverse Children and Teens
Session Summary: Join gender education specialist Aidan Key in examining the topic of gender diversity in children and teens, the challenges faced by these children youth and their families, and exploring current research and identifying the best approaches for creating an inclusive, supportive environment for the entire school community.
Speaker: Joel Pérez, PhD
Apoyo Coaching
Session Title: Trauma Informed Practice and Cultural Humility
Session Summary: Focusing on the other is central to developing cultural humility. In this session we will explore how cultural humility can serve as the foundation for a trauma-informed practice.
Presentation
Speakers:
Julian L. Coding-Williams
Doctoral student in Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Seattle Pacific University
Geoff Evans
Boeing Company
Business Owner – Evans Enterprises & Advisory
Paul R. Yost, PhD
Chair and Associate Professor
Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Seattle Pacific University
Session Title: Black males: A lifelong journey and implications for K–12 teachers
Session Summary: Black male youth face significant challenges in our society. This session will describe in-depth interviews with Black males (ages 20–70) identifying the key experiences, coping strategies, support systems, and life lessons that have been most critical in their development. In small groups, participants will explore implications for K–12 teachers.
Presentation
2:45 p.m.
Closing Remarks: Dr. Sandra Mayo
Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence
Seattle Pacific University