MA

SA/M

ASE Spring C

onferenceListening

and

Lead

ing for E

quity

March

8, 20

19

Your Keynote H

ost

Sh

ane

Safir

Au

tho

r, Co

ach, F

acilitator

@S

han

eS

afir

Josse

y-Bass, 20

17

#liste

nin

gle

ade

rs

Story of Self

SA

FIR (noun)

He

bre

w. S

cribe

. On

e w

ho

write

s for th

eir trib

e.

Arab

ic. Am

bassad

or. B

roke

r and

brid

ge

-bu

ilde

r across cu

lture

s.

Mom

of Mona &

Maxim

o

Our C

onnections and D

ifferences

1.F

ind

on

e th

ing

you

have

in co

mm

on

.

2.T

alk abo

ut so

me

on

e w

ho

insp

ires yo

u.

3.R

efle

ct on

an e

xpe

rien

ce th

at mad

e yo

u

wh

o yo

u are

tod

ay.

Listening and Leading for Equity

Wh

at do

es

ed

ucatio

nal

eq

uity m

ean

to

you?

Eve

ry pe

rson

ge

ts wh

at he

or sh

e n

ee

ds to

th

rive: so

cially, em

otio

nally, an

d in

telle

ctually.

What is eq

uity?Equity

Working tow

ard equity is a journey...…

that begins with you.

We

can o

nly le

ad

for e

qu

ity up

to

the

leve

l of

pe

rson

al wo

rk w

e’ve

do

ne

...

Listening and

Leading

for Equity

1.D

ee

p L

isten

ing

○B

uild

the cu

lture.

2.D

ee

p P

urp

ose

○C

ho

ose th

e righ

t da

ta.

3.D

ee

p D

iscou

rse○

Sh

ift the n

arra

tive.

Deep Listening:

Build the C

ulture

Culture vs. Strategy

We listen all the tim

e…

•8

5% o

f wh

at we

kno

w h

as com

e th

rou

gh

liste

nin

g.

•W

e sp

en

d 45%

of a typ

ical wo

rk day liste

nin

g.

•L

ess th

an 2%

of p

rofe

ssion

als rece

ive train

ing

in

listen

ing

.

Constructivist/D

eep Listening

•F

or th

e b

en

efit o

f the

spea

ker

•I ag

ree

to liste

n to

and

care fo

r yo

u in

exch

ang

e fo

r you

do

ing

th

e sam

e fo

r me

.

The Guidelines

1.E

qu

al time

to talk. E

veryone deserves to b

e listened to.

2.N

o in

terru

ptio

ns, ad

vice, o

r bre

aking

in w

ith a

pe

rson

al story. P

eople ca

n solve their own p

roblem

s.

3.D

ou

ble

con

fide

ntiality. P

eople need

to know they ca

n b

e comp

letely authentic.

4.N

o criticizin

g o

r com

plain

ing

abo

ut m

utu

al co

lleag

ue

s du

ring

you

r sharin

g. A

person ca

nnot listen w

ell when feeling

atta

cked or d

efensive.

Dyad

Wh

at role

do

es liste

nin

g p

lay in yo

ur w

ork?

Wh

en

do

es it g

et h

ard fo

r you to liste

n w

ell?

What %

of meaning is conveyed by w

ords?

Ch

imam

and

a Ng

ozi A

dich

ie

“The Danger of a Single Story”

Dyad

Wh

at is a sing

le sto

ry in yo

ur syste

m th

at you

wo

uld

like to

disru

pt?

(ab

out teachers, fa

milies, stud

ents, princip

als, etc.)

Wh

at pain

s you

abo

ut th

at story?

Where do single stories com

e from?

•W

e are

me

anin

g-m

aking

m

achin

es.

•O

ur b

rains co

nstan

tly see

k p

attern

s.

•S

ing

le sto

ries are

a sho

rtcut th

e

brain

takes.

•O

ver tim

e, th

ey so

lidify in

to n

eu

ral p

athw

ays.

Implicit/U

nconscious Bias

Attitu

de

s, be

liefs, an

d ste

reo

type

s that

un

con

sciou

sly affect o

ur p

erce

ptio

ns an

d actio

ns

●W

e are

con

sciou

sly aware

of 2%

of

ou

r em

otio

nal co

gn

ition

.

●B

ias ten

ds to

resid

e in

ou

r u

nco

nscio

us n

etw

orks.

—D

r. Tim

oth

y Wilso

n &

Dr. jo

hn

a. po

we

ll

Key C

haracteristics

●E

veryo

ne

has u

nco

nscio

us b

iases.

●O

ur u

nco

nscio

us b

iases d

on

’t always m

atch

ou

r stated

be

liefs.

●T

he

se b

iases are

malle

able

. We

can u

nle

arn

the

imp

licit associatio

ns w

e h

ave fo

rme

d.

Deep listening disrupts

single stories.Listening builds relational capital

Move at the speed of trust

Liste

nin

g b

uild

s the

cultu

re.

“Th

e m

icro re

flects th

e

macro

and

vice

versa—

Fib

on

acci patte

rns

sho

w u

p fro

m sp

ace to

cau

liflow

er. T

he

tinie

st m

ost m

un

dan

e act re

flects

the

big

ge

st creatio

ns w

e

can im

age

.”

- adrie

nn

e m

arie b

row

n

Deep Purpose:

Choose the Right D

ata

Consider

Wh

at is the

pu

rpo

se o

f ed

ucatio

n?

Th

e p

urp

ose

of e

du

cation

, finally, is to

cre

ate in

a pe

rson

the

ability to

loo

k at the

w

orld

for h

imse

lf, to m

ake h

is ow

n

de

cision

s… To

ask qu

estio

ns o

f the

u

nive

rse, an

d th

en

learn

to live

with

tho

se

qu

estio

ns, is th

e w

ay he

achie

ves h

is ow

n

ide

ntity. B

ut n

o so

ciety is re

ally anxio

us to

h

ave th

at kind

of p

erso

n aro

un

d. W

hat

socie

ties re

ally, ide

ally, wan

t is a citizen

ry w

hich

will sim

ply o

be

y the

rule

s of

socie

ty. If a socie

ty succe

ed

s in th

is, that

socie

ty is abo

ut to

pe

rish.

James B

aldwin (1963)

A View

from the B

alcony

A syste

m, an

y syste

m, p

rod

uce

s w

hat it is d

esig

ne

d

to p

rod

uce

.

—T

ho

mas K

elly

1776

Th

om

as Jeffe

rson

pro

po

ses a tw

o-track

ed

ucatio

nal syste

m, w

ith d

iffere

nt tracks in

his

wo

rds fo

r “the

labo

ring

and

the

learn

ed

.” S

cho

larship

wo

uld

allow

a very fe

w o

f the

lab

orin

g class to

advan

ce, Je

fferso

n says, b

y “rakin

g a fe

w g

en

iuse

s from

the

rub

bish

.”

1932

A su

rvey o

f 150 sch

oo

l districts re

veals th

at th

ree

qu

arters o

f the

m are

usin

g so

- called

in

tellig

en

ce te

sting

to p

lace stu

de

nts in

d

iffere

nt acad

em

ic tracks.

This is the system w

e inherited.

Sate

llite D

ata: test scores, g

rad

uation ra

tes, a

ttenda

nce pa

tterns

Th

ree

flaws

●It’s lag

gin

g

●It le

nd

s cred

ibility to

swe

ep

ing

de

cision

s mad

e

far from

the

locu

s of le

arnin

g, th

e classro

om

●It re

info

rces sin

gle

storie

s and

de

ficit thin

king

Levels of Data

Le

vel 1: S

AT

EL

LIT

E

DA

TA

Le

vel 2: M

AP

DA

TA

Schoolw

ide stud

ent surveys, comm

on a

ssessments, Founta

s and

Pinnell

Le

vel 3: S

TR

EE

T D

AT

AListening

to and

observing

students,

fam

ilies, and

staff exp

eriences and

voices

Street data is everyw

here…if w

e listen for it.

Stre

et

Data

Audio Interview

s

Focus Groups

Fishbowl

Conversations in M

eetings

Shadow

a S

tudent, Teacher, or

Principal

Equity

Participation Tracker

Academ

ic Language TrackerS

tudent/ Teacher

Experience S

urveys

Co

mm

un

ity Walks

A trad

ition

of liste

nin

g an

d le

arnin

g at

Oaklan

d In

tern

ation

al Hig

h S

cho

ol

Oakland

International

●10

0%

of stu

de

nts are

En

glish

lang

uag

e

learn

ers, m

ostly n

ew

com

ers

●S

pe

ak 32+ lang

uag

es

●C

om

e fro

m 35 co

un

tries

1)PTSA

2)ESL C

lasses

3)Fo

od

Ban

k

4)Legal Services C

linics

5)In

ternatio

nal Festival

Fam

ily En

gag

em

en

tL

isten

ing

to F

amilie

s(S

treet Da

ta)

1)Paren

t Surveys

2)1:1 C

on

ferences

3)H

om

e visits

4)Fo

cus G

rou

ps

5)C

om

mu

nity W

alks

Street Data: C

omm

unity Walks

●P

D d

esig

ne

d b

y pare

nts, stu

de

nts

and

com

mu

nity le

ade

rs

●E

du

cates te

ache

rs abo

ut stu

de

nts’

backg

rou

nd

s, challe

ng

es, an

d

assets

●S

taff learn

s abo

ut im

po

rtant

land

marks an

d cu

ltural ce

nte

rs; m

ee

t with

com

mu

nity le

ade

rs, ad

vocate

s and

familie

s

Yemeni C

omm

unity Walk:

Start with a teach-in.

1.Stu

den

t

presen

tation

s

2.V

isit to H

alal Market

3.V

isit to M

osq

ue

4.Lu

nch

feast with

families an

d im

am

5.C

losin

g circle with

staff

Ye

me

ni W

alk: H

alal Marke

t

Me

et th

e Im

am

Fe

ast at the

mo

squ

e o

r a ho

me

Unaccom

panied

Minors

Com

munity W

alk

1.Stu

den

t presen

tation

s

2.Stu

den

t Panel

3.V

isit to C

entro

Legal

4. Visit to

Dream

catcher

5. Lun

ch at a p

up

useria

6. Clo

sing circle w

ith staff

Guillerm

oYoung

peop

le are the ones leaving now

Going

to School in El Salvador

A Treacherous Journey

Detention at the B

order...

La Frontera

Turn and Talk

Wh

at came

up

for you as yo

u liste

ne

d to

Gu

illerm

o’s sto

ry?

Wh

at matte

rs abo

ut th

is stree

t-leve

l data?

Au

dio

Inte

rview

sL

isten

ing

to P

rincip

als

Satellite Data:

Principal Turnover in CA

The Impact of

Principal Churn

53% o

f scho

ols in

the b

otto

m 20%

have

no

vice prin

cipals (in

first th

ree years)vs.

26% o

f scho

ols in

the to

p 20%

A p

rincip

al in a

high

-po

verty urb

an sch

oo

l is

50%

mo

re likely to leave th

an

on

e in a lo

w-p

overty

sub

urb

an sch

oo

l.

Jot down key w

ords/phrasesTurn and

Talk

Imag

ine

Trish

is a prin

cipal in

you

r system

.

●W

hat d

ata stoo

d o

ut to

you

?

●W

hat are

you

r imp

ortan

t takeaw

ays?

To teach for equity, we m

ust view student

and staff voices and experiences as data.

Vo

ices an

d sto

ries

Artifacts o

f wo

rk or

practice

Live

d e

xpe

rien

ces an

d

pe

rcep

tion

s

Street Data helps us...

●A

lign

ou

r me

ans an

d e

nd

s arou

nd

eq

uity

●H

um

anize

the

process o

f data-g

athe

ring

●D

isrup

t sing

le sto

ries an

d im

plicit b

iases

●E

ng

age

in rap

id cycle

s of im

pro

vem

en

t

Deep D

iscourse:C

hange the Narrative

Th

e

CU

LT

UR

Ew

e b

uild

Th

eS

TR

UC

TU

RE

Sw

e d

esig

n

Th

eR

ES

UL

TS

we

ge

t

•H

ow

we talk…

fram

e p

rob

lems…

d

efine su

ccess o

r failure…

•H

ow

we

organ

ize ou

r tim

e and

w

ork...

•C

an eith

er rep

rod

uce O

R

transfo

rm…

What is discourse?

Disco

urse

1D

iscou

rse 2

Do

min

ant w

ays of th

inkin

g

abo

ut an

d talkin

g ab

ou

t ou

r w

ork th

at ma

intain e

xisting

p

ractices an

d se

rve to

re

pro

du

ce th

e statu

s qu

o.

Ways o

f thin

king

and

talking

ab

ou

t ou

r wo

rk that cha

llenge

the

status q

uo

by n

amin

g u

nco

mfo

rtable

and

u

ne

qu

al con

ditio

ns.

Working tow

ard equity requires us to change how

we fram

e the problem.

Discourse Excerpt (pages 7-9)

1.S

kim th

e d

iscou

rse e

xcerp

t.

2.N

ote

one exam

ple

or

exce

rpt th

at stand

s ou

t to

you

.

3.T

urn

and

talk to sh

are yo

ur

exce

rpt an

d re

flect to

ge

the

r.

DI A

ttribu

tes

D2 A

ttribu

tes

Sin

gle

Sto

ries

Mu

ltiple

Sto

ries

An

swe

rs and

Qu

ick Fixe

sIn

qu

iry and

Ad

aptive

Ch

allen

ge

s

Imp

rovin

g w

hat e

xistsA

dd

ressin

g ro

ot cau

ses

Exte

rnalizatio

n/

blam

e

(“Lo

ok o

ut th

e w

ind

ow

”)In

tern

al Re

flectio

n(“L

oo

k in th

e m

irror”)

Lim

ited

Tim

e an

d A

bility

Ge

tting

started

anyw

ay

Credit: N

ational Equity Project

Discourse I vs. D

iscourse IID

ilemm

a: In Hallow

een, in Idaho...Visualize...

Wh

at mig

ht you d

o o

r say abo

ut w

hat’s

hap

pe

ne

d?

Superintendent’s Response

A fe

w assu

mp

tion

s

●T

his in

cide

nt is an

o

utlie

r.

●O

ur te

ache

rs are g

oo

d

pe

op

le—

no

malicio

us

inte

nt.

●W

e are

be

tter th

an th

is.

Re

lated

action

s

●Id

en

tify the

teach

ers in

co

stum

e.

●P

ut th

em

on

leave

.

●M

ake su

re th

ey d

on

’t d

o th

is again

.

Shifting the Discourse

Re

frame

“This incid

ent and

others like it illustra

te that our

current ap

proa

ches are

ma

rgina

lizing La

tino and

other fa

milies of color in

our system. W

e need to

pa

use, acknow

ledg

e the im

pa

ct, and

deep

ly exa

mine our p

ractices.”

An

Inq

uiry S

tance

●H

ow is our system

built in

wa

ys that exclud

e and

d

ehuma

nize our fam

ilies of color?

●H

ow ca

n we slow

dow

n and

listen to the voices of

imp

acted

fam

ilies in order to

get to root ca

uses?

●W

hat m

ight w

e funda

menta

lly need

to chang

e if we d

o?

Dilem

ma: Pilgrim

Assignm

ent

Email from

fatherW

hy focus on shifting the discourse?

•L

ang

uag

e is p

ow

er.

•It sh

ape

s reality in

scho

ols.

•L

isten

ing

lead

ers h

ave th

e co

urag

e an

d

mo

ral pu

rpo

se to

shift th

e d

iscou

rse.

Optim

istic Closure

PasitosThree Levers:

1.D

ee

p liste

nin

g b

uild

s the

cultu

re.

2.S

tree

t data an

imate

s the

pu

rpo

se.

3.S

hiftin

g th

e d

iscou

rse ch

ang

es th

e

narrative

.

I have

ne

ver e

nco

un

tere

d

any ch

ildre

n in

any g

rou

p

wh

o are

no

t ge

niu

ses. T

he

re

is no

myste

ry on

ho

w to

te

ach th

em

. Th

e first th

ing

yo

u d

o is tre

at the

m like

h

um

an b

ein

gs, an

d th

e n

ext

thin

g yo

u d

o is lo

ve th

em

.

Dr. A

sa Hilliard