UNDERSTANDING AFFINITY Benefits and Challenges for an Independent School Community [email protected].

UNDERSTANDING AFFINITYUNDERSTANDING AFFINITYBenefits and Challenges for an Independent School Benefits and Challenges for an Independent School

[email protected]@nais.org

Copyright National Association of Independent Schools 2006

Session Goals

To provide suggestions for building your knowledge of and commitment to affinity group work in independent schools.

To share the concept, opportunities, and challenges of affinity group initiatives.

To offer strategic and tactical questions and next steps in developing affinity group goals and initiatives.

Feel free to think aloud!


Core Identifiers

Ability

Age

Ethnicity

Gender

Race

Religion

Sexual Orientation

Socio-economic Status (Class)

Body Image (“Lookism”)

Educational Background

Family of Origin, Family Make Up

Geographic/Regional Background

Language

Learning Style

Beliefs (political, social, religious)

Globalism/Internationalism

?


The term affinity group is used as a bringing together of people who have something important in common, e.g. race, gender, profession, or special interests. Any significant historical movement or everyday social interaction could probably be traced to the actions of people who share a common experience and passion.


Affinity groups allow for:

building community

identifying issues

sharing successes

promoting ideas for action

preparing for deep and honest cross-cultural dialogue with other affinity groups

providing opportunities for affirmation and celebration

the “why” defines the “what”

A large number of successful diversity initiatives in independent schools across the country originated out of conversations in these groups.


Affinity Groups The NAIS Perspective


Affinity Group Work at PoCC/SDLC

NAIS has long supported the development and operation of racial/ethnic/cultural affinity groups. The overarching vision for NAIS affinity group work is to provide a safe space for all participants to identify salient issues and common concerns through dialogue, using our individual voices to bring about affirmation, fellowship, connection (networking), and empowerment: to come together for sharing and listening and offering support in the service of greater understanding. The overarching vision of affinity group work includes:

Discussing issues related to racial/ethnic/cultural identity development.

Providing a safe environment where people who share a racial/ethnic/cultural identity can come together for building community, fellowship, and empowerment.

Facilitating opportunities for affirming, nurturing, and celebrating.

Empowering participants who share a racial/ethnic/cultural identity.


Affinity Group Challenges


False Parallels (“The same thing happened to me…”) in resistance to initiatives for affinity groups

Inverting the Injustice (“By focusing on affinity groups YOU have offended ME…”) in reacting to plans for affinity groups

Outright Dismissal (“Race has nothing to do with it…”) of the need for affinity group initiatives

Minimization (“It really isn’t a program for them/us here…”) in response to affinity group proposals

Righteousness (“We’re a good school so we can’t be racist/sexist/homophobic/anti-Semitic/etc….”) as a defensive response to the notion of affinity group work

Colorblindness (“People are people – We don’t see color/gender/religious/ability/sexual orientation..”) in a well meaning but misguided and dismissive response to proposing affinity group work

Jealousy (“Why do they get a special group, to be treated to something I/we can’t have” Remnant of affirmative action’s preferential treatment criticism)


The Mission Statement of Riverdale Country School - I

The mission of Riverdale Country School is to offer students the foundations of a liberal education that will guide them to rewarding, purposeful lives. In its second century, Riverdale’s unique character is still shaped by the commitment of its founder, Frank S. Hackett, to high academic standards, scholarly, intimate teaching, abundant play in the open, and a care for the best influences.

It is our duty to help our students expand their competence and resourcefulness and to enable them to think critically. Riverdale students are not merely passive recipients of knowledge; teachers support students in the challenging work of actively constructing their own understanding and skills in a balance of intellectual, artistic, athletic, and community activities. The ideal Riverdale experience is a friendly, lively meeting of disciplined minds working, creating, and performing together in the classroom and in the larger arena made possible by New York City and our country campuses.


The Mission Statement of Riverdale Country School - II

The knowledge, culture, experiences, interests, abilities, and points of view that each member of the Riverdale community brings to the school enrich the lives and deepen the understanding of those with whom they interact. We value the quality of the relationships we forge. Parents feel a strong partnership with the school and students form lasting bonds with their teachers, mentors, and peers. For these reasons, we seek diverse experiences and viewpoints in our students and their families, our faculty, and our curriculum. In the patterns of our daily life on campus, we seek to create a model of the ways in which people should treat and respect one another.


A School’s Mission

Statement and Reconstructing

Questions


What are we doing now that we should do more of to sustain our mission statement through affinity group goals and initiatives?

What are we doing now that we should do less of to sustain our mission statement through affinity group goals and initiatives?

What aren’t we doing that we should be doing to sustain our mission statement through affinity group goals and initiatives?

What are we doing that we need to stop doing to sustain our mission statement through affinity group goals and initiatives?


My Family’s Experience


What was the motivation in having your child apply to the school?

What were the risks, if any, to your family

(based on your cultural identifier)?


As a/an (cultural identifier) family in the community,

what do you want the school community to affirm

about your child?


As a/an (cultural identifier) family in the

community, what do you want your child to affirm

and understand about the other cultural groups of the school community?


As a/an (cultural identifier) in the community, what do you

want to affirm and understand about the families of other cultural groups in the

school community?


As a/an (cultural identifier) in the

community, what do you want the families of other cultural groups to affirm and understand about

you?


What or who was most helpful to you and your

daughter/son in adjusting to the first year at the

school?


When was it that you really felt part of the

school community as opposed to just being a parent of a student who

attends the school?


What do you notice about yourself as a person of color, a person of other

underrepresented groups, or as a person from the majority culture at the

school?


What do you notice about adults in the school

community who share your primary cultural

identification?


What do you notice about other adults in the

community who do not share your primary

cultural identification?


What would you like to see the school do to

support (cultural identifier) students and families in/for academic

achievement, athletic achievement, social development, extra-

curricular activities, and support for families?


Gene’s Recommendations for Follow Up

Questions


I. Expand Gene’s explanation of “the why defines the what” connecting Riverdale Country School’s mission statement and expected outcomes of affinity group goals and initiatives.

II. SWOT Analysis

A. What are the strengths in designing and implementing affinity group work at RCS?

B. What are the weaknesses in designing and implementing affinity group work at RCS?

C. What are the opportunities in designing and implementing affinity group work at RCS?

D. What are the threats in designing and implementing affinity group work at RCS?


III. Who are the advocates, allies, and potential facilitators needed to design, support, and implement affinity group initiatives for RCS?

IV. Who are the opponents to affinity group work – both outside and within affinity groups? Examine the manifest and latent reasons for their opposition.

V. What would affinity group initiatives look like – sound like – feel like at RCS?

Think of affinity groups like experiencing Starbucks – the sounds, smells, ambiance, tranquility, convenience, etc.

What can happen in this time (affinity group sessions) to make you better at what you do?

Here’s what works for me/my family/my work – reflections to get the dialogue going. Storytelling is always a powerful tool in affinity group work.


Best Wishes

for a Successful

2006-2007

School Year!

UNDERSTANDING AFFINITY Benefits and Challenges for an Independent School Community [email protected].

Documents

Transcript of UNDERSTANDING AFFINITY Benefits and Challenges for an Independent School Community [email protected].