Bending The Arc Mid-March 2023
A Social Justice Newsletter for Educators
“Our paths towards advocacy may be personal or professional, or a combination of both. Either way, socially responsible leadership and active citizenship require us to understand ourselves and how we can leverage our privileges and power by taking action. We can say that we care and empathise about issues, but do we really care if we are not turning that emotion into advocacy and action?” - Angeline Aow, Dr. Sadie Hollins and Stephen Whitehead, Becoming A Totally Inclusive School: A Guide for Teachers and School Leaders (2023), p. 175
Season of Change
It’s March and while I knew that I would have a lot going on, I didn’t realize quite how much, hence the late arrival of your favorite newsletter. I began drafting a version which I decided to abandon for the time being. It was, in the words of my teen sidekick, “tryin’ to do too much.” Maybe it will be ripe for April.
As Spring is beginning to make itself felt in this corner of the Northern Hemisphere, my thoughts are naturally drawn to themes of renewal, growth and blossoming. It’s easier to feel a stirring of hope when the sun stays up a little longer each day. I’ve been able to hold class outdoors a couple of times so far. March is a time for things to start looking up.
March is Women’s History Month and includes the beginning of Ramadan this year. For me, March signals the beginning of track season and the end of the second trimester. What do you notice about your students at this time of year?
I notice how visible their growth is. I can see so many versions of “Before I couldn’t but now I can” in skipping rope, performing a cartwheel, putting a basketball through the hoop. It’s actually delightful when I stop to remind myself of all the success that’s jumping up and down (literally) in front of me. We forget sometimes that learning - the capacity to develop and deepen understanding - is a renewable resource. As educators it behooves us to model how learning and perpetual curiosity are absolutely key to our future existence.
All good reasons to dedicate this missive to projects and initiatives that give me hope.
Seeds of Hope
At the end of February, I was an invited panelist at the Outstanding Schools Conference Europe, held in London. As an organization, Outstanding Schools is sponsored by the British government as a source of professional development for leadership and faculty of British-affiliated international schools. There are also Outstanding School Conferences in the Middle East and Asia. The lineup of speakers was impressive and I gleaned ample insights from a variety of sessions.
Angeline Aow, who is the co-author of Becoming A Totally Inclusive School, quoted above, was among the plenary speakers. She emphasized the need for schools to examine and rebuild school cultures which are actively and intentionally inclusive.
Kristina Pennell-Götze has been a strong advocate for student-led action at Berlin Brandenburg International School and during her workshop on making schools more inclusive of LGBTQ+ students and staff, she showcased some of the work of her student groups. Please, please visit the BBIS Social Justice Committee’s website. It is spectacular!!
Efrat Meyer is the high school principal at Max Rayne Hand in Hand School Jerusalem. Hand in Hand is a 25 year old organization which currently supports 6 Arab-Jewish schools in Israel. Hearing Meyer describe the network of schools and how they pursue the radical reality of Jews and Arabs learning, laughing and growing together touched me in ways I didn’t anticipate. Let me say this: I quickly became a supporter and joined a recent webinar on how their communities show resilience in facing the harsh anti-democratic winds currently blowing in Israel. I see so much to learn from their example.
Kristina Pennell-Götze addresses the audience. Invite her to speak, she’s outstanding!
A slide from Efrat Meyer’s talk. Look at those priorities: dual language instruction, gender studies, dual narrative History, Israeli and Palestinian literature! This is what it looks like to educate for deep and enduring social change.
Gut Ding Braucht Weile (good things need time)
Although I struggled to get this month’s Bending The Arc into shape, I see now that it was demanding a patience of me that I don’t always believe I have. Kind of the way that we cannot dictate the pace of how our flowers, trees and plants will grow, I had to be reminded that not every schedule is valid for all occasions. Let us continue to respect and acknowledge the many different forms and rates of growth that we witness. Blossoming is a beautiful thing. And we have to let it happen in its own time and season.
Welcome, Spring!
Sherri
