Session: Being Clark Kent: Identifying and Connecting Our Values to Drive Us Towards Cultural Proficiency
Presenters: Matt Grimes
Description:
In this interactive session, participants will be given the opportunity to identify and reconnect with the values that drive their
work and learn how to address implicit and explicit bias to move towards cultural proficiency. Using Sonia Nieto's five levels
of support from her influential book "Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education", participants
will be able to move beyond notions of monoculturalism and towards a level affirmation by learning how to define problems
from the perspective of the people who experience it. Finally, participants will work collaboratively to identify the unique
challenges and realities faced by people of color and/or from low income communities and learn how to cultivate the
adaptive leadership skills of students by focusing on cultural assets, rather than deficits. Participants will get the opportunity
to break out into subgroups based on identities to discuss the nuanced challenges they are facing and overcoming.
Grade Levels: K-12
Format: Workshop
Number of Participants: 50-100
Areas of Focus: Culturally-Responsive Design, CRE, Equity