Equity Outside the Box: A Framework for Engaging Diverse Learners

By Ed.S. Jewlana Smith-Hunter

How do we create environments that unbox success for diverse learners? The national focus in education is providing equitable outcomes to K-12 students with teaching and learning that has inclusion, diversity, and representation in education. Get frameworks to support professional learning for collaborative learning teams

• Language: English
• Publisher: Equity Elevator Consulting
• Release date: Mar 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9781087950334

Ed.S. Jewlana Smith-Hunter

For 16 years, educator leader, author, and entrepreneur Jewlana Smith Hunter has committed her career to serve underrepresented communities in the K-12 sector. As the founder and owner of Equity Elevator Consulting, - an educational consulting firm dedicated to helping schools and organizations across the U.S., she facilitates teams to achieve equitable goals that are actionable and intentional. Her new projects include the Elevate Education Podcast and book titled, "Equity Outside the Box: A Framework for Engaging Diverse Learners". She is pursuing her doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from Clark Atlanta University, where she serves as the Community Relations Officer for the Educational Leadership Student Association. Outside of education, Smith-Hunter continues to educate communities about creating generational wealth, healthy living inside and out, a literacy advocate. She has a proven track record in taking significant change initiatives with a deep sense of urgency to contribute to the advancement of society collectively.

Book preview

Equity Outside the Box

Equity Outside the Box

A Framework for Engaging

Diverse Learners

Jewlana Smith-Hunter, Ed.S.

Editor: Amelia Massey

Copyright © 2021 by Jewlana Smith-Hunter, Ed.S.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and specific other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Equity Outside the Box

Equity Elevator Consulting, LLC

6595 Roswell Road Ste G #3106

Atlanta, GA 30328

www.equityelevatorconsulting.com

Ordering Information:

Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address above.

Orders by U.S. trade bookstores and wholesalers. Please contact https://www.equityelevatorconsulting.com/equity-outside-the-box or visit www.amazon.com or Barnes & Nobles.

Printed in the United States of America

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Smith-Hunter, Jewlana

Equity Outside the Box: A Framework for Engaging Diverse Learners / Jewlana Smith-Hunter.

ISBN- Print: 978-1-0879-5032-7 eBook: 9781087950334

ISBN- Print: 978-1-0879-5032-7 eBook: 9781087950334

—Education —Other category. 2. Education Advocacy —From one perspective. 3. School Improvement

First Edition

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

About This Book

About the Author

Introduction

Why is Equity in the box?

PART I: People

Who is impacted when equity is in the box?

How do we unbox equity within people?

Part 2: Policies

Where can equity be unpacked?

How do we unbox equity in policy?

Part 3: Practices

How do we unbox equity in practices?

What can we do to unbox equity in practices?

Resources

Preface

If we are to listen to learners representing multicultural perspectives truly, we must be open to looking at the world from their perspectives.

~Jovita Ross-Gordon

The ideas of this book originate from my personal educational experiences; personal experiences being in the shoes of a student, teacher, parent, coach, district leader, and administrator. They come from shared experiences with family members, friends, teachers, school board members, parents, neighbors, PTA members, colleagues, and school leaders from across the country. In the news, incidents posted on social media, historical mentions in textbooks, stories shared at the dinner table, and occurrences impacting communities and the world. Such impactful and unforgettable experiences catalyze national organizations’ formation to ensure specific experiences continue and others cease.

Experience shapes the very fiber of our essence. Each unique experience adds a component to the DNA of our self-perception, self-worth, self-esteem, and how we show up in the world. A form of ourselves shows up whether we are proud to flaunt it or choose discretion in our display. Our experiences impact our decision-making; how we gravitate towards some things and resist others. Perception plays an enormous role in decisions an individual makes and even simply how we see our experiences. With our experiences being the primary factor that teaches us about the world, how much time do we spend examining our experiences and challenging our concepts? If we are honest, our answer would probably be an area for future growth.

Have you ever wondered why you view the world in the way that you do? You may have questioned your perspective when faced with existential choices or even fluttering nuances of unconscious behaviors. If we were all honest, it would be a chore to dissect each of our motives for every decision made each day. As an individual in this world, you have, are, or impact someone else’s experiences just being. You will add another layer to someone’s reinforced perceptions about the world as they will for you. Perception and experiences create your story, your narrative-you.

In today’s society, we have people who wittingly show up in the world unapologetically and do not care who has a problem with it, and in contrast we have others who often neglect themselves to fulfill others’ needs and meet their own needs of social achievement or belonging. While some individuals find balance, it is important to note that our experiences impact the spectrum of our emotional wake, and this is reinforced by these qualities in each individual. The average person makes about 35,000 decisions every day! That is approximately 2,000 decisions an hour.

The narrative is powerful in conveying one’s experiences. There are countless videos, blogs, text messages, and word of mouth referrals of one’s affairs. When those experiences are shared, they are celebrated, shunned, or even worse - ignored. But why are our experiences so important to us? Maslow, best known for his self-actualization theory of psychology, reduced the need for experiences down to 5 human needs. Humans are social beings in need of consistent interactions with others. We need to be seen, heard, and respected by others. We need to be loved. When our basic needs are not satisfied, we are unable to attain our fullest purpose. In a world where we are so connected to so many at any given time, in reality we are isolated, hidden behind screens, and we experience developed perceptions that have been reinforced both positively and negatively in ways new to our generation. This hyper-connected disconnectedness imprisons us in silhouettes of our engineered worlds formed from our experiences.

Nevertheless, I invite you, for just one moment, to release yourself from the constraints of yourself so that you can see the experience of someone else - someone who may be just like you or in complete opposition. Experience another’s life story and allow yourself to utilize your ability to empathize. Understand the rhyme and reasons they see the world in how they do without your judgment stick. It is at this moment when equity can begin to become unboxed. I hope you accept the invitation.

Acknowledgments

The strategies, research, and data in this book came from a long list of experiences with students, teachers, families, district leaders, local school leaders, and experts on equity in education. I am indebted to the individuals I have served beside in Florida, Georgia, and educators worldwide. I appreciate their authenticity in sharing their experiences, especially those focused on making teaching and learning more equitable.

The contributions of the following mentors who supported my leadership and scholastic journey are much appreciated:

Dr. Tamara Candis, Area Superintendent Fulton County Schools, Atlanta, GA

Carrie Rivera, Senior Human Resources Specialist Pinellas County Public Schools, Clearwater, FL

Dr. Emily Massey, Associate Superintendent tlanta Public Schools, Atlanta, Georgia

Kelly Pelletier, Principal range County Public Schools, Orlando, Florida

Dr. Christine Parker, Professor and Literacy Specialist Metro Atlanta and Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA

Dr. Susan Bearse, District Leader Mentor Gwinnett County Public Schools, Suwanee, GA

Dr. Chandra Walker, Director of Leadership Development & Professor Clark Atlanta University

Kono Smith, Principal Gwinnett County Public Schools, Suwanee, GA

Joseph Sanfilippp, Assistant Principal winnett County Public Schools

Cynthia Tookes, Assistant Principal Gwinnett County Public Schools

Jackie Graham, Assistant Principal Gwinnett County Public Schools

About This Book

As you can tell from the title, this book provides information on equity in education, with the diverse learner in mind. Let us first examine the phrase diverse learner. When you conduct an internet search for the word diverse, you learn that the word means variety, and a learner is a person who is gaining or acquiring knowledge or skill. This term includes other types of learners globally, including gender identification, economic status, and any different identity-based characteristics. For this book’s purposes, we will look at all diverse learners as a whole and individual groups of diverse learners.

Some use the term diverse learner and minority interchangeably in many instances, but let us consider how these two very similar words have distinct nuances. Although the word minority’s literal meaning is a smaller part, the word’s connotation is sometimes related to race or ethnicity. Using the two terms interchangeably would infer that race and ethnicity alone are the primary distinguishable characteristics of diverse learners, instead of assuming race and ethnicity as the primary factors in defining diversity. We will instead use these