2022 Agenda

We Gon’ Be Alright, But That Ain’t Alright:
Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom

Dr. Love’s talk will discuss the struggles and the possibilities of committing ourselves to an abolitionist goal of educational freedom, as opposed to reform, and moving beyond what she calls the educational survival complex. Abolitionist Teaching is built on the creativity, imagination, boldness, ingenuity, and rebellious spirit and methods of abolitionists to demand and fight for an educational system where all students are thriving, not simply surviving.

As youth and adult educators (middle and high school) creatively share their stories, attendees will engage in an immersive experience trying out some of the tools, strategies and activities that have brought about profound transformation in the presenters and their schools. Participants will have a new understanding of the power of building a learning community and what it looks like when youth and adults truly share power.

Restorative Practice is an emerging social science that studies how to strengthen relationships between individuals as well as social connections within communities. In this experiential workshop, participants will learn about Restorative Practice framework, and how to facilitate Restorative Circles in their classroom and school. These processes can create a positive, safe-brave learning environment for all members.

What does it mean to be a liberated educator? During this workshop, BIPOC educators will engage with the Network for Edwork’s (NWEW) “Liberation Pedagogy” framework for racial justice in education. In learning about the key pillars: recognize, undo, replace, and engage – participants will engage with how as BIPOC educators, we must confront the ways that the dominant culture lives both within and around us. By providing tools and strategies to support the headwork (professional), heartwork (interpersonal), and community that is critical to understanding the impact of racial traumas, BIPOC educators can transition from surviving in their roles as educators for liberation within their schools, to thriving.

What does it mean to be a leader for liberation? In this session, participants will explore the Network for Edwork’s (NWEW) “Liberation Pedagogy” framework for racial justice in education. In learning about the key pillars of Liberation Pedagogy: recognize, undo, replace, and engage – participants will be given tools and strategies to support the headwork, heartwork, and community that is critical to understanding their role as leaders in anti-oppression work within schools.

What does it mean to be a BIPOC leader for liberation? In this session, BIPOC leaders will explore the Network for Edwork’s (NWEW) “Liberation Pedagogy” framework for racial justice in education. In learning about the key pillars of Liberation Pedagogy: recognize, undo, replace, and engage – participants will be provided with tools and strategies to support the headwork (professional), heartwork (interpersonal), and community that is critical to understanding the impact of racial traumas and their roles as leaders for liberation within their schools and organizations.

“This panel of Educators (Mary Beth Canty, Marisa Bier, Renee Shank, and KO Wilson) will discuss on-going challenges and successes in one teacher preparation program, the Seattle Teacher Residency. Using Picower’s (2021) framework of the 4 I’s of Oppression as a springboard, we will critically examine the effects of institutionalized racism on BIPOC preservice teachers, and focus on disrupting the Whiteness in teacher preparation.

Liberation Pedagogy asks each of us to consistently reflect with our minds, our hearts, and within community to recognize manifestations of colonialist pedagogy, white supremacy, and oppression. Once we recognize them, we then can undo and dismantle those practices, replace them with a collaborative model and engage in ongoing conversations to continue this process in order to build a liberated world. First, we must recognize systems of oppression and colonialist pedagogy, but how? The question formulation technique and asking good questions are one tool that can be useful towards this purpose.

In this session, BIPOC leaders will experience a different tool and manner to create and push forward social justice. The radical person who engages in liberatory pedagogy is not afraid to confront, to listen, to see the world and its possibilities unveiled. The Question Formulation Technique will be explored and practices to advance social justice initiatives and ideas at your school, departments, divisions, and/or organizations. .

During this interactive session, participants will experience how nXu cultivates students’ and educators’ sense of purpose while also learning about nXu’s purpose development curriculum and the ways in which the nXu team is supporting a growing number of educators/schools to integrate nXu’s curriculum and assessment system into the fabric of their schools. More specifically, participants will engage with and explore how nXu’s lessons strategically integrate the often disparate constructs of purpose, social-emotional learning, identity development, relationship/social capital development, and career exploration. Attendees will explore strategies to both foster their own sense of purpose and to support students in developing theirs; will gain an understanding of research-backed benefits of purpose development for youth and adults, and the role it plays in career exploration; and learn strategies to cultivate a sense of purpose.

This workshop is designed to support white-identifying leaders in education to further explore the subtle and insidious ways in which racism, toxic patriarchy, and colonial culture impact our ability to experience compassion, empathy, and humility – stunting our growth and hindering our ability to be a part of a more collective society. By exploring ways to redefine, rediscover, and rehumanize both ourselves and the systems in which we operate, participants will begin to develop a more personalized and actionable practice of leading for liberation.

This panel features three presenters (Mark Perry, Adrianna Taylor and Eugene Youngblood) who were formally incarcerated. They will discuss and address their own lived experiences with public education, an analysis of how anti-Black racism (and other oppressions) have destroyed the soul of learning, along with solutions to disrupt and dismantle the school to prison pipeline and to support youth in understanding how to self-advocate and question their own learning and schooling experiences.

This workshop will surface the ways that university teacher prep programs and district leaders can work together with community partners to better prepare BIPOC graduates for the job search and induction into their first teaching jobs. Participants will walk away with a toolkit for leading a revised and liberated process in their own roles, whether that be within preparation programs, schools or district leadership.

This interactive workshop will be geared towards teachers and education leaders who are interested in learning what project based learning is, why it’s a valuable model and how they can get started at their schools. Led by TAF experts, there will be opportunities to work with peers to unpack how students learn best through experiential learning and project based learning pedagogy.

What does it mean to be a BIPOC leader for liberation? In this session, BIPOC leaders will explore the Network for Edwork’s (NWEW) “Liberation Pedagogy” framework for racial justice in education. In learning about the key pillars of Liberation Pedagogy: recognize, undo, replace, and engage – participants will be provided with tools and strategies to support the headwork (professional), heartwork (interpersonal), and community that is critical to understanding the impact of racial traumas and their roles as leaders for liberation within their schools and organizations.