Humanizing Classrooms, Where the Work Begins
Photo Illustration: Humanizing History Visuals. Photo: Commons user Sailko, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Welcome to Humanizing History™! Every month, we feature a central theme. Each week, we dive into different areas of focus.
This month’s theme: Humanizing Classrooms, A Guide to Cultivating Inclusion and Belonging
This week’s focus: Identity Literacy, or helpful frameworks to expand how we approach identity.
Today’s edition of Humanizing History™ is about 1100 words, an estimated 4-minute read.
The Why for This Week’s Topic
Today, May 6th, and this week, are often referred to as a time for “Teacher Appreciation.” To offer appreciation and support, our theme for this month is “Humanizing Classrooms, A Guide To Cultivating Inclusion and Belonging.”
This month, Monique is going to share lessons learned as both a classroom educator and consultant who has worked with thousands of dedicated educators around the world.
What we’re discussing this month are ways to begin the work of building inclusion and belonging in classrooms. Remember, what we are suggesting are some ways, not the only way.
It's important that we step into action that feels authentic to us, so choose what works for you — your community, your context, your needs, your goals and values.
Where to Begin?
Often, when meeting with educators who are committed to cultivating a more humanizing learning experience — one that is student-centered, identity-literate, rooted in intention, inquiry, inclusion, belonging — I’m asked “How, or where, do I start?”
There are many ways to begin building a foundation of belonging, and what I’ve recommended, again and again, is to begin this work with ourselves. To begin with our own lenses, to take the time to better understand how we process and see the world. Some may call it our perspectives, our biases, our lenses, our lived experiences — yes, all of this. In short, what are we bringing to each space? And if we’re speaking about education, what are we bringing to the classroom? To the larger school environment?
And when looking at our lenses, I’ve learned that it’s important that we — as educators, parents, guardians — show up with care for ourselves too. So, to encourage us to shift away from viewing our lenses as simply “good or bad,” I offer the framing of a “plus sign” and a “triangle.”
The plus sign encourages us to view our lived experiences and perspectives through a lens of strength — In what ways is this lens or lenses serving me? Or, how is this a powerful perspective?
The triangle, a symbol used in math and science to represent change, may encourage us to examine the lenses that may create more limitations for us — What are the areas in my practices, in how I see the world and the larger human story, that I’d like to see change, or shift, or expand?
For guidance, I’ll model a way to begin the essential work of building inclusive, humanizing classrooms by briefly sharing a bit of my own story.
The Power of Storytelling
Stories may help us build connection with one another — engaging in “small talk” may help us better handle the “big talk,” which will show up, whether or not we want it to, or planned for it. So it’s helpful to be proactive.
Sharing our stories can also be vulnerable, so having a version that you feel comfortable sharing out loud can be helpful.
When I present to public groups, I often start by sharing photographs of my own family. This helps paint not only my story, but the kind of lenses I bring to educational spaces.
With a White American father, and a multiracial Belizean mother, I identify as multiracial. My mother is one of eleven children, and her siblings married people of different ethnic backgrounds — so my first cousins represent, in many ways, numerous racial groups, or phenotypic diversity that feels global. So, I walk around the planet thinking anyone can be my first cousin. This lens — seeing the familiar in the face of a stranger — has greatly impacted my worldview and my values.
In addition to my family, it’s helpful to unpack the impact that geography, historical timelines, media, education, and other forces may have had on shaping how I see others, myself, and the larger world.
This is where the “plus sign” and “triangle” may show up. What were the strengths of my upbringing? What were the limitations? How can I make intentional change that is student-centered and rooted in belonging — including psychological trust and safety?
For example, because of my upbringing (and later on, my formal education, earning an undergraduate degree in Black Studies), I was granted a unique form of racial literacy. Are there other areas of our complex intersections of identities that I could continue to grow, or, to learn more about? — such as religion, gender, ability, etc.
I ask myself, and others, these questions, not in a form of judgment, but to spark curiosity. To inspire growth. How do I tell the human story? — The story I tell myself about myself, the story I tell myself about others, and the story I’m passing down to children.
What Are Your Lenses? Socio-Historical Questions for Reflection
To dive even deeper, there are many questions we may ask ourselves. For guidance, consider the following, which may help us examine the impact socio-historical contexts may have on our sense of identity and personal development.
We may ask ourselves:
Where did I grow up? Where did I spend the majority of my childhood? Young adulthood? Were my communities and neighborhoods segregated, integrated, etc.? Rural, small town, suburban, major city, reservation? What language(s) were spoken? Did I feel/was made to feel like an “insider” or “outsider,” or both?
When did I grow up? What historical events shaped my thinking? For example, was I born before or after the 1960s Civil Rights Era? Before or after the Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage, same-sex marriage? Before the internet? (We may then ask what kind of world our children or students are growing up in. What are the similarities, differences? What considerations emerge?)
In my childhood, young adulthood, etc. what were the dominant messages in regard to “equality” and “rights”? Did I talk about race — and/or other examples of social identity — with my family or at school? How may this have impacted my worldview? (Consider applying both the “plus sign” and “triangle” to capture strengths and note areas of change.)
What Are My Values? Our Shared Values?
I also recommend that a part of examining our lenses includes a moment to identify our values.
There’s been a lot of research in the power of speaking to our values, including the impact of Values Affirmation Exercises, which psychologists Geoffrey Cohen and David Sherman informally describe as “a moment to pull back and regain perspective on what really matters.” (See Cohen’s and Sherman’s research to learn more, including what Values Affirmation Exercises are, why they may be helpful, and how to effectively implement these exercises in ways that support adolescent and adult growth-oriented mindsets.)
In short, knowing our values can help us understand our “why,” which we’ll unpack in a future newsletter.
To create a bridge, it’s also helpful to ask how our values align with the community we teach or work in. We may visit the mission of the school or organization as a starting place to identify asserted, communal values. The mission — and the overlap of their values and our values — gives us the permission to do “this work,” such as the work of humanizing our classrooms, depending on how we define it.
In the upcoming weeks, we’ll dive into more frameworks that may guide our next steps.
Join Us for a Professional Development Workshop This Summer!
If you, and your colleagues, are looking for professional development opportunities this summer, Michael Matthews, of Authentic Education, and Monique Vogelsang of Humanizing History™ are co-leading a hands-on PD experience for classroom teachers and other school leaders.
"Inclusive Curriculum Design — Backwards Planning for Equity and Belonging."
Join us for an in-person, 3-day intensive to expand your thinking around best practices for including underrepresented voices, untold stories, and broader perspectives into your curriculum design — resulting in more inclusive and culturally expansive units.
Visit this link to learn more and sign up.
There's a limited number of spots!
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