Working with teachers to advance equity and inclusion in classrooms.
During the month of September, I ran the program Telling My Story: Race, Class, Gender, Education and Community, a collaboration of teachers of the Hartford Public School District and community members of the Upper Valley with a variety of different social realities. We designed the program with the Hartford Public School District Equity Director as part of an ongoing effort for teachers to improve their ability to work with an increasingly diverse student population.
These days, as I am able to run more in-person programs, I have been able to see the toll the last 2 ½ years has taken in our communities. Clearly all participants in this program were hungry to do something different and be part of this communal process. They were also exhausted with the work-related demands they are facing on a daily basis. I was humbled to experience such a generous presence in the context of so much exhaustion. So, as we listened and learned with each other, we also shaped our space to bring the best we could to one another. We all agree that “drumming with words” was the activity that could help us to generate the right starting mental and physical space for the day: with this activity we were able to let go of our charged reality and breath possibilities to create a common space for everyone.
We were also faced with a challenging reality within the group: we were a pretty homogenous group. Even though there were a few people from racial minorities, this reality was our most urgent challenge as we were addressing important topics regarding race, class, and gender with low representation inside the group. The ultimate question was: what can we talk about and how? And the challenge was taken seriously and intentionally. That intention and acknowledgement gave us the courage to responsibly venture into this painful and joyful sharing. People had the courage to respond to the process with openness and willingness to take a leap of faith with others. And trust grew organically to the point where fear lost power, warmth, sharing and being with others became an easy practice. Painful and intimate stories were shared with clear integrity and they were received with understanding, compassion and empathy. A practice that took us to celebrate together what we were with all our limitations and possibilities. Our agencies blossomed and we felt empowered by the experience. I was moved to the core.
The way we came together had a lot to do with the incredible ability these teachers had to build community. They strongly believe in community and they have been working for decades building community inside the schools, so they know how to be there for the students and for one another- and they did just that throughout the workshop. They built a strong community where everyone felt they didn’t have to try to “fit in” because everyone had a shared sense of “belonging.” I see so much potential to keep strengthening communities with the tools that TMS has developed and can offer. Talking and reflecting with participants we realized that they already had versions of the TMS tools in their activities; and we reflected on the little but important details that the TMS approach might just bring something extra and powerful to enrich and strengthen their practice.
In the final two sessions the group worked on their testimonials and on the group manifesto; what they wrote was powerful, intimate and urgent. The group also built the backdrop for the final presentation: The Talking Wall, which is a graffiti wall made out of cardboard boxes that present statements, thoughts, and urgent sharings. The way the group collaborated during that last week gave me great hopes for the ability to build community, and the power and possibilities this practice can bring.
On September 28th we had the final presentation at the Hartford School Auditorium. An attentive audience of about 40 people came to support us, and they were moved. We engaged in an honest conversation that took place after the presentation, and we could see that the message had been received with familiarity- people related to and felt motivated by the stories being shared. We were all in the same boat: a profoundly meaningful and powerful moment.
There is one more final piece of this program that I have reflected on a lot both during and after the program. I never know what a program’s group is going to be, and this one had a surprise for me: I had 3 young mothers participating. This was new to me. Their participation and presence required a lot of flexibility as they were all working hard to balance caretaking responsibilities, jobs, and the TMS program. And it was clear that to the world these challenges presented a “problem”. But, to think that motherhood was a problem was shocking and problematic to say the least, and it was important for me to resist that idea and find ways to welcome everyone and make it accessible for all. It became to me an effective and important practice of inclusivity. I saw this situation as a possibility for the TMS work to push itself beyond believing in and embracing the concept of inclusivity, but to work on the actual practice of it. And it was fun, powerful, and incredibly rewarding. At times we had the presence of a 3 years old wonderful little girl who delighted everyone with her presence. She loved drumming and worked hard to collect the drum sticks and buckets at the end of the activity. Her bright smile soothed our souls and brightened our space. Tenderness was with us, even in the midst of sad and painful sharing. We held together strongly and beautifully, and in pain and joy, were able to heal together.
It has been an honor and I am profoundly grateful to have collaborated with these members of our community. Now, we are brainstorming together to find ways to keep TMS’s pedagogy in the school on a continual basis. We strongly believe that it would be powerful for teachers, students, parents, and staff members to be exposed to the work so it stays in the community as something accessible and regular. It is always good to dream and create together.
– Pati Hernandez
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Acknowledgements: We would like to thank our generous funders and collaborators. Thanks to the Byrne Foundation, the Couch Foundation, and an anonymous donor for making this program possible. Thanks also to Boloco for providing food for our final performance and celebration. We could not do the work we do without all of this generous and gracious support.