Building Antiracist White Educators (BARWE), founded by a group of educators in Philadelphia, is an intentional learning community model that uses a carefully designed structure for provoking and supporting the growth of white educators as they develop antiracist understandings, skills and practices. BARWE develops and shares annual inquiry series through which white educators are invited to read, view, or listen to carefully curated media, and then reflect and respond - both personally and in structured dialogue with colleagues. Content, structures and tools developed by BARWE educators are vetted through an accountability relationship with the Melanated Educators Collective, in Philadelphia.
Published in Chapter:
This Work Isn't Ready: Lessons From an Early Childhood Intentional Learning Community
Copyright: © 2024
|Pages: 20
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-7270-5.ch008
Abstract
The staff meeting is a staple of school culture and is a vehicle for everything from announcements, updates, logistics, curriculum discussions, data review, to more conceptual topics such as mission and vision and reflections on pedagogy and practice. External professional development offerings are another avenue for adult learning and can focus on a range of subjects deemed important by the school or organization providing the opportunity. However, anecdotally, teachers often bemoan staff meetings and professional development as less-than-welcome experiences that take time away from other priorities. Research shows that teachers value gatherings that build trust, provide them with control over their craft, and support the transfer of adult learning into classroom practice. This is a case study of how one group of early childhood educators created meaningful intentional learning opportunities – both within their school's staff meeting structure and beyond their school walls with a local community of educators.