By Gulliver LaValle, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Inclusivity has been a part of the fabric of Hillbrook since its founding, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) education has been a priority since Hillbrook created its first Inclusivity Statement in 2002 — but in 2020 we have made our biggest strides. Our strategic plan, Vision 2020, has become a reality as we continue to pursue one of our ongoing core goals, “Create an Increasingly Diverse and Inclusive Community.”
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fellowship—Summer 2020
An important milestone for this goal was realized over the summer when a group of Hillbrook employees came together in a Fellowship to examine DEI’s place in the JK-8 curriculum. There were a number of exciting results that came from the group’s work. These were some of the most significant.
- We established Hillbrook’s Philosophy on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Education.
- We created a list of educator approved and vetted DEI resources.
- We introduced Teaching Tolerance Standards as core to DEI education — using the IDJA Framework (Identity, Diversity, Justice, Action).
- We set communication recommendations for Lower and Middle school.
- We incorporated a year long process of integrating DEI into our JK-8 curriculum as part of this year’s Professional Development plan.
One of the most exciting outcomes of this DEI Fellowship was Hillbrook’s Philosophy on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Education. It’s a crucial part of our values and affirms our commitment to helping students be their best and actively contribute to the creation of a more equitable and just future.
It’s rooted in action and collaborating with the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship and our Reach Beyond program to bring about real change. It’s a philosophy aware of the practical knowledge, skills, and confidence that a student needs to achieve these ambitious and optimistic goals.
DEI in Hillbrook Classrooms Today
The DEI Fellowship was extremely fruitful and positive for catalyzing ongoing plans for DEI programming at Hillbrook. And while many of its results are still emerging, a few tangible examples have come to the forefront this fall.
We’ve launched a ten week Reach Beyond Block (RBB) cycle examining anti racism and the election, and we’ve created a new eight week elective course for sixth graders called “Identity and Impact.” We will also be continuing our tradition of the Civil Rights Changemaker unit in kindergarten.
Anti-Racism in Fall 2020 Reach Beyond Block
A key lesson in one of this year’s Reach Beyond Blocks, Collective Action for Civil Rights — co-led by Gulliver LaValle, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and middle school art and electives teacher Greg Stamos — compared the 1960s Civil Rights Movements with current anti racist activist groups. Students learned about the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed discriminatory voting practices that affected people of color.
To show how standing up for justice can enact powerful change, we explored how anti racist activism sparked the approval of this piece of legislation. The Voting Rights Act was one of the crowning achievements of the Civil Rights Movement, and was passed after the March from Selma to Montgomery, an event that reemerged in the media this summer in the wake of the death of Civil Rights leader and U.S. Representative John Lewis.
The lesson also moved into current anti racist activist groups such as the Black Lives Matter movement — to illustrate its similarities to past Civil Rights Movements. Students were able to see this as a real life example of how people today are seeking justice in the face of discrimination, and they had an opportunity to consider ways in which the movements were similar and ways in which they were different. As one activity, for example, students were invited to look at photos from the summer and share their reactions to the images, opening up a conversation about things they noticed and questions they had.
Ultimately, students come to understand that the Voting Rights Act was created thanks to the Civil Rights protestors who demanded equal voting rights, and that today’s anti racist movements are striving to build on that legacy.
Identity and Impact Course Fall 2020
Another example of our emerging DEI programming is a new course for 6th graders, Identity and Impact. Co-taught by Gulliver and Director of the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship Annie Makela, the course interweaves the school’s work in DEI and social impact.
In the first four weeks of this class, students explored identity with Gulliver. Much of the curriculum emerged from this summer’s DEI Fellowship, in particular the Pollyanna Racial Literacy Curriculum that was vetted as a helpful resource for DEI education. The class began by watching Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TedTalk, The Danger of a Single Story. Her talk served as a useful starting point and a guide because it reminded us of the importance of listening to multiple voices and considering the diverse ways we identify as humans.
Then students were asked to write their own “Who am I?” narrative in order to ground these topics in their own experience and the experiences of those around them. They naturally moved towards larger questions of how identity impacts our world both historically and today.
The second half of the Identity and Impact course is taught by Annie. A highlight of this segment of the course will be the inclusion of a number of guest speakers, including Director of Enrollment Management Rakiya Brown, Hillbrook alumna Rachelle DeSantis ‘17, and several Hillbrook parents. In addition, the group will take a few virtual field trips to Silicon Valley companies and nonprofits.
In this portion of Identity and Impact, students will deepen their entrepreneurial mindset and hone their ability to name power imbalances and injustices (both historical and current) in our local and global communities. Using the six pillars of social entrepreneurship, they will think about how they can make a difference on a topic that matters deeply to them.
During this part of the course, students might ask questions like: Who are changemakers here in our local community whose story and voice I can amplify? How can I better understand the lived experience of people from different backgrounds than me? What does it mean to have a zero tolerance policy for racist behavior? What kind of entrepreneurs and organizations need our support the most? What kind of entrepreneur would I want to be and what problem would I want to solve?
Civil Rights Changemaker Unit in Kindergarten
In this unit, taught just before the January holiday each year, kindergarten students learn the power of peaceful protest and the importance of taking a stand for your beliefs. While honoring the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., students recreate important pieces of America’s Civil Rights story in age appropriate ways. From the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to surrender her seat on a bus to a white passenger, to the Montgomery Bus Boycott which followed.
Last year, the children learned how a boycott of the buses was organized in order to change laws. They acted out the boycott by telling the mayor and the bus company they wouldn’t ride the buses until people could sit wherever they wanted, and until anyone could become a bus driver, regardless of their skin color. Students made protest signs and drew pictures of the buses both before and after the boycott.
A special guest who met and marched with Dr. King, and who was deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, also visited the students during this experience. She told students that even if at first you stand alone, if you stand for justice you will eventually reach people who will join you.
Kindergarten teachers say that sharing the story of Dr. King, Rosa Parks, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, has become a favorite tradition because students are able to understand and experience the history lesson in age-appropriate ways. Ultimately, teachers say they hope to share the message that if we think something isn’t fair, we can work together to change it.
Why does this matter?
Through DEI programming and anti-racist education, we hope to lead our students and community on an educational journey that will prepare them to be their best and help build a more equitable and just future. To engage in creating a world in which human dignity and positive social identities are valued as essential to wellbeing, so that every student is always known, respected, and valued.
As Annie notes, “We know from conversations with colleagues from top high schools and colleges across the country that the skills students are learning in this curriculum are critical to being able to thrive and create excellent and ethical work in a complex and changing world. This kind of learning can create mixed emotions (heartbreak, anxiety, curiosity, and joy) for all of us in different ways and we also know that engagement and eagerness for this kind of learning is at an all-time high. Having a dedicated space and class to deepen our commitment to our vision as a school and steadfast commitment to diversity, equity, justice, and action is critical now more than ever. Our curriculum is rooted in the belief that students should not only learn to listen to one another but also learn to collect broader community perspectives by engaging with parents, neighbors, and other unique voices.”
