-JoyAnn Boudreau How will you fight against different -isms and -phobias this year? (Not sure what I mean by -isms and -phobias here are a few examples: racism, sexism, Islamophobia, transphobia.) What inequitable systems within your sphere of influence will you work on disrupting? How will do you so? What needs tackled first? Whose voices or work can you amplify this year? Whose work can you credit and consult? (Be sure to cite ALL. Check out #citeblackwomen on Twitter. Women of color too often do not receive proper citation credit for their work. For example, how many of us heard about windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors long before we heard of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop?) What personal growing and learning do you need to do? While folks are reflecting on the last decade and possibly setting resolutions or goals for the upcoming year, let's also make time to set goals for equity work. Personal Growth and Learning ResourcesHere are some resources that may help with the personal growing and learning part of your equity work:
-JoyAnn Boudreau Dr. Sheldon Eakins has served in various roles as a K-12 educator and administrator. He has taught at every K-12 level and served as a school principal in two different states.
I know you’ve served roles as both teacher and administrator in different education systems and schools. I am hoping you had some opportunities to work with school librarians in some of those positions. What do you see as librarians’ role with equity work? What are things all librarians could be implementing?
Dr. Eakins shared that he used to work in the Virgin Islands. The librarian there was an amazing grant writer that would get money for various resources such as DVDs, books, tech, etc. The librarian also ensured they curated materials and books relevant to the students in that school and reflecting the black culture on the islands. The librarian pulled a diverse pool of materials that could extend beyond race, sexual identity, ability, or even some religious information. But there’s just a plethora of information that librarians can offer. It’s not just about one pool of books that might appeal to the librarian, but it’s about really taking the students into mind. The books in his current school’s library on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation is approximately 88% indigenous related. The librarian makes sure the collection is relevant to tribal members at the school. There are other books as well. He’s working with ELA teachers to bring in more culturally based material as well. He urged librarians to be intentional about the content that we’re getting - the magazines, graphic novels, all of those things. It’s crucial to intentionally think about our students and have them in mind. Sometimes we might get a grant for a specific niche but that might not be relevant to our students or school. Don’t do it just because the access is there, but be intentional that it’s relevant to the kids. What do you think would be a common misstep or two for librarians who don’t see an inequity or are perhaps trying to resolve it ineffectively to try to avoid? - JoyAnn Boudreau Part of our job as librarians is to help support curriculum and to collaborate to see what resources teachers need to supplement their lessons. We research, we curate, we share. When we’re doing this work, it’s important that we are looking for gaps in curriculum and in representation in texts. Another aspect of our job as a building leader striving towards equity is to do our part to help ensure that all students and cultures are represented in an accurate manner that doesn’t just portray one side of the story. There’s a new humanities curriculum for some grade levels in my building and district. It was observed that the representation of American Indians in the 5th grade curriculum/book did not include enough information or any current information. Hearing that, I set out to gather resources. Filling the Gaps-JoyAnn Boudreau Time to Start It was hard for me to start this. I wanted it to be a perfect opening. But if we wait for something to be perfect or if we wait to be ready, then sometimes things don't happen. I used to sit on the sidelines when it came to equity work for the same reasons. "What if I said the wrong thing?" "But I don't like confrontation." (Ugh. There is some white privilege in those excuses that I see now. White educators and people can choose whether or not to opt into these conversations and work. That's not a choice people of color typically have.) I needed to confront that and my fears of making mistakes to start creating some noise and raising my voice louder with equity work. Librarians have an eons old stereotype of being the shushers, but I think we can also be the noise makers. What better thing to make noise about than equitable access, representation, and inclusion in our libraries and schools? Librarians MUST be involved in equity work personally and professionally. We are one of the "gatekeepers" in our schools or institutions. We are one of the few people in our buildings who affect and interact with every single student, patron, and/or adult. Helping every kid see themselves in books (read Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop work on this), standing up to soft censorship (read K. A. Holt's piece on this), demanding resource/technology access for everyone, and dismantling systems that aren't working to replace with new ones are what we do. If we aren't looking at those through an equity lens, then some people relying on us will not get the resources, information, books, technology, or ally they need and deserve. The Preface |
AboutThe purpose of the ISTE Librarians Network is to promote librarians as leaders and champions of educational technology and digital literacy. The key mission is to provide a professional learning community where librarians can leverage technology knowledge and expertise to improve school library programs, increase access to information, and foster strong teaching and learning environments in a connected world. Archives
April 2020
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