Positive Social Change Through Education: Views From Inside an Elementary School

Families, school employees, students, and anyone else interested in social justice in our schools are encouraged to join this class. The class will take place at Jackson Street School. We will examine real-life classrooms and other spaces, curriculum, student work, and the complicated situations and power dynamics that play out through a variety of stories. We will learn and practice a model for unpacking these stories. This tool will help us design both immediate responses to aggression and long-term strategies to make lasting change. Our discussions will focus on our own cultural identities and institutional practices while pushing back on the way people often hide privilege and oppression by trying to keep the focus on individual character traits. Our goal is to build capacity, connection, and community in the fight to make our schools places of empowerment and restorative justice.

Trainers: Tom Chang has been an elementary school teacher for over ten years. He hopes to make schools a more just place for everyone and a force for change in our communities; and Gwen Agna who was the principal of Jackson Street School for over 20 years, and retired as of summer 2020. Throughout her career, Gwen has been committed to providing a child-centered, equitable, and empowering education for all.