Work With Us
Keynotes and Workshops
Bring the Teaching While White team to your institution! Our new series of workshops follows the principles that we lay out in our book, Learning and Teaching While White. Jenna and Elizabeth combine 40 years of classroom and administrative experience to shift organizational culture and promote antiracism in dynamic and engaging workshops for parents, educators, administrators, board members and community leaders.
We seek to partner with schools to develop a professional growth opportunity that is aligned with your institution's particular needs. Reach out to us to start the conversation - Engagement Coordinator Cynthia Pesantez is here to coach you through the entire planning process, offering insight into building buy-in, logistical considerations, and overall setting your team up for success. The below workshops are not a menu - to set hosts up for success, we design engagements based on hosts' specific needs. These are some of the building blocks we use.
Affinity and Accountability
3-6 hours in person; 2.5 hours online
Developing and supporting antiracist white identity spaces, often referred to as “affinity” or caucus/resource groups for adults, students, and parents.
Why does white racial literacy matter?
What research is there to support affinity group work?
What should these groups look, sound, and feel like?
What are the benefits of naming white supremacy culture?
How can we practice and improve our skills to challenge racism to promote greater engagement?
Antiracist Curricular Integration
3-6 hours in person; 2.5 hours online
Incorporating white racial identity development into your curriculum.
Why is it important for students to see themselves reflected in the curriculum?
How can you address racialized student experiences via what you teach?
What are some strategies for shifting teaching practices for greater equity?
How can you apply your understanding of racial identity to your classroom context?
Why Your Bias Matters: How Teacher Expectations Impact Student Achievement
3-6 hours in person; 2.5 hours online
The vast majority of teachers don’t set out to support racism. Yet, if we have not been intentional about examining our bias, we can negatively impact our students.
Current research: how important are teacher expectations? Why do they matter?
How can we ensure that our expectations for all students are appropriate and not limited by factors such as stereotype threat and/or implicit bias?
What does it mean to be a “warm demander”? (Kleinfeld, 1975; Hammond 2015)
Antiracist Assessment and Feedback
3-6 hours in person; 2.5 hours online
Developing systems for accountability and growth in our antiracist practice.
Current research: how do we know our current assessment practices support great racial equity?
How can we utilize feedback systems to challenge racism?
Parenting While White
3-6 hours in person; 2.5 hours online
White parents need to engage white children in discussion about race and racism. We also need to think strategically about the collective impact white parents have on schools.
How do we teach white children about racism without making them feel guilty or shameful?
What kinds of conversations are age appropriate?
How do white parents explore and manage their own discomfort?
How does individual advocacy for our children impact all students?
Anticipating Resistance and Countering Backlash
3-6 hours in person; 2.5 hours online
Learn how to anticipate, engage, and utilize resistance as a means for meaningful and lasting institutional change.
Do we have an in-depth understanding of Critical Race Theory – what it is and isn’t?
Can we address fears and concerns about talking about race and racism in schools?
Have we practiced our responses in a way that will bring more white people into the conversation?
Virtual Courses
Sign up now for workshops you can take this summer. Start the new school year equipped with the tools you need to engage courageously and compassionately with students, parents, other educators, and your institution. We focus on understanding our own racial identity, building skills to act in the moment, and preparing strategies to respond to resistance.
Responding to Anti-CRT Propaganda: Tools for Educators & Parents
This workshop is designed for those who understand why we need to talk about race in schools, but often feel unsure of how to respond to community members who are questioning or resisting curriculum and programming designed to address racism on campus. Too often the burden of addressing this resistance falls on the shoulders of people of color. This space is designed specifically for white people to practice responding to the fear at the base of the anti-CRT propaganda. We will provide materials to help us diagnose what is actually going on and how we can best address resistance in productive ways that move us closer to racial justice.
Understanding Whiteness and Its Impact on Teaching and Learning
In many ways, the racial injustice being highlighted in this time in history is not new. What IS new is the way racial justice is now being covered by the mainstream media and discussed in every forum. Students are looking to their teachers to help navigate and make sense of what they are seeing. This workshop series is conducted as a white, antiracist affinity space so that we can develop a greater understanding of white racial identity and develop the skills and racial literacy that will guide the next generation towards greater racial justice.
Workshop #1: Teaching While White — Now What?
A two-session, virtual workshop that meets via Zoom for white teachers and administrators who understand that race matters in the classroom, but who still feel uncomfortable engaging in racial topics, especially across racial difference. To better understand our own perspective, we will explore what it means to be “white” and why it matters. We will explore the concept of managing racial stress and what to do when we start to feel overwhelmed. We will discuss why being “colorblind” is not a solution, what language is appropriate to use, how stereotypes influence everyone, and how we can be more conscious of our own biases in the classroom to ensure we are effective teachers for all students.
Workshop #2: From Ally to Accomplice — Strengthening Our Skills to Act Against Racial Injustice
A two-session, virtual workshop that meets via Zoom for white teachers and administrators who want to expand their strategies for increasing racial equity in schools. We will explore Dovidio’s research on aversive racism to enhance our understanding of racism as a system. We will practice how to interrupt racially stressful situations and how to manage white guilt, shame, and paralysis in the face of racist comments or behavior. We will identify how white fragility operates in schools and ways to challenge it via both pedagogy and content. Participants will leave the workshop with a deeper understanding of allyship as an action and with strategies to support healthy, antiracist teaching/learning environments.
Introducing a new workshop in the series!
Workshop #3: Engaging Institutional Resistance
(Prerequisite: we ask participants to register for this workshop only after completing workshops #1 & #2)
It’s not a question of if racism is operating, but when, and are you prepared to address it head-on, both individually and institutionally? In this workshop we will build on the concepts from the first two workshops: white racial identity development, challenging color-evasiveness and white silence, and identifying effective interpersonal interventions. As a next step in this progression, we will consider many of the systemic issues that become more visible as we hone our own strategies for reflection and resistance. We will refine our skills for disrupting racism and white dominant culture in schools. We will utilize tools to help anticipate moments where bias and racism may emerge so we can plan ahead and practice accordingly. This is a two-session, virtual workshop that meets via Zoom for white teachers and administrators.
Workshop #1: Teaching While White—Now What?
Workshop #2: From Ally to Accomplice
Workshop #3: Engaging Institutional Resistance
Other ways to connect with us
Book Talks
What exciting news - our book is out! Learning and Teaching While White is the handbook for educational institutions and communities looking to shift from talk about racial justice, to action. We have a limited number of slots available for FREE book talks. Invite Jenna and Elizabeth into your institution to read a book except and engage your community in a conversation.
Consulting
TWW is committed to offering schools and universities a variety of opportunities for looking at how racial identity development impacts teaching and learning. We seek to partner with schools to develop a professional growth opportunity that is aligned with your institution's particular needs. Contact us if your institution is looking for a longer-term relationship where we can guide you through professional development or policy and practice updates.