{"id":1307,"date":"2020-03-04T13:26:34","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T20:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/?p=1307"},"modified":"2020-03-05T12:13:36","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T19:13:36","slug":"diversity-equity-inclusion-learning-at-hillbrook-middle-schoolers-analyze-bias-privilege-and-how-powerful-platforms-are-using-their-privilege-for-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/2020\/03\/diversity-equity-inclusion-learning-at-hillbrook-middle-schoolers-analyze-bias-privilege-and-how-powerful-platforms-are-using-their-privilege-for-good\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can We Use Privilege for Good? Hillbrook Middle Schoolers Take on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Gulliver LaValle, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hillbrook first established its Inclusivity Task Force\u2014which evolved into today\u2019s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force\u2014in 2015. This multi-constituent group is made up of strategic members of leadership, members of the Board of Trustees, faculty, and families who come together with the shared goal of prioritizing a school environment that challenges intolerance and values differences as a way to enrich and deepen our world. Some signature outcomes of this group\u2019s work include Hillbrook\u2019s Statement of Inclusivity<\/a> and the appointment of our Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Gulliver LaValle. Another one of their recommendations was to create more intentional space for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the curriculum in a way that connects this work to Hillbrook\u2019s values and mission. This year, Hillbrook\u2019s Middle School Reach Beyond Block reflects a dynamic and supportively vulnerable space for students to grow their competency and gain a rich perspective on this work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During January\u2019s Reach Beyond Block, Hillbrook ran a four-week experience with mixed 5\/6th and 7\/8th groupings around a division-wide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) topic. This year\u2019s guiding topic challenged students to consider \u201cBias & Using Privilege for Good.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s define some key DEI-related terms:<\/em>
\u2022 Explicit Bias<\/strong> (Conscious): Prejudices are directly and publicly displayed. 
\u2022 Implicit Bias<\/strong> (Unconscious): Prejudices can exist in a person\u2019s mind and behaviors without their awareness.
\u2022 Privilege:<\/strong> A special right, advantage, or immunity granted\/available only to a particular person or group of people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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In the first two weeks, students picked a movie related to DEI from a pre-selected list and were able to watch and discuss them through the lens of bias and privilege. The films provided a mirror onto life and opened the dialogue for students to connect how biases may play out in their everyday lives. This active watching experience also gave students opportunities to consider when and where they saw privilege either leveraged for good or not-so-good. Discussions with teachers proved rich as the students asked questions like, \u201cwhy do we have biases?\u201d \u201cHow can we recognize them?\u201d \u201cWhat does using privilege for good look like?\u201d After watching how their questions were answered in film, students came away mindful of broader issues we are tackling today including gender equity in the workplace and socioeconomic structures and access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The third week, students were able to engage with speaker, author, and storyteller Gyasi Ross from the Blackfeet Nation. He has visited hundreds of academic institutions throughout the nation working as a DEI specialist in the areas of biases and privilege. Adding to his list of accomplishments, Gyasi is also a Columbia University-educated and practicing lawyer. In this capacity, he shared both personal narratives and broader stories that allowed students to hear firsthand about how bias and privilege play out in the world, how responses to bias and privilege can be challenging, and how we can work through these challenges. Meeting an inspiring storyteller with a depth of world experience and engaging in brave and frank conversation with him proved to be a great learning experience and a meaningful moment of connection for our students. One student shared, \u201clistening to him made me think more about how we can all use our privilege in a good way to help.\u201d Another said, \u201cI didn\u2019t know that bias is normal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The final week of the cycle consisted of a wrap-up and culmination of the Reach Beyond Block experience, allowing students to begin their own process of connecting the dots. As students put the finishing touches on collaborative and research-based artifacts that show organizations and people who are working to address biases and use their privilege for good, they were asked to equate that with familiar, Hillbrook-based ideas of being an upstander and showing kindness. Through this prompt, students discovered organizations such as \u201cBaby2Baby\u201d which they identified was started by privileged female celebrities to support disadvantaged youth with the goal of giving students an equitable educational experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a school and a learning community, we continue to springboard off the core questions led by the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship<\/a>: what matters to me and what am I doing about it? <\/em>Gyasi\u2019s visit and the project-based learning constructed throughout January allowed students the chance to see the intersectionality of this work and the many ways they can ask intentional questions and reach beyond themselves to make a difference in their local and global communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outcomes of this Reach Beyond Block experience stemmed from the following learning goals:  <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n