I guess the simple answer is to start with ourselves and our team. As leaders our opportunity to make a difference starts with the culture of respect we create within our own team.
But how? I found a number of practical ideas on the Critical MultiCultural Pavillion created by EdChange.org. It is a website created by a team of educators dedicated to equity, diversity, multiculturalism, and social justice. They provide resources for workshops, staff meetings and projects that support progressive change in our educational systems. I want to share an activity that I recently experienced and encourage you to give it a try with your team! It is called the “Circles of My MultiCultural Self” and the full instructions can be found by clicking on the link.
Briefly, each of us created our own set of circles identifying cultural and personal elements of ourselves that we defined as important for making us who we are. Next we spent a few minutes with a partner, each sharing a story about a time we were most proud of one of our defining elements and a story when it was a painful moment. Finally we were asked to identify a stereotype about one of our unique elements, or circles, that was incomplete, incorrect or failed to fully capture who we are.
As we shared our stories and the stereotypes we have heard I was struck by how different my experiences have been as a member of the majority culture from my colleagues from a minority culture. What I defined as important, or had experienced as painful moments, were mostly internal or personal elements that I got to choose to share or not share. I was in control of sharing that I am a cancer survivor or a divorced co-parent of a teen-age girl. My colleagues from a diverse or minority culture mostly described painful moments and identifying characteristics that others attributed to them or imposed on them! They were labeled as “black” or “from another country” or “as having a confusing and hard to understand accent.” They were not allowed to define themselves.
This was a small but powerful growth experience for me and for the team as a whole and a step in creating an inclusive work environment.
Their website offers a number of resources for leaders looking for ways to support equitable opportunities for all people to be successful at work.
Todd Thorsgaard
Higher EDge 