Partnerships
Professional Development
The South Plainfield Public Schools is working to enhance existing and develop new partnerships with organizations dedicated to access and equity. We engage in professional development that is supported and run by such groups to ensure we, as an educational community, are being culturally responsible.
Our teachers participated in two specific trainings at the start of the 2020-2021 school year.
Representing All Students in the Curriculum: Approaching Race and Equity in the Classroom
Description - We will begin the program by introducing what the approach is and how it came to be. The workshop will begin with the teacher’s consideration of his/her own perspectives of critical race theory. Next, the workshop presenter will describe Gloria Ladson-Billings and other authorities’ perspectives of the fields of culturally relevant pedagogy and the characteristics of a culturally responsive classroom. Participants will work in pairs to review various practices as they identify the characteristics found in each scenario. The workshop will end with each participant considering a present practice and how he/she can revise it to incorporate culturally relevant strategies.
Culturally Responsive Teaching
Description - We will begin the program by introducing what the approach is and how it came to be. The workshop will begin with the teacher’s consideration of his/her own perspectives of critical race theory. Next, the workshop presenter will describe Gloria Ladson-Billings and other authorities’ perspectives of the fields of culturally relevant pedagogy and the characteristics of a culturally responsive classroom. Participants will work in pairs to review various practices as they identify the characteristics found in each scenario. The workshop will end with each participant considering a present practice and how he/she can revise it to incorporate culturally relevant strategies.
Our administration participated in both faculty trainings as well as:
The Recognition of Bias and the Self-Reflection Process
Description - This workshop begins with the consultant aiding participants in recognizing their own beliefs and biases through multiple activities. From there, participants will look for “blind spots” in their own beliefs while sharing and interacting with their colleagues. Throughout the workshop, participants will be provided with resources and strategies for taking positive action steps through self-reflection.
Book Study: So, You Want to Talk About Race
Description - This workshop engages participants in the “hard to talk about” topics that are brought to light in Ijeoma Oluo’s book, So, You Want to Talk About Race? Specific focus will be placed on the topics that relate to education.