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The Waterloo Community Schools District Equity Committee reviewed district data including climate survey results from staff, students and parents. It was determined that a staff development initiative that focused on culturally competent practices was appropriate.
The District Superintendent and a number of members of the committee had recently participated in a community-wide study circle initiative on race. They shared their positive learning experiences about self and race. Because the first step in the acquisition of skills in cultural competence is self-awareness, the Equity Committee investigated the study circles process as a professional development format. Study circles provide a forum to examine controversial issues like race and ethnicity in a safe environment.
Waterloo Community Schools worked closely with the Waterloo Human Rights Commission to select appropriate study circle discussion materials from a number of developed curricula. A small group had the opportunity to meet with the national director of the Study Circles… to discuss our interests. As a result of this meeting, one session was developed by the Study Circles Resource Center specifically for our training process.
The goal of this initiative was to provide opportunities for educators to talk about their backgrounds with race and ethnicity and reflect on how these experiences affect their teaching and the learning of their students.
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