The majority of our schools were founded by white, cisgender, upper-class men, whose privilege, traditions, and values still present themselves in our schools in both conscious and unconscious ways. But, we’ve come a long way. Today, independent schools seek to be diverse, inclusive, and equitable for all. We have affinity groups, global dinners, equity and inclusion task force committees, board committees, faculty book clubs, and a number of other groups that make our schools more welcoming.
As independent school educators, we understand that we must teach children to live, work, and contribute in a global world. We must continue to be deliberate about the decisions we make. There must be checks in place to ensure we’re being fair and equitable. But first, we need to be willing to have the difficult conversations and to re-examine our practices again and again.
Opening Dialogue
Many of our families choose our schools because their family members went there, and they want their children to have the same values instilled in them. For many of our families, diversity and inclusion are seen as a loss of their privilege and a bursting of their independent school bubble to include others. Many of our families say they’re “paying a lot of money to be able to dictate curriculum,” and they should “get what they pay for.” How do we make the old school families understand that we must be the place for all children? How do we make them realize that their children must recognize, hear, learn, appreciate, and welcome other perspectives?Usually, one of the first steps in taking the temperature of a school is through a survey. Ask the students, parents, faculty, and even the alumni about their experiences at school, use that data to identify themes, present the themes to the faculty and the board, and then start to make changes. Surveys make people feel included; they make people feel like their opinions are valued and matter. Surveys have numbers and percentages, and people like that.
But, there’s an elephant in the room with doing the work that results from surveys. Oftentimes, schools are not prepared, equipped, or staffed to do this deep, difficult school culture-, curriculum-changing work. They like getting statistics and personal antidotes, but in order to have real, meaningful, systemic change, you need a board, head, and faculty who are willing to ride the wave of dissension from the old families. You need to put in the time and care that it takes to bring people along and make them understand that this change must happen for all of the students to call the institution inclusive. You need to make them understand that these changes are for the good of the whole. You also need to make the faculty understand that curricula need to be globally inclusive. They may need to rewrite curriculum, redo curriculum, and if they chose not to, they will have to leave.
Continuing to Ask Questions
As educators, we hear the words “best practice” over and over again. Related to diversity and inclusion, “best practice” is to introduce the concepts as early as we can in a global context. Welcoming Schools, a Human Rights Campaign Foundation project, states, “Children start to apply stereotypes as early as 3, and even preschoolers use racist language intentionally.” Knowing this, we need to ask what are we doing as independent schools for our smallest learners to prevent this? Are we using the correct terms? Are we welcoming, learning about, and including “others,” not just on a “drop-in, one-time basis”?The terms “equity” and “equality” get tossed around a lot in independent schools. We use these words to our advantage, to attract families, to meet needs, and to raise money. But, are we able to say that we treat our students with equity and equality? Do we offer the accommodations to make spaces equitable and equal for all? Do we remove the white norms or stop looking through the white lens to truly see and be objective? Can we be objective?
Are we revisiting the conversations and topics year after year? Are we using examples and voices from around the world? Are we saying, “white privilege, socioeconomic, gender fluidity?” Are we still adhering to some of the white norm, and can we ever truly be free from it?
Moving Us Forward
White educators need to be comfortable asking for help from their colleagues of color. They need to know that mistakes will be made; pain will be caused, but only then can understanding and learning take place. Administrators need to be willing to lean into the fact that their schools were founded on white supremacy, not the hooded, secretive kind, but the systemic kind that has sustained the white norm for hundreds of years.When looking at candidates, you have to recognize and name your biases. Are you bringing your invisible package of privilege into your decision to interview? Is your interview committee diverse, inclusive, and representative of what you would like your school to be? You have to ask others to check you; perhaps your unconscious bias has made decisions that you are not even aware. When hiring, you have to be willing to look at a candidate for how that person will uphold your school’s position on diversity and inclusion. Are you making your selections and putting people in the position of being the voice for their people? Are you hiring radical allies who will use and share their privilege?
All of this takes time, and this is where the momentum gets lost; visible change does not happen quickly enough, and people feel like they have not been heard. Teachers come and go; heads come and go; priorities change, and unless there are folks who are committed to making the changes happen, the real, systemic change never does.
