Unpacking “All” Protocol: Making Sure We Actually Serve ALL Students
Diversity is the mix. Inclusion is making the mix work.
– Andrés Tapia
INTRO
A foundational question we should be asking in education is: “What is our school doing to prepare ALL students?”
Many times in education we create programs and strategies with the idea and hope that we are serving all students.
Yet, we struggle to serve a variety of students either because we don’t know how or what approaches to use, and sometimes we simply aren’t explicit enough about the ALL and what that really means.
In the following activity developed by Carmen Gelman (Director of Professional Learning at the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators), you’ll unpack the word “all” in order to examine who and what we mean and how to design educational approaches that can get us closer to “all” students.
Although this is a 20-minute activity, it is only the start of what is meant to be a deeper conversation back in your building.
OBJECTIVES
- Unpack the word “all” in order to examine who and what you mean and how to design educational approaches that can get you closer to “all” students.
Using this activity to understand who all your students are is just the first step, the real work is then considering and planning for how you’ll use this information to change and build the student experience at your school. Check out Carmen’s story for some of the ways she elevated the student experience at her schools, and as always, Toolkit has even more practical ideas for how you can as well.
Use the provided Slides to follow this process:
What “All” Means
Take about 5 minutes and make a list of your students based on the following prompts. It’s important to be very specific:
When we say “all” students who do we mean?:
- Racially? (What racial groups are represented in your school?)
- Economically? (What variety of socioeconomic groups are represented?)
- Geographically? (Where are students from? What is their geography like? Where were they from?)
- Ethnically? (What ethnic groups are represented in your school?)
- Linguistically? (What languages are spoken at your school?)
- From a gendered perspective? (What gender representations are present in your school? Which might be?)
- From an ability perspective? (What type of diversity exists physically, cognitively and developmentally at your school?)
- From a family perspective? (What kinds of family structures are represented in your school?)
- From a social perspective? (How do students organize themselves socially at your school? i.e. athletes, theater, skater, leadership, ESL, and so forth)
TIPS
- Be thinking from a historical perspective who has been a part of the “all” discussion in the past? Has it grown or changed?
- The challenge then, if we want to say we are serving “all” students is to develop programs that encompass all of these categories.
- The hope is that this will bring a clearer focus on what is meant by “all” and that you will make strategic decisions from that perspective understanding that there is no single strategy that can cross all cultural demographic categories.
Deeper Reflection
Spend another 10 minutes reflecting and asking yourselves the following questions.
- Examining the lists you created, which groups are best being served within your current school system?
- Who is being underserved by your current approaches and what are the unintended consequences?
- What strategies are you using now that come close to serving the needs of “all” students and are they culturally relevant?
- How can you use this information to change and build the student experience at your school?
TIPS
- This activity can be completed individually or in small or larger groups; however, we recommend having at least some group discussion once everyone has worked through the process as collaboration strengthens the outcomes of this activity.
- We also encourage you to use this protocol as part of your decision-making process with your administrative team, staff, students, and families.
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