Fostering community, school culture, and deeper learning through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens requires intentional meaning-making to establish shared understandings. This process is most effective when districts engage in a collaborative, collective, and embedded approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion with the use of explicit protocols. This workshop will discuss how to establish/re-establish a shared set of values and expectations that influence how we interact and collaborate with one another as an entire school community to achieve meaning together and find a mutual sense of understanding across differences. It will include a discussion of how to utilize strategies that affirm each student’s unique identity, build a welcoming and inclusive community, cultivate engaged and empowered learners, and complete a critical examination of the district's culture, practices, systems, and policies to identify areas of strength and opportunities for growth. Our hope is that this is an opportunity for attendees to engage in dialogue, power-sharing, and authentic collaboration and leave with takeaways to aid in the transformation of their own districts or organizations.
