Building an Equitable and Inclusive Community

Enid Lee and 2015 Polytechnic Cohort Members.

As a consultant doing anti-racist equity work in schools, I often feel like a person carrying water in a basket. If you have ever carried water in a basket, you know how futile it feels.

You hold the basket very carefully. You pour more water into the basket as water drips out. You make the basket sturdier. And yet, at the end of the day, it feels as if the volume of water in your basket does not reflect your effort.

Lately I have been counteracting my frustration by reading accounts of the work I have assisted others in doing. My outlook is brightened when I see how the work:

• resulted in practices that introduce accurate content about marginalized people into the curriculum

• enabled students to make a connection between the injustice in the world at large and the injustice on their campus and, even better, to do something about it

• lead to teaching and assessments that maximize the talents and abilities of students from a range of racial backgrounds and learning profiles

• validated the crucial role of business and operations staff who support students in growth and learning

Read Building an Equitable and Inclusive Community to see examples of this work in action over two years at the Polytechnic cohort on diversity and inclusion.

Keep checking this site for more articles like this. It is one way of addressing the sense of futility that arises in the face of what is sometimes backbreaking and heartbreaking work in these challenging times.