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Oakland Unified School District

2022-23 Spring Communities of Practice

OUSD Antiracist Communities of Practice came together in the Fall of 2022 and Spring 2023 to learn together with colleagues across sites as we build an antiracist school district. All educators, school and district staff & community partners were welcome.

OEA, SEIU & AFSCME staff can submit for extended contract or PGUs & extra time - please see details below.

Ethnic Studies x Making with Agency by Design Oakland

In-Person Thursdays 4-6pm @ Grass Valley Elementary: January 12 & 26, February 9 & 23 

A participatory series for TK-12th grade educator teams to integrate hands-on learning and OUSD's Ethnic Studies Key Themes into your existing curriculum. Lots of planning time and a materials stipend included.

OUSD Retreats for Racial Healing

Affinity | Journaling | Solidarity

Tuesdays 4-6pm on Zoom: January 31, February 7, 14 & 28

Grab your tea, get comfy, and dive in to center healing, process antiracism questions, and build solidarity and collective action.

We will meet in our district-wide racial affinity groups, and then come together to build BIPOC solidarity and multiracial solidarity as OUSD staff.

Racial healing journals from ZenIt will be provided!

Disability Justice Learning & Action Group

Mondays 4-6pm on Zoom: February 6, March 6, & 20, April 17, May 1 & 15

This learning and action group will engage in sustained collective inquiry so that we can become a source of information and action against ableism and racism - and for disability justice in OUSD.

 

Antiracist Somatics for White Educators

In-Person Saturdays 10am-12pm: February 11 & 25, March 11 & 25, April 8 & 29 

This community of practice for aspiring and developing white antiracist educators will leverage somatics to develop skills to disrupt internalized, interpersonal and institutional racism in schools.

OUSD's Racial Justice Taskforce invites White educators in OUSD to deepen their antiracist healing through body-based in-person work as a district-wide White Affinity Group.  

Transformative Social Emotional Learning with PreK-5 Boys of Color

Tuesdays 4-6pm on Zoom: March 7, 14, 21, 28, April 11 & 18 

PreK-5 educators will use inquiry to explore transformative social emotional learning (SEL) practices to support the development, achievement, foundation-building and thriving of early childhood and elementary boys of color.

  • Session 1: Young Boys of Color and Identity  
  • Session 2: Young Boys of Color and Collaboration  
  • Session 3: Young Boys of Color and Agency  
  • Session 4: Young Boys of Color and Belonging  
  • Session 5: Young Boys of Color and the Power of Curiosity  
  • Session 6: Sharing Our Critical Inquiry Group Learnings

Disrupting the 4 C Cycle of Anti-Black Racism

For All Staff: Mondays 4-6pm on Zoom: March 20 & 27, April 17 

For All Site Safety Teams: Tuesdays 2-4pm on Zoom: February 7th, 14th and 21st

This trilogy will review the 4C’s Cycle Model, a transformative framework that can be used to identify, assess and disrupt anti-Black racism at the systemic and interpersonal level in schools and beyond.

All OUSD staff are required to attend training on disrupting anti-Black racism as part of the George Floyd and Reparations for Black Students School Board resolutions and our district's work to eliminate disproportionate suspensions and increase thriving and achievement for our Black students.

School Site Safety Teams submitted as part of the George Floyd Village Safety Plans are asked to join the Tuesday series to focus in on disrupting anti-Blackness in safety roles.

Antiracist Trauma Resilience & De-Escalation

In this 5-week Trauma Informed Community of Practice, participants learn a framework for understanding students’ (and adults’) developmental sensitivity, including the physiology of trauma and learning.

This framework integrates several core principles of trauma-informed practices and somatics, Healing Centered Engagement and Nonviolent Communication into a comprehensive approach grounded in Antiracism, that helps match specific social emotional supports to students’ developmental stage, rich cultural heritage and brain region mediating Social, Emotional, Behavior and Academic learning.

Fall 2022 DATES: Thursdays 4-6pm on Zoom

  • November 10th
  • November 17th
  • December 1st
  • December 8th
  • December 15th

Participants are asked to attend all 5 sessions to build on knowledge and participate in Critical Inquiry Groups to apply learnings to your daily practice and move through a cycle of reflection.

 

These learning series are open and free to all OUSD staff and community partners who serve OUSD students!  External allies must register by emailing lailan.huen@ousd.org.

OEA Members can submit timesheet hours upon completion of the series in the Exit Ticket for payment at the Professional Development rate, OR submit for Professional Growth Units for advancement on the salary scale.

SEIU & AFSCME Members can check in with their Supervisor to see if they are eligible to submit an overtime form online if these times fall beyond contract hours:

  • Please list Raquel Jimenez - Office of Equity Executive Director as the approver & supervisor.
  • You will be compensated at your Extra Time rate.
Healing Retreats Flyer