Equity and justice in the School of Education
We are a School of Education built on hope – not the ephemeral kind that involves wishing for things to work out, but hope as practice (; ), the kind that comes from knowing, acting, and critically reflecting on our actions. Our School of Education draws on to guide our work as faculty, staff, and students. The core tenets of this framework are a recognition of:
- The ubiquity of racism and other forms of injustice: Ibram X. Kendi defines as "a marriage of racist policies and racist ideas that produces and normalizes racial inequities." The EDJE framework acknowledges the enduring presence of injustices, even as we seek to create a more just and equitable world.
Power through collective action: Our study of successful social movements teaches us that we are better able to effect change when we work together, in concert with one another, rather than as individuals who too often end up in competition or working at cross purposes. We are committed to creating opportunities for collective action informed by the multiplicity of voices inside our school and in our wider community.
Systems change across multiple scales of practice: Changing systems requires work in and across the micro- meso- and macro- levels of social action. We seek consequential changes in our daily interactions, across our School and university, in our communities, and in our society as a whole. This means we need to pay careful attention to, for example, the problems we work on, with whom we engage, and towards what ends. We see the process of working for change as participatory, reciprocal, and collaborative, guided by democratic, transparent, and deliberative processes.
The necessity of institutional transformation: Rather than a sole focus on shifts in pedagogy and curriculum, we are guided by the EDJE framework to examine all aspects of our institution—including the budget, advancement activities, recruitment and retention of students, faculty, and staff, and more—through the lens of justice and equity. This work takes time and a school-wide commitment.
Our goal as a School is to create humanizing spaces where we can live, learn, and work with compassion and dignity. Humanizing projects—as we face pervasive practices of dehumanization through structural violence, disinvestment in communities of color, inequities in healthcare, housing, and education—are not only necessary, but can also be healing (Paris & Winn, 2014). They give us the opportunity to work toward a world that is free from the harms and large injustices that currently pervade everyday life. The process will be ongoing; it will certainly be marked with missteps and false starts; it will be hard; and, it will be fueled by the joy, creativity, and love that are always part of genuine pursuits of justice.
Moving forward towards justice requires understanding that contemporary inequities are rooted in historical and intersecting systems of oppression. Moving forward demands that we self-consciously create and continually revise new practices, policies, ideas, and relationships. Moving forward is what abolitionist educators have always done to imagine and embody alternative futures and radical possibilities. This is a movement that lifts each of us up rather than extinguishing ideas and passions. We ground our work in a history of struggle and collective movements for change.
With gratitude for this community, we share resources on these pages to support our collective learning and our compassionate engagement with each other.
In solidarity,
Kathy Schultz, dean, and Susan Jurow, associate dean of diversity, equity and community engagement
Learning & Supports on Campus
If you need immediate support around an issue related to harassment and/or discrimination, contact your advisor (if you are a student), your chair (if you are a faculty member), or your supervisor (if you are a staff member). They can work with you to identify next steps including consultation with an associate dean, the dean, or authorities beyond the School of Education. The university also offers a variety of resources for those seeking support around issues related to inclusion and diversity. Key offices include:
- Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) offers case resolution, education, assessment, support, and ADA accommodations for all CU community members.
- provides confidential consultation, support, advocacy and short-term counseling for students, faculty, and staff.
- offers confidential mental health and psychiatric services for students.
- Staff Council – Inclusive Excellence Committee provides the staff with opportunities to extend diversity and equity knowledge, perspectives, and experiences.
- CU «Ƶ Human Resources – Diversity & Inclusion offers hiring, professional development, and Affirmative Action resources and support.
As a School of Education, we look not only to scholarly texts to inform the principles that guide our policies and practices, but also draw from the wisdom of communities and activists who have organized and fought for our collective liberation. This means that our work for justice is not contained in our local context alone. We strive to recognize and engage with the struggles against injustice and oppression that are also happening beyond the borders of our campus. We do this because, in the words of activist Yuri Kochiyama, “(w)e are all part of one another."
Learning is not about reaching a predetermined end goal or espousing a specific set of views. Learning is about understanding, listening, and then taking ethical and principled action. This is challenging and ongoing work. It is also work that can bring about and sustain our joy and our commitments to each other. Our School of Education offers a variety of ways for staff, faculty, and students to deepen our individual and collective understanding of diversity, equity, and justice. Group activities center learning through dialogue, mindful listening, and critical reflection that can lead to real action.
Community opportunities for learning about equity:
- The School of Education Book Club meets quarterly and past titles have included Homeland Elegies, Braiding Sweetgrass, The Astonishing Color of After, There There and more. For more information, contact Grace Maniscalco.
- CU Buffs One Read program fosters intellectual community and cultural exchange among students, faculty, and staff campuswide. Learn more on the CU Libraries website.
Anti-Racism Coursera is an online course hosted by colleagues in Ethnic Studies, and the School of Education has hosted discussion groups. and contact Susan Jurow for information on discussion groups.
Staff management team enrolled in an inclusive leadership series offered by HR. For more information, contact Human Resources.
CU «Ƶ’s Ed Talks, think TED Talks with an educational lens, are hosted each semester in-person and online. Visit colorado.edu/education/edtalks to join the next event or catch up on past Ed Talks.
The Climate Change Learning Gathering in 2021 focused on Justice, Emotion, and Action. Watch the webinars.
The Teachers of Color and Allies (TOCA) Summit is traditionally a daylong event that gathers education students, local educators of color, and allies to provide collegial support, opportunities for networking and mentoring, and insights into best practices in education. For more infomation, contact William Lindsay and Ian Her Many Horses.
Mentorship & community scholar opportunities:
The Education Diversity Scholars Program (EDS) provides academic and social support through individualized advising and community, financial support, and career exploration by way of various seminars, panels, and workshops related to education and teaching. EDS is open to students who are pursuing teacher licensure or majoring in Elementary Education or Leadership and Community Engagement, and who come from underrepresented backgrounds in higher education, including first-generation students, students of color and LGBTQIA students. For more information, contact Mileidis Gort.
The Multicultural Leadership Scholars Program supports the development of leaders from diverse backgrounds, experiences, concerns, knowledge, interests, and accomplishments. Through coursework, service, and socialization, scholars develop a deep awareness of their own values and belief systems as well as those of others. The program features meaningful relationships with professors and peers mentors, diverse practicum classes, career exploration, financial support (for those who are eligible), and an increased sense of community. Learn more about the program.
The Students of Color Collective (SOCC) is an interdisciplinary student of color group that aims to create and maintain space for self-identified students of color to gather and support each other in the School of Education and at CU «Ƶ. SOCC is meant to serve as a safe space for nondominant communities that also identify as graduate students. We hold formal and informal gatherings throughout the school year and host events in collaboration with other graduate students and organizations. SOCC also works to ensure that BIPOC students’ needs are considered when making decisions that impact them. The SOCC seminar space meets at least one time out of the month during the Fall and Spring semester. To learn more about who we are, check out our . Email Franklin Chilaka to join SOCC's email listserv.
This program is designed to create a pathway for historically underrepresented and marginalized education scholars and practitioners who are considering doctoral studies at the School of Eductaion. We hope to use this program to make the sometimes mystifying process of applying to a PhD program more visible, to provide an opportunity for you to get to know our students and faculty, and participate in sessions where we’ll talk about how to apply and what the realities are for students of color studying in a predominantly white research institution. For more infomation, visit the program page.
Equity and Justice Committee
The School of Education’s Equity and Justice committee, made up of students, staff, and faculty members, aims to identify and address issues that create barriers to our School’s efforts to organize equitable and just learning across the diverse spaces of our community. We use the Education Deans for Justice and Equity to help us create supportive environments in which students, staff, and faculty can learn with and from each other.
Fundamental to the work of advancing equity and justice is recognizing that we each bring unique histories and experiences into our School and that honoring our diverse backgrounds makes us a more robust community. From this starting point, the work of the committee will focus on leading individual and community reflection on our roles and responsibilities as educators as well as advancing systemic change in our School. As a committee, we will strive to locate points of possibility and transformation while recognizing and discerning issues and their root causes.
The committee will create and share resources to facilitate our community’s learning related to equity and justice in education and in our lives more broadly. We will also serve as an advisory group to the Dean and the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement.
If you’re interested in joining the committee or have an idea for the committee to pursue, please contact Susan Jurow, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement, at susan.jurow@colorado.edu.