S10E27 Mirko Chardin | Reclaiming the Narrative Around Educational Equity
TTim VillegasMay 22, 2023 at 4:27 pm49min
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00:01Tim Villegas
MCIE
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00:04Tim Villegas
You know what has been and still is a huge buzzword in education right now. Equity, and our guest this week unpacks what it means and what it doesn't mean? Stick around to learn more
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00:24Tim Villegas
My name is Tim Vegas from the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education and you are listening to think inclusive, a show where with every conversation we try to build bridges between families, educators and disability justice advocates to create a shared understanding of inclusive education and what inclusion looks like in the real world. You can learn more about who we are and what we do@mcie.org Mirko Chardon is Novak education's chief equity and inclusion officer. Before joining Novak He was the founding Head of School of the Putnam Avenue Upper School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. merkos work has involved all areas of school management and student support. His greatest experience and passion revolve around culturally connected teaching and learning, recruiting and retaining educators of color, restorative practice and school culture. He is also the co author with Dr. Katie Novak of the best selling equity by design. The power and promise of UDL is available to provide workshops, seminars and trainings on implicit bias micro aggressions UDL restorative practice identity, courageous conversations about race and personal narratives. Here is what we cover in today's episode. Why equity is a complex issue that requires a holistic approach, the importance of listening to the voices of students in understanding why school should be for kids and not adults. Before we get into today's interview, I have some questions for you. Are you feeling disconnected from your loved ones? Do you want to stay in touch without having to be constantly on social media? If so, then together letters is a perfect solution for you. Together letters is a group email newsletter that gathers updates from all of its members and combines them into a single easy to read newsletter for everyone. This means that you can stay up to date with what's going on and your friends and families lives without having to scroll through and this feeds. Best of all together letters is free for groups of 10 or less. So what are you waiting for Sign up today at together letters.com And start reconnecting with your favorite people. And now, my interview with Mirko Chardon. Mirko Chardin, welcome to the think conclusive podcast.
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02:51Mirko Chardin
Thank you for having me. I'm so so excited to have this conversation. I've been looking forward to it.
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02:55Tim Villegas
So Mirko, I wanted to have you on because I wanted to talk about equity. And the word equity can be a politically charged word. And I know for the for MCIE, you're the Maryland Coalition for inclusive education. We work with districts all around the country. And some of the districts are in states that has specifically called out the word equity and targeted the word as you cannot talk about it. You You cannot talk about divisive topics, you can't talk about controversial things in these districts, they want change, they want to move toward more inclusive practices. They want to implement universal design for learning, and they genuinely want to move forward. But there's a big barrier there. And that's the language. So to start us off, we're gonna we're gonna solve this. I'm just kidding. We're not gonna solve it. But I do want to have a conversation and get your thoughts about, you know, how do educational leaders talk around this issue without it being politically divisive?
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04:06Mirko Chardin
Sure why I think the I want I'll start off by thanking by sharing that I think it's so shameful that I know the term and certain terms, you know, in the context of our society have become No, extremely charged, which is fascinating for me, because some of the folks who don't want that term to be utilized also advocate for free speech. But you know, it's a conversation for another day. in direct response to your question, I think part of what we have to do as educators is to reclaim the narrative of the term because we found ourselves in a circumstance where there are individuals who are defining and giving definition of the work for us in our essentially making claims that we are doing things that we're not doing and have re framed what equity is supposed to be about when I work with districts and school communities even state aged sees when folks talk about equity. The first thing I typically recommend is know that know the organization go through a process that begins with concept stabilization. And I say starting with concept stabilization. Because if we start with concept stabilization, we're essentially defining what the terms we utilize mean in our own unique context. And I think when we do that, it allows us to reclaim, know what that term means for us how it applies to our work, I often share with folks an example of you know, what I mean by how equity can be defined in a powerful way. And I typically share the definition that's been coined by Dr. Christopher Emdin, which simply states that, you know, equity is hearing someone's voice and what they need and providing them with that. And I love how simplistic but how authentic and how direct that definition is in regards to cutting at the core of what equity is, or what equity could be, as we think about the work of providing agency and empowerment know, to our kiddos. I think it's also, you know, imperative that when folks think about equity, that you know, granted in many circumstances, we are talking about providing supports, you know, for no black and brown scholars who have had disproportionate experiences. But you know, equity is not just a person of color, Fe, you know, when we talk about meeting the needs of individuals, we're talking about everybody. So I don't want to get too far off on a rant. But for me, the recommendation is always let's define what this term means in our context. It's a very challenging circumstance to be in if there are external factors that are defining terms of saying no, when you say this, this is what you mean, if we don't have that lightning rod moment to say, wait, wait, wait, whatever context, you utilize this word in different ways, as it pertains to the school community, we're talking about the kids that we serve here, and we're talking about doing things that benefit your children. I think that that's a super important part of this work.
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