S11 E2 Creating a Culture of Honor in Education: An Interview with Andratesha Fritzgerald | Otter.ai

S11 E2 Creating a Culture of Honor in Education: An Interview with Andratesha Fritzgerald

Tim Villegas54min

Tim Villegas

00:03

Hi friends, I'm Tim Vegas from the Maryland Coalition for inclusive education. And you were listening to think inclusive, our podcast that brings you conversations about inclusive education and what inclusion looks like in the real world. It's good to be back with weekly episodes of thinking inclusive. Last week we talked with Dr. Shelley Moore about the five P's of inclusive education with a focus on what inclusion looks like in secondary schools. Make sure to check out episode one of season 11 after you hear from our amazing guest, Andratesha Fritzgerald is the founder and lead consultant of building blocks of brilliance educational consulting firm. As an international speaker Fitzgerald exhibits an audacious perseverance that calls organizations to evolve into inclusive anti racist safe zones for all learners. With over 20 years in education, she has served as a teacher, curriculum specialist, administrator, and director, her award winning book anti racism and Universal Design for Learning. Building expressways to success has been a catalyst for UDL to ensure safety and radical inclusion in every learning community. For this episode Andratesha, discusses the importance of creating a culture of honor in educational spaces as opposed to a culture of power. She explains that codes of power are rules created by those in power that limit the access and opportunities of marginalized individuals. In contrast, codes of honor empower all members of the learning community and invite their voices and experiences to the table. Fitzgerald emphasizes the need for intentional efforts to break down the limitations of the culture of power and create inclusive environments where every learner is seen, heard and supported. Thank you so much to our incredible sponsor for this week's episode, changing perspectives, an international nonprofit that partners with schools and districts to create inclusive and equitable learning communities for all students. They offer customizable teacher trainings, family workshops, and curriculum resources. They've already helped over 300,000 students, 12,000 teachers and 500 schools, visit their website at changing perspectives now.org To learn more, and schedule a free meeting. Oh, I am so so excited for you to hear our conversation today. And just for a little bit of context, under Tisha and I recorded this interview on June 30 2023, the day that the Supreme Court issued its biggest rulings of the year, so just know that the weight of those decisions influenced our conversation. Make sure you hang around till the end of the interview with Andrew Teesha, where we both answer this episode's slightly morbid mystery question. And for free time this week, we have our very own Carolyn Teague Lindh CEO of MCIE II. Carolyn and I talked about working with partners who are in states and districts where there has been an effort to stamp out language like diversity, equity and inclusion. After a short break my interview with Andrew Teesha Fitzgerald.

Tim Villegas

04:03

Andrew Teesha Fitzgerald, welcome to the thinking cluesive podcast.

Andratesha Fritzgerald

04:07

Thank you so much for having me too.

Tim Villegas

04:10

I just want to address the elephant in the rooms that we're recording on. And not so great day, news wise. So I think both of I think if you hear a little bit of in our town, that's probably where it's coming from. So I just want to acknowledge that however, this plays out this conversation. But Andhra Teesha, I had the pleasure of listening and watching your keynote at the 2020 23 supporting inclusive practices conference, inclusion from the ground up, and it was fantastic. The first time I heard you speak so it was amazing. So thank you for thank you for your thoughts. And you talked specifically about the distinction between a culture of power and A culture of honor. And I know our audience doesn't have a context for that. So I was wondering if you could just share what you mean by those terms, because I thought they were really fascinating.

Andratesha Fritzgerald

05:11

Well, I'm so excited to speak with you today. And I know that there is, as you said, the elephant in the room that will no doubt make its way into the conversation when we think about codes of power, versus codes of honor codes of power was a term from an article written by Lisa Delpit. In 1988, I think what breaks my heart about what I'm about to share with you about these codes of power. And she talked about issues of power that are enacted in the classroom. And I wished that this 90 Aba article was out of date that it was no longer contextual, that it didn't make sense for educational spaces, but it still does. And so from this article about codes of power, I propose creating intentionally codes of honor. And so codes of power are where issues of power are enacted in the classroom, where those who have the power, create these roles that those who are not a part of the cultural power may or may not have access to. If you are a participant in the culture of power, then you know the rules and it makes it easier for you to navigate, and unnecessarily to gain power but easier to navigate. And those who have the power will be less likely or less aware to acknowledge that this power, or this culture of power even exists, and what the codes of honor that I propose we have to be intentional, we have to put in effort and time to break down the limitations of the culture of power and create a culture of honor. How do we do that? We are purposeful and intentional. And explicitly naming were the codes of power placing limits on those who are marginalized historically. And traditionally, we have to empower members of every learning community daily in our supports, and choices and structures, we have to make an effort to make sure that every member of the learning community is invited into positions of power, which means that in a culture of power, I make the decision for you, I decided with the consequences, and you just have to deal with it. Because we've made the rules. Everyone plays by the rules, whether you know them or not, we hold you accountable to those rules, and a culture of honor, we co create the environment that we are holding ourselves into accountable to, there's a humility, that even as a teacher, I take myself out of that power position, and allow you to make decisions for yourself that govern your best outcomes. Of course, I facilitate and support and create structures. But there is an element of CO design that invites your voice powerfully to the table, but not just your voice, your experiences. What you know, for sure, what you struggle with is all welcome in a culture of honor. Because I don't want you to have to decompile decompartmentalize, the most important aspects of yourself to be the picture of success because of my power. I want you to bring everything about who you are, and what you want, and what you need into this space. Because I honor you. And together with that honor, we co create a learning community where learning is safe, welcoming, inclusive. Those are the only kinds of environments where the brain can actually learn anyway,

Tim Villegas

08:37

where do these codes of power even come from? Is it just this is historically how we've run schools, you have the one teacher, and you have your 20 ish students, and then whatever the teacher says, that's it. There's no more discussion. I mean, like, where's it all come from?

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