ARTLC Concludes Five Communities of Practice
Last fall 2024, the ARTLC held five Communities of Practice for K-12 educators in New Haven Public Schools. The groups explored anti-racist pedagogy, texts, and curriculum development in five areas:
Centering Black, Latinx, and Indigenous Voices with Hill Regional Career High School history teacher A'Lexus Williams.
Anti-Racist Possible Futures in K-8 Classrooms with founder of Possible Futures bookspace Lauren Anderson.
Cultivating Mindful Qualities for Responsivity and Equity with Yale Child Study Center research scientist Dr. Almut Zieher.
Culturally Responsive Teaching for High School Multilingual Learners: Tools for Equity with Wilbur Cross lead ELL teacher and instructional coach Kristin Mendoza.
Ill Verses with the Word with hip-hop poet and playwright Aaron Jafferis.
All five groups were open to NHPS teachers, paraprofessionals, instructional coaches, school counselors, social workers, and library media specialists. Participants received a stipend and regular feedback from colleagues and facilitators throughout the process. In the spring season, the ARTLC's Communities of Practice will continue to be participatory in structure, and led by facilitators from NHPS and local communities.
If you are in need of some winter reading, check out the books that two groups read last fall: Paul Ortiz’s An African American and Latinx History of the United States, which was studied in A’Lexus Williams’ group, and Clint Smith’s How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, which was studied in Lauren Anderson’s group.