Mary Frances Early College of Education
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Conference

Tuesday, March 23

9:30-10:30 a.m.

Concurrent sessions

Session 2a: Reversing Underrepresentation: Redressing Access and Opportunity for Ethnic-Minority Gifted and Talented Students Through Policy and Practice

Thelron Pleas, Ph.D. student, Department of Educational Psychology, Mary Frances Early College of Education

Underrepresentation in gifted and advanced education continues to deny access and achievement opportunities for ethnic-minority students. Equity-focused leadership is required among teachers, leaders, and policymakers to reverse this phenomenon that directly results from institutional oppression and racism in education. In this session, through interactive content and small group facilitations, the presenter will highlight how equity-focused leadership is critical to promoting and achieving diversity, equity, and inclusion for gifted and high-ability minority students in K-12 schools.

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Session 2b: Da Healing Tapes for Educators

Jaminque L. Adams, Ph.D. student, Department of Educational Theory and Practice, Mary Frances Early College of Education

Joseph-Emery Lyvan Kouaho, Ph.D. student, Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy, Mary Frances Early College of Education

“Da Healing Tapes” meditation podcast was birthed out of necessity. As racial and gender trauma continues to permeate the U.S. education system, we understand that our resistance rests in our pursuit of healing. This project, intentional and generative, draws on our personal experiences and academic literature that articulates the importance of healing in educational spaces. The meditation podcast aims to rejuvenate and empower educators, especially those systematically oppressed and marginalized.

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Session 2c: Reckoning with Ourselves: Racial Healing among Human Resources Practitioners

Nakia Wade, Human Resources Senior Manager, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, University of Georgia

Allie Cox, Director of Training and Development, University of Georgia

Maggie Denna, Senior Manager of Training and Development, University of Georgia

Following the death of George Floyd this summer and racial inequities illuminated by the pandemic, a group of human resource professionals felt “a reckoning is coming” (Zachary Gabriel Green, 2020). In response, despite lacking expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion work, this group leveraged five-star resources, safe space, and messy learning to begin a self-directed journey through racial healing. This session will engage working professionals interested in bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion discussions to the organization, but who may not have expertise.

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Session 2d: The New Dance Landscape: Seeking Inclusivity and Healing Histories of Inequity

Elizabeth Osborn-Kibbe, Ed.D. student, Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy, Mary Frances Early College of Education

Colleen Barnes, instructor, Department of Dance, University of Georgia

In the U.S., the traditional dance canon stands as a bastion of exclusionary practices and histories. In a ballet/modern binary paradigm, how do educators act as good stewards of the field while carefully dismantling an antiquated value structure and still honor its histories? Drawing upon the works of dance scholars and social justice activists, Barnes and Osborn-Kibbe present a critical approach to pedagogy, curricula, and dress code norms in the search for artistic inclusivity.

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Session 2e: Where Restorative Practices and Educational Equity Meet, School Transformation Happens

Danny Malec, Restorative Practices Director, Georgia Conflict Center

Kavanis “Wendy” Caudle, Diversity, Equity and Belonging Strategist

This presentation explores the intersection of restorative practices and educational equity, as essential components in a school community’s efforts at addressing racial disparities in discipline and the school to prison pipeline. We will introduce the roots, principles, and approaches of whole-school restorative practices implementation with some theoretical underpinnings of the movement toward educational equity. We will present anecdotal evidence from three Clarke County schools that we are currently supporting with whole-school restorative practices implementation.

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11 a.m.-noon              

Reflections on Racial Injustice, the COVID-19 Pandemic, and Our Current Times: In Conversation with Clarke County School District High School Students

Facilitator: Chris Mojock, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology, Mary Frances Early College of Education

Panelists: Four high school students from Clarke Central, Cedar Shoals, Athens Community Career Academy, and Classic City High School

In this featured session, high school student panelists will share their experiences navigating the pandemic, racial injustice, and other challenges of our times. They’ll share what they have learned about themselves, what has been most challenging, and glimmers of joy and hope. Educators, administrators, parents, caregivers, and anyone invested in the future of our youth are invited to learn from youth and reflect on opportunities for concrete action.

About Chris Mojock
Chris Mojock is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia’s Mary Frances Early College of Education. He joined the department in 2015 and serves as the Exercise and Sport Science Program Coordinator and Co-Director of the strength, conditioning, and fitness MS program. He has worked on multiple projects housed within the College’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion since 2016. He currently facilitates the exploring white privilege group and is part of a team working to develop a new course for UGA's certificate in diversity and inclusion program in spring 2021. He lives and rides his bikes around Athens with his wonderful family. Additionally, his three children are in the Clarke County School District.

1-2 p.m.

Concurrent sessions

Session 3a: Multicultural K-12 Education: Implementing Bibliotherapy to Promote Positive Self-Concept and Cultural Identity within Black Males

Annessia J. Bullard, Ph.D. student, Department of Educational Psychology, Mary Frances Early College of Education

The national enrollment data within America’s public schools are becoming more ethnically diverse, yet the curriculum, learning environment, and pedagogy are still not inclusive. Multicultural education affirms and inspires positive self-concept and identity development within Black males; hence, teachers must be equipped to meet their social, emotional, and instructional needs. This presentation will introduce teachers to Bibliotherapy: a pedagogical strategy developed to provide inclusive and culturally relevant learning experiences in K-12 classrooms.

Read more about the presenter.

Session 3b: A Radical Doctrine: Abolitionist Education in Hard Times

Damaris C. Dunn, Ph.D. student, Department of Educational Theory and Practice, Mary Frances Early College of Education

Elizabeth C. Spaulding, Ph.D. student, Department of Educational Theory and Practice, Mary Frances Early College of Education

Alex Chisholm, Ph.D. student, Department of Educational Theory and Practice, Mary Frances Early College of Education

This session establishes a set of principles needed to abolish the existing structures that undermine the experiences of those who are marginalized by race, class, gender, and other interlocking oppressions. We believe that radical joy, radical trust, radical imagination, and radical disruption move us toward collective healing and the creation of schools as liberatory spaces. This interactive workshop invites the DEI community to engage in constructive dialogue about how to shift these concepts from theory to practice.

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Session 3c: Reclaiming our Joy: 'Cause we were Meant to be Free

Toni Woodlon, EdAlly Consulting

Liberation begins in the mind and the mind may, indeed, set you free. It is no doubt that systems of oppression keep us bound in many ways, having dire impacts on our careers, relationships, and health. This healing and restorative session for BIPOC will leave you feeling affirmed and empowered to reclaim your joy and let your light shine, even while you work to dismantle internalized and systemic oppression.

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Session 3d: How to Integrate Mindfulness-Based Practices into Anti-Oppressive Pedagogy

Amelia H. Wheeler, Ph.D. student, Department of Educational Theory and Practice, Mary Frances Early College of Education

Research has shown that mindfulness practices offer powerful pedagogical interventions for instructors engaging in anti-oppressive education. That is because mindfulness strategies invite students and instructors alike to turn towards, sit with, and ultimately move through difficult reactions in the service of expanding compassion and cultivating caring communities. This session is for those who are interested in learning three mindfulness-based practices that can be applied in their transformative justice work with students.

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Session 3e: Five Steps for Improving Equity Advocacy

P. Sloan Joseph, Greater is In Me, LLC

Are you an educator who wants to be an equity advocate, but don't know where to begin? Are you already an equity advocate, but feel stagnant? In this session, we will review five steps for improving equity advocacy. Resources will be provided for each step to help participants with their personal and professional growth.

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