Do you want to reach and support ALL families in your community, especially those who are underserved, but feel like you are not reaching them through your in-house programs and services?Have you tried moving your programs and services out to community locations to reach these families where they are? In Project LOCAL (Library Outreach as a Community Anchor in Learning), an Institute of Museum and Library Services–funded National Leadership planning grant, we found that by moving programs out into the community and adapting them for particular settings, libraries are reaching families in many underserved communities.
Suburban schools, particularly those with majority white histories experiencing demographic shifts, are increasingly in need of addressing issues of racial equity. This qualitative study, using the extended case method, examined one suburban school district’s efforts to promote racial equity and focused particularly on how professional development was experienced by school personnel and on the perceived outcomes. Data sources for this study included focus groups with teachers, pupil personnel services professionals, and other school staff and administrators as well as observational data from participation in district events and meetings. This study is grounded in Gloria Anzaldúa’s nepantlera framework, which conceptualizes the in-between space between two or more cultures and those who occupy that space as “border crossers,” and nepantleras as cultural navigators, bridge builders, and advocates. Noteworthy themes included perceptions of the district’s level of commitment to racial equity; common barriers to facilitating racial equity training, such as white racial prejudice, resistance, and defensiveness; and the challenge of navigating self- and student social identities for teachers and staff of color. Implications for equity work in schools and the role of school social workers training are discussed.
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