Figure 8 developed and delivered a full day of diversity training to
the entire staff of Heritage High School in Vancouver, Washington.
There were 125 staff members in attendance.
The challenges
Most of the staff had already taken the
mandatory diversity training offered by the school district, and it was
common for them to feel that they were losing valuable preparation time
for something that they didn’t need.
However, the school had experienced a number of clashes between
various factions of the student body, most notably between American
boys and their Russian immigrant counterparts. There had been a number
of fights, including an altercation at an athletic event, and many
staff members were unsure about how to handle it. The situation was
exacerbated by the fact that a group of African-American students had
complained that some of the coaches had been unfair in their treatment
of black athletes, and the NAACP had gotten involved in a way that had
brought some unfavorable publicity to the school.
The solution
One of our first tasks was to simply gather
facts, which involved meeting with students from a variety of
backgrounds, talking with parents, and talking with the NAACP. The next
step was to administer a school climate survey to several different
groups: staff, black students, immigrant students, sexual minority
students, and, finally, to a general cross-section of students. The
results of the survey were used to draw some conclusions about the
school climate at Heritage and to provide a focus for the day’s work.
The data from the surveys was presented to the staff, then the day’s
activities were structured around the goals for the day: to examine the
scope of the problem, come up with potential solutions, and for each
staff to write a personal action plan.
The results
The staff members were completely engaged in the
training. They loved the activities and were especially grateful to
have had the opportunity to participate in a process that led to the
development of possible solutions. Each staff member wrote a
personalized action plan that was to be used later in the year as part
of a self-evaluation. Principal Nancy Bush-Lange said: “The training
was powerful, relevant, interactive, and stimulating. It helped our
staff reflect and reframe for the upcoming school year. Many said it
was the best training they had attended.”
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