March 2, 2020
COE Diversity Committee promotes mission through several events
Dr. Ronda Taylor Bullock, far left, takes a photo with members of the College of Education Diversity Committee. From second left, they are Dr. Christy Howard, Dr. Amy Swain, and Dr. Jennifer Gallagher. Dr. Bullock was the fall 2019 Diversity speaker.
Promoting diversity, equity and social justice in thoughts and actions is critical for the ECU College of Education’s Diversity Committee.
Throughout the years, the committee has implemented new ways to engage the college and community with events that highlight and celebrate diversity, equity and social justice.
“These events are important because they foster these relevant conversations with our faculty, staff, students and community,” said Dr. Christy Howard, a member of the diversity committee. “We not only want to bring awareness to issues of equity and diversity, but we also want participants to reflect on their role of building more inclusive spaces for students. We want awareness, but we also hope for action.”
This academic year, the committee introduced COE Diversity Mini Grants. These grants support COE faculty who are engaged in diversity work and can be used for professional development, research, teaching or service activities that relate to diversity.
Two faculty projects won the COE Diversity mini grants. From left, Dr. Anne Ticknor, Dr. Mikkaka Overstreet, Dr. Melissa Wrenn and Dr. Jennifer Gallagher received the grants.
The first winners of these grants were Drs. Anne Ticknor and Mikkaka Overstreet from the Department of Literacy Studies, English Education and History Education (LEHE) for their project, “Promoting Pre-Service Teachers’ Affirming Attitudes and Understanding of LGBTQ+ Communities and Issues to Better Support Students and Families in Elementary Classrooms” and Drs. Melissa Wrenn and Jennifer Gallagher from the Department of Elementary and Middle Grades Education (ELMID) with their project, “Living Texts: Studying the Holocaust in Europe.”
Another way that COE faculty and staff are highlighted is through the Profiles in Diversity Awards. These awards recognize those faculty and staff members in the college who are committed to diversity, equity and social justice through their teaching, research, and service.
When selecting the recipients, diversity committee members consider nominees whose contributions have led to new understandings of inequality, enriched the lives of historically underserved populations, advocated for and catalyzed changes in oppressive social systems and structures, or pushed towards the realization of equity within schools and communities. The committee also pays attention to faculty and staff members whose identities and work might have been historically marginalized in society and mainstream educational research and practice.
Winners of the Profiles in Diversity Award, from left, Dr. Jenni Gallagher (Fall 2019), Dr. Rhea Miles (Spring 2020), and Dr. Christy Howard (Spring 2020).
Dr. Jennifer Gallagher from ELMID was the fall 2019 winner. For spring 2020, Dr. Rhea Miles from the Department of Mathematics Education, Science Education and Instructional Technology (MSITE), Dr. Crystal Chambers from the Department of Educational Leadership (LEED), and Dr. Christy Howard from LEHE were chosen as award recipients.
The committee also invites speakers to visit ECU’s campus every semester to discuss and raise awareness for different issues related to diversity, equity and social justice.
This fall, Dr. Ronda Taylor Bullock, the executive director of we are, spoke about why race-based conversations with kids matter. A key highlight of her presentation was that educators need to bring intentionality into the books and materials they bring into classrooms.
“This opened my eyes to other people’s experience and how crucial these discussions are for educators to have with children,” wrote one participant in a written evaluation of the event.
The COE Diversity Committee invited Drs. Paul Gorski and Katy Swalwell to speak about their equity literacy framework.
From left, Dr. Jenni Gallagher, Dr. Maureen Grady, Dr. Amy Swain, Dr. Paul Gorski, Dr. Katy Swalwell, Dr. Christy Howard, Dr. Janeé Avent Harris and Dr. Art Rouse.
This semester, the committee invited Drs. Paul Gorski and Katy Swalwell to speak about equity literacy in education and the framework they have created. They offered a new way to think about equity as well as potential roadblocks that educators could encounter when trying to make schools more equitable and socially just.
One participant wrote after the event, “I was inspired and motivated and equipped to keep fighting for marginalized groups.”
When selecting speakers for the diversity series, the committee decides together.
“As a part of our event evaluation forms, we always ask participants about future topics they would be interested in seeing in the future,” Howard said. “We take this into consideration as we plan our speaker series. We also take into consideration the expertise of the committee so if participants want to learn more about a particular topic, we think about people in the field who could facilitate these important conversations with the larger ECU community.”
Another activity the committee hosts is book club discussions to foster conversations about equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Three of the titles that have been read and discussed are Reading the Rainbow: LGBTQ Inclusive Instruction in the Elementary Classroom written by Dr. Caitlin Ryan, Between the World and the Urban Classroom edited by George Sirrakos Jr. and Christopher Emdin, and How to Reach and Teach Students in Poverty written by Dr. Paul Gorski.
LEHE helped fund books for all those who wish to participate in the Reading the Rainbow and How to Reach and Teach Students in Poverty book club discussions.
The mission of the COE Diversity Committee is to:
- Provide leadership on diversity, equity, and social justice so as to foster anti-discriminatory practices and build cultural proficiency across the college;
- Promote attitudes that affirm, respect, and celebrate diversity and raise awareness about systemic forms of discrimination;
- Maintain, implement, and assess progress for a multiyear diversity plan that outlines the diversity activities and expected outcomes for the College of Education faculty, staff and students; and
- Initiate and support activities that assist students, faculty, staff, and community partners with self-awareness, understanding, and appropriate interaction with culturally different and diverse individuals.
Learn more by visiting the COE Diversity Committee website or by checking out the College of Education blog’s Diversity news section.
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