MB Diversity Works June 2015

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Moses Brown School

MB Diversity Works

June 2015

As a Friends school, we adhere to the Q uaker tenet that every human being possesses a unique inner light reflecting dignity and worth. Our mission is to support education and teaching within our community by initiating activities and discussions that promote understanding and respect. We are responsible for building an environment of trust where each individual can feel safe. We are committed to the challenge of confronting issues of injustice, discrimination and intolerance. – Moses Brown Diversity Mission Statement

Eve H. ‘20 & Ajula V. ’20, performing their poem, “What’s Your Diet?”

What’s YOUR Racial Diet? After reading To Kill a Mockingbird in English class, seventh graders then engaged in a three week intensive examination of issues of racial prejudice and institutional racism in the novel, and in America today. Students reflected upon aspects of their own identities, considered their exposure to other races through a racial diet exercise, and read articles about the race-­‐related issues in Ferguson, North Charleston and right here in Providence. Upper School students then led a workshop called “Art for Social Justice” to teach the seventh graders about spoken-­‐word poetry and the power of poetry to speak our truths. In partners, the younger students crafted original racial justice poems, then shared them courageously in a poetry slam that inspired us to continue our work for racial justice. Visit http://www.davidroche.com for more information on his life and work.

Upper School: Student Diversity Leadership Conference Every year, Moses Brown sends six upper school students to the NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference. Upon their return, these students incorporate what they have experienced into activities designed to advance conversations around identity and inclusivity in our own community. This year, our SDLC participants chose to implement a workshop in which they asked questions about aspects of identity (e.g. race, gender, religion, age, ethnicity, etc.) and the participants had to move around the room depending on their answer. For example, they were asked to stand by the identity marker that they felt was hardest to talk about, or most

Upper school students bring back their learning by facilitating workshops with community

relevant to them, or the one they could live without if they had to. With each question, they moved to the sign naming the relevant identity and discussed their insights with others who moved to the same sign. The activity was so well received by the first group of faculty and staff that the SDLC students were asked to repeat th it with the 8 grade, with parents and with the entire Lower School faculty.


Moses Brown School

June 2015

Hands-­‐on identity work in Lower School Over the course of the 2014-­‐15 school year, first through fifth graders participated in three different workshops designed to explore, discuss and celebrate aspects of our own identity and the perspectives of others. Some examples included: Step Forward, Step Back A developmentally appropriate version of the “Privilege Walk”, in which students took on roles of familiar storybook characters and learned about variables that influence a person’s ability to be successful.

Identity Soup! A look at the different ingredients that make each of us who we are. Come One, Come All! A look at how school can be a place where people feel both included and excluded, and how teachers and students can be more intentional about helping others feel welcomes.

I’m Not Racist… Am I? In April of this year, all upper school English classes read and discussed the 2/20/15 New York Times article, “At New York Private Schools, Challenging White Privilege from the Inside.” The resulting conversations deepened students’ understanding about white privilege and about the ways that people can feel differing degrees of belonging in a community. Building on these discussions, the upper school set aside a day for watching and discussing the documentary film, “I’m Not Racist… Am I?” This movie follows the experience of twelve New York City teenagers as they met and discussed issues of race over the course of a school year. It provided a unique opportunity for our students to come together in large and small groups to discuss thought-­‐provoking and important issues around race in our country and in our community. A second viewing of the film occurred in the evening for interested parents, faculty, staff and students from other divisions. Liza Talusan, one of the facilitators featured in the film, led discussions after both showings.

Students examine and address media messaging on Islam In 10th grade Religious Studies, students investigated how Islam and Muslims are portrayed in American media. They examined both positive and negative images, and compared them to academic scholarship on Islam as a diverse, lived religion throughout the world. Conversations with Muslims in the Moses Brown and greater Providence communities helped students to understand the diversity of perspectives within the religion. Students then created lesson plans to teach other high school students about topics such as gender in Islam, Islamic fundamentalism, and the geographic and cultural diversity of Islam.

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