Codesigning Educational Justice Institute

A Two-Day Institute offered by the Family Leadership Design Collaborative

On the tail of a school year of uncertainty and disruption layered over centuries of racism and colonization, districts and communities are under enormous pressure to address deepening racial inequities in education. Although the pandemic has opened educators' eyes to the crucial role of families and communities - particularly those impacted by intersecting dynamics of oppression -- most systems struggle to move beyond assimilative approaches that either seek to "fix" youth and families or "give them voice" without collaborating with them in realizing change. This moment represents a crucial opportunity to learn practices and routines for equitable collaboration that can reshape systems towards educational justice and community-determined wellbeing. 

The FLDC Codesigning Educational Justice Institute is a 2-day hands-on learning experience intended to support families of color and educators as leaders in collaborating together to foster more just learning for young people. We will take up solidarity-driven codesign as a collective practice to reimagine education.

Drawing on the work of the Family Leadership Design Collaborative and decades of research and practice, the Institute will engage teams of leaders in active participation and learning together to humanize decision-making processes and build solidarities across differences of race, class, gender, education, language, and formal roles in codesigning particular aspects of schooling. This is not a sit-n-get webinar or a conference of lectures. We will share activities and support team planning for a series of design circles that begin with family and community ecologies, disrupt and transform normative power, and build solidarities and transformative possibilities.

The institute will be facilitated by Dr. Ann Ishimaru, Dr. Megan Bang, Dr. Anthony Craig, and other FLDC scholars and leaders.

Who should apply to participate in this institute?

We are interested in supporting teams who are ready to move beyond conventional "family engagement" and deficit-based notions of "learning loss" to reckon with the historically-based racialized power dynamics that infuse family-school relations. Identify a tentative team of leaders with strong understandings of racial inequities and demonstrated commitments to addressing them, including:

• 1-2 systems-based educational leaders across roles (e.g., for teachers or principals, this is an opportunity to engage in systems-focused leadership beyond your own building)
• 1-2 family/community leaders of color who have relationships with other families, community networks, or community-based organizations

Each team will consist of a total of 3-4 members. The number of district teams will be limited to keep the quality high and interactions meaningful.

Institute Details

• Dates: June 30th & July 1st  10am-2pm PT/1-5pm ET
• Registration fee: $500 per team
• Technology & Access: Each team member will need an updated version of Zoom and stable internet access. If any team members need translation or other accessibility services, please let us know in your application.
• Clock hours are available.

Apply to Participate

Complete the following brief survey. We will contact you about participation and next steps on or before June 9th. For questions, email fldc@uw.edu.

Apply Now