Next Coffee Break: July 19, 10 AM CST: Cydnee Sanders’ Antiracist Praxis Study Circle
Join Cydnee Sanders in our next Coffee Break!
Learn about the motivation and content of her Antiracist Praxis Study Circle and its corresponding Facilitator’s Guide that is available for Adult English Educators. The study circle consists of 10 hours of professional development that goes beyond defining antiracism and explores how the research around Translanguaging by Ofelia García and Culturally Responsive Teaching by Zaretta Hammond provide us with tools to change the way we approach teaching.
Many of us have heard the terms “antiracist” and “DEI” (diversity, equity and inclusion), but how do we actually implement these large frameworks into our adult English classrooms? The Antiracist Praxis Study Circle has some working assumptions and hopes those interested in joining can agree to start with these foundational beliefs:
Racism is systemic. White supremacy and systemic racism are leading problems in our education system. These systems are especially harmful to people of color and the English language learners we serve.
Identifying and addressing implicit bias is paramount to this work. It is a personal journey, and we all enter this work together from different places.
It is not enough to be “not racist” but we have to be intentionally antiracist.
We are willing to work in a collaborative environment and to hold each other accountable.
The original design of the study circle consists of 5 meetings of 2 hours each. However, you and your colleagues can adapt this guide in whatever way best fits your context. Your group can only meet one hour a month? That’s okay! Take the guide as slowly as you need. Antiracism is a journey. This work is not done overnight. If you have a conversation and think you need to come back to it, take your time. The important thing is for us to constantly be thinking about antiracism and figuring out how to try it in our classrooms little by little. Try one thing and go from there! Antiracism is about making mistakes and continuing to grow.
About Cydnee Sanders
Cydnee Sanders has five years of experience teaching adult English learners and completed her MA TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at Hamline University in December 2021. Her capstone project was an Antiracist Praxis Study Circle, consisting of 10 hours of professional development on antiracist teaching practices. She has also developed and delivered PD, more specifically, on translanguaging, culturally responsive teaching, and antiracist volunteer and work culture. As a person of color who has felt marginalized in many spaces, Cydnee is passionate about creating PD that works towards justice in the classroom so that learners’ cultural and linguistic identities are acknowledged and honored. Cydnee has been accepted as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in South Africa starting in 2023 where she plans to continue her education in antiracist translanguaging teaching.
Cydnee Sanders teaching
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