AC's Equity Choice Point Reflection Questions

 

What are Equity Choice Points?

 

These questions were developed collaboratively by members of ArtsConnection’s community inspired by Race Forward’s racial equity choice points.

“Choice points are forks in the road where some paths replicate the status quo and other paths open opportunities for racial equity, inclusion, and belonging. With choice points, leaders consciously pause to reflect, generate options, and enact changes that advance equity and inclusion.” – Race Forward

A Toolbox for Advancing Racial Equity for Arts and Cultural Organizations from Race Forward

These questions are a tool that can assist us in our ongoing practice to move away from White Supremacist Structures and move towards Equitable, Inclusive, and Liberated Environments.

Throughout the work we do we have opportunities to check-in, reflect and assess our work to see if it is upholding our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access Values. These questions can be used for reflection as you move through your work, to shift perspective, make intentional and deliberate decisions, and check-in with yourself – always working towards creating equitable and liberated work and learning environments and focusing on an asset-based approach. These are living questions and should be modified to fit your own practice.

Creating equitable, inclusive, accessible, and liberated environments, and curriculum is an ongoing process.

 

The questions below are split into two sections the first batch are for Teaching Artists, and the second batch are for Administrators and Staff.

 

When are the Equity Choice Points in our work?

 

In our process there are 3 different Equity Choice Point moments when you can stop and reflect on your choices to make sure you are moving forward with equity, inclusivity, accessibility in mind:

  • During the Planning Process
  • While Teaching or Implementing
  • Reflection Post Class/Unit/Project

How to use these Questions

 

  • Use them as you need – mainly for personal reflection, and growth – adjust them to fit your practices, pick the one or two that you find particularly helpful, etc.
  • Not all questions will apply to all situations, use the ones that are applicable to your work.
  • If the answer is no or maybe, take another moment to consider if there is something you can do to make a shift in your work, view and/or perspective to become more Equitable, and Inclusive.

 

when we reach an equity choice point moment (or opportunity to interrupt systems of opression) we can make a choice that moves us towards more equitable decisions or continue to uphold systems of oppression)

For Teaching Artists:

Equity Choice Point Reflection: Planning Process

  • Who are your students?
    • What do they like?
    • What are their interests?
    • What is their learning style?
    • What challenges do they have?
    • What are their strengths?
    • What are the classroom dynamics?
    • What is their cultural background?
    • What languages do they speak?
    • How do they identify?
  • Have I structured my lesson to set my students up for success?   Multiple entry points into material & various ways to express learning.
    • Opportunities for student voice, leadership, & artistry
    • Ability to adjust based on students’ needs.
    • Focus on students’ individual strengths and growth potential.
    • Did I plan my lessons to be accessible and equitable for a wide variety of learners, and a diverse student population to not segregate or stigmatize students?
  • Have I incorporated any assumptions about my students based on neighborhood, or information given to me by principals, other teachers, or from my own unconscious biases?
  • What message are you conveying about this art form via the example work, visuals, and language you use to your students? Have I represented NYC’s diverse community in my material?

Equity Choice Point Reflection: While you are Implementing or Teaching

  •   Am I focusing on or highlighting students’ assets – their individual strengths and growth potential – rather than referring or teaching to students as a monolith?
  • How do you integrate reflection within your teaching to assess or check in to see how the students are doing/take a moment to observe, listen, and adjust as needed?
  • Am I feeling defensive or uncomfortable in response to a situation? Check-in with yourself with these reflection points:
    • Understand that discomfort is at the root of all growth and learning; welcome it as much as you can.
    • Take a pause or a breath and make sure you create space for this moment. It’s ok to let go of your agenda to acknowledge what’s occurred. This could be an opportunity to connect back to your values.
    • Acknowledge the cultural/historical roots of racism and oppression to understand how your personal experience and feelings fit into a larger picture; (Refer to Asset-based Approaches and Language Guide for additional terms and definitions)
    • Realize that everybody, including you, has a worldview and that everybody’s worldview affects the way they understand things.
  • What messages are you conveying about this art form via the example art, visuals, and language you use to your students? (This can be applied throughout your teaching process)

Equity Choice Point Reflection: Post Class/Event/Project

  • Were any participants denied their rights by me or any other adult? How can I work to make sure that doesn’t happen in the future?
    • Student Rights:
      • The Right to be Present – to exist in any space.
      • The Right to Feel.
      • The Right to Act.
      • The Right to Love and be Loved.
      • The Right to Speak.
      • The Right to See.
      • The Right to Know.
  • If anyone was excluded, how can we work to be more inclusive next time? How did stereotypes, based on students’ social identity play out in the classroom?
  • How many opportunities were there for students’ voices and input? How can you adjust based on the input received from students? How can you continue to build the classroom community?
  • Consider similarities AND differences between you, your students, and the other adults in the room so we can find ongoing common ground, and recognize differences, to communicate better for future sessions.
  • Was there any time when you needed to name and acknowledge an uncomfortable moment in your classroom (specifically around racism, sexism, ableism etc)? Did you acknowledge and name what you were seeing with the students and classroom partners? Were you afraid to discuss this? How could you work towards engaging in these conversations in the future?

Questions for Administators and Staff

 

Equity Choice Point: Before you Start or in the Planning Process

  • Is this a realistic plan? Consider realistic goals, funding, time frames, workloads, etc. to make sure we can achieve our goal of inclusivity and diversity.
  •  What is driving this decision? Who is being excluded? Why this artform, selection of classes, school?
  • Do the process or quality goals for this program, or proposal reflect the ArtsConnection EDIA values statement?
  • When making decisions, are we including the voices of those affected by the decision-making process, or are they just being told what to do/what is happening?
  • Have I included time within this proposal or program to build meaningful relationships within the community this program will be working in? (Never assume that you or our organization know what’s best for the community in isolation from meaningful relationships with that community).
  • How will these actions affect people seven generations from now? Make sure that any cost/benefit analysis includes all the costs, not just the financial ones, for example the cost in morale, the cost in credibility, the cost in the use of resources. Include process goals in your planning, for example make sure that your goals speak to how you want to do your work, not just what you want to do.
  • Within our staff community am I helping to uphold an equitable space for all by making time and space for reflection and feedback?

Equity Choice Point: Ongoing During Programming

  • Does this project reflect NYC’s diverse student community?
  • Have you been involved with simplifying a complex issue or putting pressure on a situation that has high stakes? How can we create space within this decision to; take a break, slow down, encourage a deeper analysis, and think creatively?  (Avoid making decisions under extreme pressure.)
  • Am I fostering a healthy work community by…
    • Taking time to let people know their work & efforts are appreciated.
    • Focusing on continued learning and growth.
    • Recognizing that mistakes sometimes lead to positive results.
    • Using the ladder of feedback. (Questions, Values, Concerns, Suggestions)
  • Check In with yourself: Am I feeling defensive or uncomfortable in response to feedback or a situation?
    • Understand the link between defensiveness and fear (of losing power, losing face, losing comfort, losing privilege); identify the defensiveness as a problem when it is one; name the defensiveness; give people credit for being more resilient than apparent; discuss the ways in which defensiveness or resistance to new ideas gets in the way of the mission.
    • Acknowledge the cultural/historical roots of racism and oppression to understand how your personal experience and feelings fit into a larger picture; (Refer to Asset-based Approaches and Language Guide for additional terms and definitions)
    • Realize that everybody, including you, has a world view and that everybody’s worldview affects the way they understand things.

Equity Choice Point: Reflection Post Class/Event/Project

  • What message does the content you are sharing about the organization or language you use convey about this art form, our students, our TAs, our staff? Is this message inclusive and asset based?
  • How do you see the work occurring inside the classroom or programming spaces benefitting or impacting the broader community?
  • Are we making informed decisions that factor in learning from past mistakes?
  • Was there any time when you needed to name and acknowledge an uncomfortable moment specifically around racism, sexism, ableism etc? Did you acknowledge and name what you were seeing with my collaborators, during an observation? Were you afraid to discuss this? How could you work towards engaging in these conversations in the future? What are your next steps in this situation?
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