Getting PD time ... and making it effective once you have it.

We have been talking about how to get PD time for communication equity in your district, and how to get it on your terms (e.g. enough time and not stuck in what’s left after everything else, live training and not asynchronous, etc.).

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of bringing other voices to the table so it isn’t just one voice (yours) saying it is important, but it is the whole school community. Today, I want to bring back a tip I shared a while ago: to keep a story bank throughout the year of things that happen due to families not having access to information, programming and people and the impact that had on the family and student. Today we will put it to a new use

Tip of the Week

In May I suggested you pull from your story bank to write case studies that you can use in your PD sessions to build empathy. (This is a strategy another friend of mine used recently to great success. In fact, he borrowed the case studies I had written, but for you, this will be so much more valuable if your participants recognize themselves and their families in the stories.)

But this week, I want to highlight another fantastic use of that story bank: to persuade PD gatekeepers of the importance and urgency of training staff on this issue.

Combine those stories with a shift in language away from "blah" terms like “multilingual communication” or “language access” to the big words like “equity” and “inclusion” and “civil rights law”.

The Story

Early last spring, I made a request for 90 minutes of “communication equity” PD time for all staff. It was more time than I had ever been given for all staff PD before. Our VP of Academics called me a few days later to ask me what “communication equity” was. It makes sense she wouldn’t be familiar with the term, because I haven’t encountered it anywhere else. I was just trying to think of how to describe what I was actually trying to do, and that language rang true for me. I have since heard other groups call it “language justice” which is great, too, but it can also refer to a much broader field of practice, and I still feel “communication equity” more specifically describes what I was trying to do. (But if “language justice” rings more true for you or will possibly resonate more with your colleagues, by all means, use that term!)
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In the course of that phone call, I was able to give her several concrete examples of what I meant and ways in which our immigrant and refugee families were being excluded: the students who was absent the first two weeks of school and the school didn’t call or take any action to support the student; the students who got excluded from summer school because their parents didn’t receive translated registration forms prior to the enrollment deadline; the many small and large barriers between families and parent teacher conferences. All these stories added color to what I was saying for someone who cares deeply about equity, about students and families, but does not have daily contact or personal experience with the multilingual community.

The door to my 90-minute PD was opened, and the rest is history. But what is even better, is this same VP of Academics, when planning the next summer’s PD already had a placeholder for the topic before I even asked her for it. She had internalized (and documented) that communication equity training is a need, and this was now something that we needed to do every year to fulfill our mission for all students and families.

While this story will play out differently in each district due to different systems, circumstances, and individuals, I would pose that while these two strategies may not be sufficient by themselves, they are important and highly effective pieces of the puzzle when making requests for PD time.

Call to Action

Keep a story bank of things that happen when the school fails to provide equitable access to information, programming and people due to language.
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When you make your request for PD time, use “the big words” like “equity,” “justice” and/or “inclusion” and use 2-3 concrete stories from your bank to illustrate your point vividly for someone who isn’t in the work every day.

Faster Together

If you’d like to get more information on support available to you:

1. ​Schedule a free call​
2. Tell me about your schools so we can make a plan that works for you
3. Later, we will celebrate together as your schools become more equitable, welcoming, and inclusive

Thank you for believing, like me, that all families are family.
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