An ASCD Study Guide for Cultural Competence Now: 56 Exercises to Help Educators Understand and Challenge Bias, Racism, and Privilege

1. What did the author mean by a "legacy of generational trauma?" What is trauma, and how could it be rendered generationally? How might a traumatic event in a family affect the next generation of the family? What are the long-term effects of trauma?
2. What might be the long-term or generational effects of people schooled with inferior educational resources?
3. How does omitting the achievements and accomplishments of people of color support an ideology of white superiority? How might living and learning in substandard facilities support an ideology of white superiority?
4. What kinds of messages did you receive from your parents, friends, teachers, books, television, movies, neighbors, and community that influenced you or your choices? What kinds of messages did people of color historically receive from teachers, books, television, movies, and community that might have influenced them or their choices? (Consider past programming, curriculum, books, movies, and community rules and regulations.) What about today? Have the messages changed? If so, which messages may have changed, and which messages haven't? Do you give the same messages to your students that you received yourself as a student? Why or why not?
5. What purpose was served by barring students of color from using university libraries, laboratories, or attending professional associations?
6. Modern racism has been compared to a cage in which a complex system of social, economic, and regulatory barriers from numerous institutions connect and overlap to bar individuals from advancing outside of a defined space. Which institutions and systems contributed to limiting the advancement of people of color in our society? What was the underlying ideology that supported the rationale for enforcing these barriers?
7. What is the relationship between systemic or institutional racism and power? Can you think of an example in which people of color exercised systemic or institutional racism toward white people—denying white people ordinary rights and privileges based on their skin tone? Who has the power in systemic and institutional racism?
8. If your ancestors did not own slaves, and your family members never participated in acts of oppression, how might you have benefitted from the systems and institutions that did? For example, if your father was able to work in the profession of his choice while fathers of color were denied the ability to work in the profession of their choice, even when they were uniquely qualified to do so, in what ways did that place your family at an advantage and fathers of color at a disadvantage?
9. What are the advantages of being a culturally competent educator? How might that advantage benefit students? How might it benefit you?

Chapter 2. Dismantling Inequity: Leading the Change

1. Consider a time you tried to lead a change effort at your school. What were some of the challenges you faced in doing so? What were some of the lessons you learned?
2. What is the school's vision or mission statement? Critique it. What is stated, what is not stated, and what is implied? What, if anything, does it say about equitable educational opportunity?
3. Consider other schools in which you have worked. What were the stated and espoused vision and mission statements? How did they differ, if at all, from the actual and real work and culture of the school? How do you marry the espoused mission with the real mission of schooling in a school?
4. Is equity for all students an urgent matter in your school? Why or why not? How do you create urgency?
5. What are the core values of the school? How well do they align with your personal core values? How do you screen for future personnel who share the same core values as those espoused by the school?
6. Which skills, behaviors, or dispositions in the culturally competent continuum do you already exhibit with fluency? Which ones would you like to improve?
7. How is leadership shared at your school? How could it be improved?
8. Identify the opinion leaders in your school community. How will you work with them to support this effort?
9. Who are your early adopters? How will you work with them to support this effort?
10. Identify the various stakeholders. How will you frame this initiative for each of them? What message communicates their mutual interests?
11. Identify the potential resistors. How will you communicate this initiative to them, and who are the best disciples for managing ongoing communication with them?
12. When and where have you seen or experienced white fatigue? What happened and what needed to happen? How do you prevent it?
13. Review the major concepts of SCCORE. Which ones are currently in place in your school? Which ones need further consideration and planning?

Chapter 3. When Silence Abounds: Facilitating Race Discussions Successfully

1. Consider a time you felt rejected or dismissed. What happened? How difficult would it be for you to experience rejection on a daily basis? What kind of emotional or psychological support might you need if rejection was a regular part of your daily life experiences? What kind of support do you provide for students of color who may experience rejection and marginalization on a regular basis as part of their daily life experiences?
2. When and where have you experienced white fragility? What happened and what needed to happen? What is your plan if it surfaces?
3. As you begin this process of becoming culturally competent and dismantling inequitable practices at the school, identify your fears. How credible are they? How do you confront or assuage them?
4. If there are people of color within your school community who will be participating in the conversations with predominately white colleagues, what is your plan for helping them to feel comfortable, accepted, included, and safe?
5. What's the difference between empathy and sympathy? Why is it important to understand the difference? How do you foster empathy between students?
6. What is the difference between being biased and being racist? Can you be biased without being racist? Can you be racist without being biased? What is the role of power, if any, in biased actions? What is the role of power, if any, in racist actions? What kind of power is needed to commit acts of subjugation, marginalization, or denial of access or opportunity? How is the exercise of power integral to a definition of racism?
7. Compare and contrast your definitions of racism and bullying. What is the role of power in each of the definitions? What are the long-term psychological and emotional effects in victims of either situation?
8. In bullying, one party is presumed to be vulnerable, and in racism, one party is presumed to be inferior. What lessons learned in bullying prevention would you also apply in antiracist education?
9. Why would someone be open to learning and implementing bullying prevention measures in school but resistant to learning and employing antiracist education measures? How might you leverage your work in bully prevention to extend to antiracist education and equitable educational opportunities?

Chapters 4–7 have questions embedded in the activities.

• Chapter 4. Awaken and Assess
• Chapter 5. Apply and Act
• Chapter 6. Analyze and Align
• Chapter 7. Advocate and Lead

Chapter 8. The Long Road Ahead

1. During this year that you have studied cultural competency, how have you used your voice in support of equity?
2. What organizations have you identified that are also actively pursuing the work of dismantling inequity? What is your plan for cooperatively supporting each other's work?
3. What parents have you identified who are also interested in leading the work of dismantling inequity? What is your plan for cooperatively supporting each other in this work?
4. What students have you identified who are also interested in leading the work of dismantling inequity? What is your plan for cooperatively supporting them in this work?
5. As a staff, what actions have you taken to institutionalize your learning this year? What are your plans for sustaining this work and maintaining the momentum?
6. What was the toughest thing about doing this work? What advice would you have for other school communities beginning this work? (E-mail the author at vernita@Leadervationlearning.com with this response. She is always interested in hearing your stories.)

Cultural Competence Now: 56 Exercises to Help Educators Understand and Challenge Bias, Racism, and Privilege was written by. This 212-page, 7″ × 10″ book (Stock #118043; ISBN-13: 978-1-4166-2849-1) is available from ASCD. Copyright © 2020 by ASCD. To order a copy, call ASCD at 1-800-933-2723 (in Virginia 1-703-578-9600). Or buy the book from ASCD's Online Store.