What can we do to celebrate inclusion in our daily lives? I, for one, have been working on one of the most basic of strategies: Greeting people by name.
It began when the entire Diversity and Inclusion teaching team set a goal of greeting our colleagues by name with a smile, a touch, or a hug when they join us for professional development. We have received such positive feedback from this simple practice! Folks feel welcomed to the space and have come to look forward to these greetings.
In response, when teaching the “Please and Thank You Tool,” 2nd grade teacher Nina Morita greeted her students one day by saying, “Thank you for coming to class this morning” to each student as they entered. Many students were amazed, commenting on how much more welcome they felt. One student told her, “It made me feel good because I felt like you really wanted me to be here!”
This simple strategy was amongst several communication skills we shared with parents on October 19 at the first PSPA-PM meeting. When one parent participant realized that she had missed an opportunity to practice this strategy during a volunteer event because there were no deliberate introductions at the event, she said, “If the parents aren’t modeling inclusion by figuring out how to know each other, we aren’t doing right by our kids. We need to practice with each other, just like our kids do, and we can enhance inclusion by widening the circle to include entire families—parents and children.”
And after incorporating this practice into my life, I am much more aware of the moments when I don’t know someone’s name. After seeing what a personal greeting can do, I no longer want to be satisfied with identifying the faces I do know; instead, I make a point to connect with the faces I don’t know. It’s one simple strategy to contribute to creating inclusivity in our diverse community.
It makes me wonder: if everyone were doing this, would it make a difference? When you come to campus, and there’s a face you don’t usually see, what would happen if you introduced yourself?
In our work on Diversity and Inclusion, we have considered a number of such strategies that would impact our ability to create an inclusive school community. Here’s a partial list:
- Embrace failure as a learning tool.
- Let curiosity lead.
- Challenge assumptions.
- Cultivate self-knowledge.
- Find strength in difference.
- Practice using inclusive language. (“yes, and” instead of “yes, but”)
- Share stories between families, students and faculty.
- Every student should see him/herself reflected in his/her environment
- The space should be physically accessible to all students.
- Students with learning differences should be welcomed and supported.
Imagine a school community where teachers, staff, parents, and students work together to put these ideas into practice! Join us tonight at the Diversity and Inclusion Dialogue meeting to help create this environment for ourselves and for our children.
Britt Anderson
Middle School Librarian
Member of the Diversity and Inclusion Teaching Team