Foundational Learning
Our equity-centred teacher training supports teachers in recognising their role in systemic inequity, building a more equitable practice, and becoming an active threat to inequity in their schools.
The Programme
Class 13 is focused on creating long-term systemic change within the education system. We aim to do this by training and supporting teachers to recognise and reflect on their role in this system. Our training champions a persistently disruptive action-based practice built around four core principles: affirming a person's full humanity, nurturing their innate critical thinking, cultivating community, and fostering democracy.
This intersectional, equity-informed practice seeks to redistribute access and opportunity to fairness and justice in education by changing and challenging practice, pedagogy, and policy. By developing an ever-increasing sensitivity to inequity, we create a way of being that enables us to detect even slight occurrences and make the necessary changes to ensure equity is always centred.
Structure
We educate and empower educators, giving them the motivation, ability, and opportunity to change their perceptions and behaviour to cultivate more equitable classrooms and build dynamic schools that affirm all young people. We do this in the following ways:
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Motivation – Engage with educators in an accessible and impactful way
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Ability – Build a collaborative understanding of how inequitable practices are impacting children and young people in schools
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Opportunity – Facilitate a path to creating equitable practices within schools for long-term systemic change
The programme consists of four full-day sessions for in-depth learning and discussion, run two weeks apart. The sessions are praxis-based, combining theory with reflection and action. We utilise Rolfe’s reflective model What, So What, Now What to create long-lasting change.
Sessions 1 and 2 explore deficit ideology, whiteness and racism. “What” gives participants a deep understanding of the theory; “So What” gives clear examples of how this plays out in the system. Sessions 3 and 4 introduce methodologies to equip teachers to build a future-proof practice framework (Now What).
What you will learn
Creating systemic change within education is not an easy or fast process. To make the necessary change will require a commitment to critical thinking, deep reflection and recognition of where and why change needs to happen.
Our robust and in-depth programme supports you to make the necessary changes in your setting.
During the programme you will:
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Gain an evidence-informed view on the harms of deficit thinking in education
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Develop practices and policies that centre equity
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Engage with like-minded educators and critical thinkers
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Improve your racial literacy
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Learn actionable tools that you can take back to your setting
