The Radical Pedagogy Institute holds monthly virtual professional development opportunities. Session facilitators include Institute members, activist-scholars, and other professionals. Our annual series features a monthly Cross-Cutting PD offering, which is applicable across grade levels and content areas. In addition, we also have several Spotlight PD offerings throughout the year. The Spotlight PDs focus on the use of radical pedagogies in a specific grade band and/or content area.

Institute members have full access to all PD offerings. Not sure if you want to commit to an entire year? Register for individual offerings through the 14 Day Access Pass membership level. All virtual sessions will be recorded and available to members on the Member Resources page, no later than one week after the scheduled session.

Want to attend? Check out details about our membership options here.

Propose a Professional Development Session

If you are interested in proposing your own professional development session (led by you or someone you know), please complete our Professional Development Proposal form. Session facilitation can be exchanged for membership cost (see our Activist Membership on the Membership Levels page).

January 2023 Cross-Cutting Offering – Self-Evident Education: Multimedia Curriculum to Teach Essential Histories of Race in America (FREE)

6:00PM – 7:30PM ET on Wednesday, January 4th

Session Description: Self-Evident Education creates multimedia curriculum materials to support educators to teach authentically on the challenging and essential histories of race in America. In this session, learn directly from the founder and staff about how to access and utilize these resources.

Facilitator Bio:

Vision
If we do not know and understand the history of race in the United States, we cannot fully understand American history and who we are as a country. Self-Evident Education envisions a world where all young people understand and honestly assess the ways that race and racism have been intentionally constructed. Through this education they will be able to accurately analyze the present, and create a future where racism can be intentionally dismantled.

January 2023 Cross-Cutting Offering – 21st Century Notebooks for 21st Century Culture

5:00PM – 6:00PM ET on Wednesday, January 18th

Session Description: Remember the days of frantic notetaking in your spiral notebook from bell to bell? Interactive notebooks seek to change this, and the culture of top-down, “sage on a stage” pedagogy by empowering students to use the full wingspan of the Google Suite to work directly with source material, access multimedia resources, and share their wealth of knowledge with the learning community.

Facilitator Bio:

February 2023 Cross-Cutting Offering – Queer Pedagogy in PK-16 Classrooms

6:30PM – 8:00PM ET on Thursday, February 9th

Session Description: From the time we enter PK-12 schooling, students receive messages about the bodies, identities, and behaviors that are socially acceptable and those that are not. While subtle, many of these messages are related to gender identity, gender expression, sex assigned at birth, and romantic and physical attraction, and can have substantial consequences for the positive identity development of queer and transgender girls and non-binary students. In this session we will begin with a mathematics-focused example of what it means to enact a queer and trans pedagogy. That example will be used as the basis for exploring a framework of queer and trans pedagogy: The Mathematical Queeries Framework, as well as extrapolating elements of the framework to other content areas. Teachers will be provided time to consider how these elements might be infused into their own classrooms in order to promote the educational thriving of their 2SLGBTQIA+ students.

Facilitator Bio:

Brandie holds a BS in Mathematics and Mathematics Education and an MEd in Curriculum and Instruction from The University of Tampa, as well as a MPhil and PhD in Mathematics Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. They currently work as an independent math coach and scholar through their own educational consulting company The Queer Mathematics Teacher (QMT). Prior to launching QMT, Brandie worked as an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at Drew University in New Jersey, specializing in K-12 mathematics and science. They also have taught middle and high school mathematics in both New York City and Florida. As a queer Latinx scholar, activist, and educator, Brandie’s research and work at QMT is focused on the ways in which students’ intersectional identities manifest in mathematical spaces and how to re/humanize mathematics for all students through the use of critical and queer pedagogy. To learn more about Brandie and their work, visit the QMT website: www.TheQueerMathematicsTeacher.com

March 2023 Cross-Cutting Offering – Critical Race Theory: A Lens to Understand Our Context

7:00PM – 8:30PM ET on Tuesday, March 14th

Session Description: In recent years we’ve seen a lot of articles, laws, and conversations centered on Critical Race Theory in PK-16. In order to engage in these conversations, teachers need to have a basic understanding of what Critical Race Theory is (and what it is not) and why it is a useful tool in understanding our school contexts. This session will provide teachers with this understanding, as well as provide them with opportunities to discuss specific examples from their own schools and/or districts and analyze those examples through the tenets of Critical Race Theory.

Facilitator Bios:

Brandie holds a BS in Mathematics and Mathematics Education and an MEd in Curriculum and Instruction from The University of Tampa, as well as a MPhil and PhD in Mathematics Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. They currently work as an independent math coach and scholar through their own educational consulting company The Queer Mathematics Teacher (QMT). Prior to launching QMT, Brandie worked as an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at Drew University in New Jersey, specializing in K-12 mathematics and science. They also have taught middle and high school mathematics in both New York City and Florida. As a queer Latinx scholar, activist, and educator, Brandie’s research and work at QMT is focused on the ways in which students’ intersectional identities manifest in mathematical spaces and how to re/humanize mathematics for all students through the use of critical and queer pedagogy. To learn more about Brandie and their work, visit the QMT website: www.TheQueerMathematicsTeacher.com

Leah is a writer, teacher educator, and teacher-scholar-activist who works through her consulting firm, Just Writing LLC.  She credits the many leadership and teaching positions she has held for the development of her anti-racist worldview as well as her commitment to equity and humanization. Her journey includes serving as a high school English teacher for Newark Public Schools; co-founding the Newark Education Workers Caucus (NEW Caucus), a social justice caucus within the Newark Teachers Union; organizing childcare center workers into a union; and serving as a member of the Newark Board of Education (2016-2019). Leah holds a BA in English from Duke University. From Rutgers-Newark, she earned a Master of Public Administration degree as well as her PhD in Urban Systems. As an activist-scholar, her research interests include critical democratic education, teacher leadership, and ontological inquiry. Leah is an active citizen in several community and political organizations, including the Newark Branch of the NAACP where she serves as chair of the education committee. To learn more about Leah and her work, visit her site at www.blackwomanteacher.net.

March 2023 Spotlight Offering – Interconnectedness of Math: Radical Reframing of Curriculum and its Purpose

6:30PM – 8:00PM ET on Wednesday, March 22nd

Session Description:

We hope that this session offers participants means to creatively disrupt the bigger structures that often tether pedagogues to oppressive systems. Through small means and larger system interruptions, we are recommitting to this belief that mathematics is interconnected, and we have authentic experiences to share with participants to try some of these strategies–both big and small–in their own contexts. We strive to create classrooms that are not only inclusive, but also are led by an antiracist pedagogy fueled by justice and liberation. This goal has led us to make many of the curricular and structural decisions we intend to share with participants.

Attendees will engage in deep reflection to think about what may be missing in our own classrooms. Through some offerings of tools, structures, and means to interrupt math instruction system-wide, attendees will also reflect on how the most radical change we can all make is truly investing in this notion of interconnectedness. We draw inspiration from a few experts in the field (Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, Dr. Rochelle Gutierrez) and we hope to share some insight from our own experience experimenting with restructuring 11th and 12th grade mathematics course scope and sequence at our school.

Facilitator Bios:

Sarah Ahmed (she/her) is a math teacher and instructional coach at Essex Street Academy, a 9-12 high school that is a member of the New York Performance Standards Consortium. Prior to teaching at ESA, Sarah taught at both charter and traditional public high schools in NYC as well as Oakland, California. In her teacher journey, Sarah has valued her time in teacher fellowship communities such as the Hollyhock Fellowship Program and Math for America, where has been a learner and facilitator in both spaces. She has taught most levels of high school math and is particularly excited to teach Calculus this spring with a team of inspired fellow educators who, like Sarah, are deeply moved by abolitionist principles and ways to liberate mathematics for all. Sarah has also recently begun teaching as an adjunct instructor at New York University, where she hopes to continue freedom dreaming with aspiring new teachers in the NYC area. In her (little) spare time she loves talking about rehumanizing and revolutionizing mathematics, planning surprise birthdays for people, and spending time with her two dogs and husband.

Pearl Ohm (she/her) teaches math at Essex Street Academy, a small unscreened high school with open admissions for students from all boroughs. Pearl actively leads courses at MƒA and workshops for the New York Performance Standards Consortium with a focus on inclusive and antiracist practices. Pearl has exclusively taught at small, Consortium schools and focuses to emphasize constructivist, inquiry-based understanding in all her math classes. In her schools, she has served as mathematics department chair, mathematics department mentor, inquiry team member, professional development facilitator, and scheduling programmer. She is working toward completing the NYU Metro Center facilitative leadership certification program and has served as the NYC Director of Fellowship for STEM-Ed Innovators, a yearlong fellowship program that develops the capacity of full time NYC public school STEM teachers to integrate democratic STEM teaching principles.  Pearl spends a lot of time thinking about the institution of education and its barriers, increasing equity, and dismantling systems of oppressions. She is finishing her seventeenth year in the classroom, and loves feeling like a life longer in her abolitionist teacher journey.

April 2023 Cross-Cutting Offering – Multiculturalism in the Classroom

6:30PM – 8:00PM ET on Monday, April 3rd

Session Description: The purpose of this presentation is to provide educators with lessons and strategies in order to incorporate multicultural learning in their classroom. It is not sufficient for educators to simply “throw in” a lesson that appears to have diverse characters, without being sure first that the text is authentic. Our students deserve to be and should be part of the learning process. This includes Black, Indigenous, People of Color, people with disabilities, refugees, immigrants, people who identify with LGBTQA+ and any other people who are marginalized and underrepresented in school curricula. My goal for participants is to take away at least one lesson that they can immediately incorporate in their classroom. Educators who teach middle and high school students would benefit most from this presentation but elementary school teachers can benefit also by taking some of the ideas and altering them to work for their students.

Facilitator Bio:

Thuraya Zeidan is an educator in New Jersey for nearly ten years now. She gives presentations and workshops on multiculturalism in the classroom and anti-racist teaching. Thuraya writes poetry and short stories, inspired by being a woman, Palestinian, and social justice advocate.

April 2023 Spotlight Offering- Getting Real Through Fantasy and Science Fiction

6:30PM – 8:00PM ET on Thursday, April 27th

Session Description: Science fiction and fantasy literature provide a unique lens to examine ourselves and our world. How can we, as educators, capitalize on the power of the imagination to explore some of life’s most significant issues? How do science fiction and fantasy help to tell us about what is most real?

This PD session will provide the attendees with practical exercises for the classroom, which incorporate traditional and non-traditional media addressing issues of racism and bias through the lens of science fiction and fantasy literature. We will start by examining the process of how to start building a curriculum and building a framework for exploring the literature, as well as a collection of lesson plans. The plans cover allegories and analogs to real-world issues facing people of color and various sexual and gender identities. Projects and activities provide challenging questions: Can we reconcile our appreciation for contemporary and classic literature with problematic roots? Can art be appreciated separately from its artist? The session will also offer ways to challenge students to express their beliefs, critically evaluate discourse, evaluate allegory in non-traditional literature, and offer alternatives to the classic literary canon.

Facilitator Bio:

Collin Rossi received his BA in English and Theater Arts at Arcadia University in 2005. In 2009, he was accepted to the Philadelphia Teaching Fellows program, part of the New Teacher Project. Returning to Arcadia University, he completed his teaching certification and earned his Master of Education in Special Education. After three years as a special education teacher in the Philadelphia School District, he returned to Arcadia to pursue a Master of Science in Health Education. The call of the classroom proved too loud to ignore, and in 2014 he returned to teaching at South Brunswick High School as a Special Education English teacher, moving out of Special Education into General English in 2018. Collin has contributed to writing a co-teaching handbook for the district and led professional development seminars on co-teaching, equity in the special ed classroom, and subject area content for his colleagues. He has collaboratively developed the curriculum for genre-focused English classes on Crime & the Criminal, and Dystopian Literature and independently designed a Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature course curriculum. Collin is developing a Film & Literature course and updating the Creative Writing courses. Since 2019, he has presented workshops at the NJEA Teacher’s Convention, introducing teachers to his curriculum and creative writing projects and to Culturally Affirming Literature in partnership with his school’s librarian, Lisa Manganello. Look for them on next year’s workshop list! His proudest achievement came in 2021 when he was named Cooperating Teacher of the Year by The College of New Jersey for his work with his first student teacher.

May 2023 Cross-Cutting Offering- Being A Mindful Radical Educator: Deepening the Radical Educator Within You

6:00PM – 7:15PM ET on Thursday, May 11th

Session Description:

Black and Brown communities are living in a systemically racist society, while dealing with the physical and psychological effects of everyday living. As Radical Educators, Mentors who have dedicated our lives to advancing the outcome of Black and Brown communities, we have to deepen our Mental Health practices and collectively work together to resolve some of these Fears that hold onto us.

This PD will open your mind and heart to the idea of using Meditation and Mindfulness as a Tool in Social Justice Education. Bringing mindfulness and meditation into the classroom (no matter how it is styled) is a Radical act of Self-care, creating a safe space where the students and educators can love on themselves free of judgment or external factors.

Facilitator Bio:

Fallon Davis is a Non-binary Visionary, Afro-Native Vegan, Radical Educator, and Creative Culture Worker devoted to enhancing and uplifting the lives of Black and Brown individuals. As a leader and entrepreneur since they were a teenager, Fallon has cultivated a wealth of knowledge in the areas of Transformational Leadership for Racial Equity, Trauma Informed Care and Land and Food Systems, strengthening their work as a Community Leader.

As the Founder & CEO of STEAM URBAN, a STEAM-disciplined, trauma conscious educational non-profit for Black and Brown students of all ages, their organizational mission is Environmental Justice, Social Justice, and Educational Equity. In recognition of their work, Fallon recently received the prestigious Dr. Arnold Brown Racial Justice Award from the YWCA of North Jersey.

Their episode of PBS’s docuseries, 21, was nominated for a 2023 Webby Award in the category of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Fallon’s body, mind and soul are a daily dedication to making real change in the world through effective planning and implementation of programs and processes that will make the lives of marginalized individuals better. 

May 2023 Spotlight Offering – The Joys of Struggle: Students with Disabilities and Meaning-Making Math

7:30PM – 8:45PM ET on Wednesday, May 24th

Session Description:

How can we increase math joy through allowing students with disabilities the freedom to struggle? Work with meaning-making math and students with disabilities pushes against the normative and oppressive structures of math for students with disabilities – rote memorization, meaningless IEP goals, removal from the classroom for “additional support,” all without taking into consideration the tremendous power of allowing students productive and joyful struggle. This session will examine how the status quo of math support and intervention often disallows the beauty of engaging in challenging, meaning-making math for students with learning disabilities. We will hear from experts –students with disabilities themselves- as we explore advocacy as framed by the Social Model of disability.

Teachers who support students with disabilities and students with additional support needs ask very frequently how to support their students as they build meaning and relationships among mathematical ideas. Although this session would not provide any definitive steps or quick fixes to these wonderings, it would provide the opportunity to engage collectively in noticing the brilliance of students with disabilities through video, student sample, and student quotes. The session will help to build co-constructed ideas around supporting students with disabilities without robbing them of the opportunity to make meaning of the beauty of mathematics.

This PD would best suit elementary educators, administrators, and support staff. While math will be our content area of focus, the ideas discussed within could benefit elementary educators across content areas.

Facilitator Bio:

Joanna Hayman began her career in education in 2007, teaching 2^nd grade in Huntington Park. For the next 12 years she taught 2^nd-5^th grades, each year serving as the mainstreaming teacher at her grade level. She now serves schools across Los Angeles as a CGI Math Coach with UCLA Mathematics Project. She considers her work in education to be activism and seeks to disrupt systemic norms through math education. Her work focuses on highlighting and centering the thinking and educational experiences of students with disabilities.