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UNDERSTANDING AFFINITY Benefits and Challenges for an Independent School Community

UNDERSTANDING AFFINITY Benefits and Challenges for an Independent School Community batiste@nais.org. Session Goals To provide suggestions for building your knowledge of and commitment to affinity group work in independent schools.

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UNDERSTANDING AFFINITY Benefits and Challenges for an Independent School Community

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  1. UNDERSTANDING AFFINITY Benefits and Challenges for an Independent School Community batiste@nais.org

  2. Session Goals • To provide suggestions for building your knowledge of and commitment to affinity group work in independent schools. • To share the concept, opportunities, and challenges of affinity group initiatives. • To offer strategic and tactical questions and next steps in developing affinity group goals and initiatives. • Feel free to think aloud!

  3. Ability Age Ethnicity Gender Race Religion Sexual Orientation Socio-economic Status (Class) Body Image (“Lookism”) Educational Background Family of Origin, Family Make Up Geographic/Regional Background Language Learning Style Beliefs (political, social, religious) Globalism/Internationalism ? Core Identifiers

  4. The term affinity group is used as a bringing together of people who have something important in common, e.g. race, gender, profession, or special interests. Any significant historical movement or everyday social interaction could probably be traced to the actions of people who share a common experience and passion.

  5. Affinity groups allow for: • building community • identifying issues • sharing successes • promoting ideas for action • preparing for deep and honest cross-cultural dialogue with other affinity groups • providing opportunities for affirmation and celebration • the “why” defines the “what” A large number of successful diversity initiatives in independent schools across the country originated out of conversations in these groups.

  6. Affinity Groups The NAIS Perspective

  7. Affinity Group Work at PoCC/SDLC NAIS has long supported the development and operation of racial/ethnic/cultural affinity groups. The overarching vision for NAIS affinity group work is to provide a safe space for all participants to identify salient issues and common concerns through dialogue, using our individual voices to bring about affirmation, fellowship, connection (networking), and empowerment: to come together for sharing and listening and offering support in the service of greater understanding. The overarching vision of affinity group work includes: • Discussing issues related to racial/ethnic/cultural identity development. • Providing a safe environment where people who share a racial/ethnic/cultural identity can come together for building community, fellowship, and empowerment. • Facilitating opportunities for affirming, nurturing, and celebrating. • Empowering participants who share a racial/ethnic/cultural identity.

  8. Affinity Group Challenges

  9. False Parallels (“The same thing happened to me…”) in resistance to initiatives for affinity groups • Inverting the Injustice (“By focusing on affinity groups YOU have offended ME…”) in reacting to plans for affinity groups • Outright Dismissal (“Race has nothing to do with it…”) of the need for affinity group initiatives • Minimization (“It really isn’t a program for them/us here…”) in response to affinity group proposals • Righteousness (“We’re a good school so we can’t be racist/sexist/homophobic/anti-Semitic/etc….”) as a defensive response to the notion of affinity group work • Colorblindness (“People are people – We don’t see color/gender/religious/ability/sexual orientation..”) in a well meaning but misguided and dismissive response to proposing affinity group work • Jealousy (“Why do they get a special group, to be treated to something I/we can’t have” Remnant of affirmative action’s preferential treatment criticism)

  10. The Mission Statement of Riverdale Country School - I The mission of Riverdale Country School is to offer students the foundations of a liberal education that will guide them to rewarding, purposeful lives. In its second century, Riverdale’s unique character is still shaped by the commitment of its founder, Frank S. Hackett, to high academic standards, scholarly, intimate teaching, abundant play in the open, and a care for the best influences. It is our duty to help our students expand their competence and resourcefulness and to enable them to think critically. Riverdale students are not merely passive recipients of knowledge; teachers support students in the challenging work of actively constructing their own understanding and skills in a balance of intellectual, artistic, athletic, and community activities. The ideal Riverdale experience is a friendly, lively meeting of disciplined minds working, creating, and performing together in the classroom and in the larger arena made possible by New York City and our country campuses.

  11. The Mission Statement of Riverdale Country School - II The knowledge, culture, experiences, interests, abilities, and points of view that each member of the Riverdale community brings to the school enrich the lives and deepen the understanding of those with whom they interact. We value the quality of the relationships we forge. Parents feel a strong partnership with the school and students form lasting bonds with their teachers, mentors, and peers. For these reasons, we seek diverse experiences and viewpoints in our students and their families, our faculty, and our curriculum. In the patterns of our daily life on campus, we seek to create a model of the ways in which people should treat and respect one another.

  12. A School’s Mission Statement and Reconstructing Questions

  13. What are we doing now that we should do more of to sustain our mission statement through affinity group goals and initiatives? • What are we doing now that we should do less of to sustain our mission statement through affinity group goals and initiatives? • What aren’t we doing that we should be doing to sustain our mission statement through affinity group goals and initiatives? • What are we doing that we need to stop doing to sustain our mission statement through affinity group goals and initiatives?

  14. My Family’s Experience

  15. What was the motivation in having your child apply to the school? What were the risks, if any, to your family (based on your cultural identifier)?

  16. As a/an (cultural identifier) family in the community, what do you want the school community to affirm about your child?

  17. As a/an (cultural identifier) family in the community, what do you want your child to affirm and understand about the other cultural groups of the school community?

  18. As a/an (cultural identifier) in the community, what do you want to affirm and understand about the families of other cultural groups in the school community?

  19. As a/an (cultural identifier) in the community, what do you want the families of other cultural groups to affirm and understand about you?

  20. What or who was most helpful to you and your daughter/son in adjusting to the first year at the school?

  21. When was it that you really felt part of the school community as opposed to just being a parent of a student who attends the school?

  22. What do you notice about yourself as a person of color, a person of other underrepresented groups, or as a person from the majority culture at the school?

  23. What do you notice about adults in the school community who share your primary cultural identification?

  24. What do you notice about other adults in the community who do not share your primary cultural identification?

  25. What would you like to see the school do to support (cultural identifier) students and families in/for academic achievement, athletic achievement, social development, extra-curricular activities, and support for families?

  26. Gene’s Recommendations for Follow Up Questions

  27. Expand Gene’s explanation of “the why defines the what” connecting Riverdale Country School’s mission statement and expected outcomes of affinity group goals and initiatives. • SWOT Analysis A. What are the strengths in designing and implementing affinity group work at RCS? B. What are the weaknesses in designing and implementing affinity group work at RCS? C. What are the opportunities in designing and implementing affinity group work at RCS? D. What are the threats in designing and implementing affinity group work at RCS?

  28. III. Who are the advocates, allies, and potential facilitators needed to design, support, and implement affinity group initiatives for RCS? IV. Who are the opponents to affinity group work – both outside and within affinity groups? Examine the manifest and latent reasons for their opposition. V. What would affinity group initiatives look like – sound like – feel like at RCS? • Think of affinity groups like experiencing Starbucks – the sounds, smells, ambiance, tranquility, convenience, etc. • What can happen in this time (affinity group sessions) to make you better at what you do? • Here’s what works for me/my family/my work – reflections to get the dialogue going. Storytelling is always a powerful tool in affinity group work.

  29. Best Wishes for a Successful 2006-2007 School Year!

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