The Teach Out Project: Proposal

CHOOSE A TEXT:

An article that has stayed with me and continues to inspire me is "Shifting the Paradigm from Deficit-Oriented Schools to Asset-Based Models: Why Leaders Need to Promote an Asset Orientation in our Schools" by Shannon Renkly and Katherine Bertolini. In their article, Renkly and Bertolini argue that schools must shift their focus toward identifying and building upon students' strengths in order to support positive development. Too often, schools operate from a deficit model, which is emphasizing what students lack or the risks they exhibit, rather than adopting an asset-based approach that recognizes students' talents and competencies. To make this shift, school leaders must embed the asset model into the school's shared vision, model it with faculty and staff, and foster strong community-parent-school partnerships. Research consistently shows that supportive adults and positive relationships are among the most powerful asset-building tools available to young people. I frequently observe students being defined by what they lack rather than what they bring, and I believe sharing this text with my colleagues has the potential to open the eyes of others the way it opened mine.

WHO DO YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH?

I would like to share this text with my colleagues and other teachers and faculty at my place of work. We all teach at the middle school level, which is a particularly critical time in adolescent development. Middle schoolers are still figuring out who they are, and the messages they receive from the adults around them during this period can have a lasting impact. As educators, we have the greatest influence over how students are seen and supported daily, and I believe this article could spark meaningful conversations about shifting our collective mindset toward a more strengths-based approach — one that helps our students feel recognized and valued during one of the most formative stages of their lives.

WHAT FORMAT MIGHT WORK FOR YOU?

I plan to use two formats: pamphlets and individual interviews. The pamphlets would serve as an accessible, shareable summary of the article's key ideas, something colleagues could read at their own pace. The individual interviews would then allow me to have deeper, one-on-one conversations to gather their personal reactions and reflections, and to collect data (I LOVE DATA!) on how the asset-based model resonates within our specific school community.

Takeaways From: Policies

 Talking Points

After reading "Queering Our Schools", I started to think about my own school that I work at. My school currently has very few accommodations for students who don't conform to traditional gender identities, and I can't help but think about how isolating that must feel. Middle school is already one of the hardest seasons of life. Students are navigating friendships, academics, and deep questions about who they are, often all at once. When a school environment doesn't reflect or acknowledge a student's identity, that isolation compounds everything else they're already carrying. I find myself wondering: what would it look like if we made even small accommodations, inclusive language, visible representation? And how much safer and more welcomed students might feel in our community as a result? CHATGPT IMAGE

Before I begin about the PPSD policy, I do want to say I had a difficult time digesting it and had to reread it more than once. So, as an educator in Rhode Island it makes me wonder how many truly read these policies.... But anyways, in the Providence Transgender Nondiscrimination Policy: The Providence policy is clear that students have the right to be addressed by a name and pronoun that corresponds to their gender identity, and that no court order or official record change is required. This resonates deeply with my own teaching. At the beginning of this school year, I made it a point to go to each student individually and ask what they liked to be addressed by, quietly, privately, and without making it a big deal. It matters. I've also seen our school counselors do incredible work building genuine relationships with students, and I've had students go to guidance specifically to request a name or pronoun change and receive full support. That kind of trust between a student and a caring adult can be life-changing.

Lastly, the Rhode Island guidance document includes some heartbreaking statistics: transgender youth are significantly more likely to experience depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation compared to their non-transgender peers. This is a reminder that inclusive school policies aren't just about fairness and following the rules, they are directly tied to student mental health and wellbeing. Schools need to be spaces where every student feels safe and seen, not just academically but as a whole person. When students don't have that, it shows up in their learning, their relationships, and their mental health. 

Argument Statement: 

These documents argue that creating truly safe and affirming schools for ALL students requires more than anti-bullying policies, it demands a systemic transformation of curriculum, school culture, and empathy.

Connections

Reading these texts alongside my current Educational Psychology class brought an immediate connection to mind, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow argued that human beings cannot reach higher levels of functioning, like learning, creativity, and growth, until their more basic needs are met first. Safety is one of those foundational needs. When I think about a student who is struggling with their gender identity in a school that offers no accommodations, no inclusive language, no visible support — I picture that student sitting in class, completely unable to focus on the lesson in front of them. They are carrying the weight of their own identity crisis, and the social and emotional pressures of just existing in that environment, and now they are falling behind academically too. And here is the hard truth: that is not the student's failure. That is ours. When we as educators do not build communities where every student feels safe and seen, we are the ones who have failed them. This is also where my own district falls short. While Cumberland has anti-discrimination protections in place, they do not go nearly as far as Providence's policy in terms of specifics, things like gender-neutral dress codes, preferred name use on diplomas and yearbooks, and a dedicated point team at every school to support gender expansive students. 

Takeaways From: The Silenced Dialogue

Talking Points: 

While reading about aspects of power and their relevance, the first point made me rethink something many educators, as well as myself, often overlook. "Issues of power are enacted in classrooms." (p. 24) Classrooms are not neutral spaces. Every decision about what to teach, how to teach it, and whose knowledge counts as valid is a reflection of power. The teacher holds power over students, publishers hold power over curriculum, and the dominant culture holds power over what gets defined as "correct."

Continuing with these aspects of power, the second and third aspects stood out to me as well. On page 25, Delpit writes that there are codes or rules for participating in power, and that there is a "culture of power." She explains that "the rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power." This resonated with me deeply because it reframes what we define as successful students. The students that are successful do not have a gap in intelligence or effort, but a gap in access to unspoken rules. Children from middle-class homes often come to school already knowing the codes because those codes were built around people like them. Children of color and children from working-class families are expected to figure them out on their own, or fail but quietly.

Another point from this text that I felt was important to discuss was on page 25, “if you are not already a participant in the culture of power, being told explicitly the rules of that culture makes acquiring power easier." When implicit codes are attempted across numerous cultures, communication breaks down. It made me think that, in education, leaving children to “discover” rules that children of power already know at home is simply abandonment. By not sharing or teaching the rules to students who do not have the access to the codes, we as educators are leaving them out. I also believe that it is important to find the balance between learning and teaching the different codes, while still staying true to their own cultural identities. 

Argument Statement: Delpit argues that the "silenced dialogue" in education, where the voices and concerns of teachers and parents of color are dismissed or ignored which stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of power. Equitable education requires teaching students the codes of power while affirming the value of their own cultural identity. 

Connections: From a student perspective, I think about how many students, especially first generation college students, arrive in academic spaces without knowing the hidden rules: how to email a professor, how to participate in seminar discussions, what office hours are actually for. No one tells them explicitly because those "in the know" assume everyone already knows. And even when no harm is intended, it is still a code that some students are not aware of. Delpit makes the case that good intentions are not enough, and I think that challenge extends far beyond the K–12 classroom. 

As far as an educator standpoint, this reading made me think a lot about bias, something we talked about constantly throughout my undergrad. We were always pushed to examine our own biases, but I don't think I fully connected that work to power until reading now. If a teacher is unaware of their own biases, they are also likely unaware of the power they hold in the classroom. And that unawareness has real consequences. A teacher might unconsciously favor students who already speak, write, and behave in ways that mirror the culture of power, and interpret students who don't as less capable, less motivated, or as having behavior problems. Delpit shows us that this is not just a personal failing. It is embedded into systems and ideologies that well-meaning educators participate in without realizing it! That is what makes it so dangerous. You do not have to be an evil person to fail a student. You just have to be unaware. I honestly think that is the most uncomfortable takeaway from this reading.

Bias Article 1

Bias Article 2