Coffee and Conversations: Teacher-led JEDI Discussions Started in the Upper School

By Beth Clarke, Upper School Political Science & Forensics Teacher

How do we bring justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion work into our classrooms?

Time and time again, teachers return to this important question. 

Out of a desire for opt-in conversations about anti-racist/anti-bias praxis (how we convert justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion theory into practice in our classrooms), the Upper School JEDI Committee began hosting “Coffee and Conversations” one Friday per month during flex time earlier this year. 

Each session, committee members select and distribute a short, evocative reading regarding best JEDI practices. The organizing committee members prepare a few questions for the session and facilitate conversations.  

In one session this year, we focused on the creation of Affinity Groups for our inaugural meeting. With about thirty faculty and staff members in attendance, we unpacked an article from Columbia University’s Social Work Review about the whys and hows of Affinity Groups in schools. 

As the larger JEDI cross-divisional discussions of creating affinity spaces at TAS were well underway, this article was a natural fit for “Coffee and Conversations” as it guided praxis for Affinity Groups; how to translate the theory behind these groups into practice in our community.  Lively, well-caffeinated discussion ensued, as it has in our subsequent discussions of anti-racist work in our school. 

As all teachers know, teaching what one already knows is far more comfortable than teaching what one is still learning.  When it comes to anti-racist work, we are a community of learners, which is why spaces such as “Coffee and Conversations” are critical for our community’s adult learners.  

In spaces like “Coffee and Conversations,” we grown-ups can challenge, get uncomfortable, and freely collaborate to be sharper, more confident anti-racist/ anti-bias learner-leaders for our students.  We look forward to more conversations, and more coffee, in the future.  

To see what we’re up to, check out our collaborative Padlet here.

We hope that all TAS community members find safe spaces to engage in this work, whether you are a member of the teaching faculty or not, since we all can play a part in making this a more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive place to learn, work, and grow.