As PTA speaks for every child with one voice, we as PTA leaders seek to create a welcoming and inclusive community for every parent, teacher and student.
INCLUSION ALL YEAR LONG
It is the responsibility of PTA leaders to ensure that our PTA boards reflect the diversity of your school community. Here’s a month-by-month school-year plan to make everyone feel welcomed, included and involved in board and membership activities:
Month 1
• Smile- A smile can be contagious
• Break the ice – Start a conversation with someone new
• Demonstrate mutual respect – Inclusion means being respectful regardless of position or title.
Month 2
• Say “Hello” – You could make someone’s day.
• Say “Thank You” –Gratitude is a gift that’s never too small.
• Be a relationship builder –Seek ways to expand your network.
Month 3
• Be open – Try to experience new thoughts and ideas as learning opportunities.
• Communicate respectfully – It is not what you say, but how you say it.
• Get someone else’s point of view – After sharing your perspective, give others a chance to share theirs.
Month 4
• Practice patience – Take time to get the full story.
• Seek understanding – It’s better to not fully understand than to fully misunderstand.
• Listen – People feel respected when they know you’re listening to their point of view.
Month 5
• Do the right thing – Be fair
• Get involved – Make a difference. Get caught being good.
• Lend a hand – A little help can go a long way.
Month 6
• Reinvent the wheel – Do something that hasn’t already been done.
• Be flexible –Things don’t always go as planned. Adapt to changing conditions when necessary.
• Remember, we all make mistakes – Resist the urge to point out the ones others make.
Month 7
• Treat others the way they want to be treated – Find out what respect means to others.
• Be culturally competent – Differences are barriers only if we allow them to be.
• Find common ground – Discover what you have in common.
Month 8
• Sweat the small stuff – It’s often the small things, such as being kind and courteous that make a difference.
• Be considerate – Your words and actions affect others.
• Join the team – Do your part to support teamwork.
Month 9
• Ask – It’s OK to ask when you are not sure.
• Share your point of view – Everyone has a perspective. Let others benefit from yours.
• Take a healthy step – Do something good for your health and encourage a friend to join you.
Month 10
• Lead the way – Let your inclusive behavior light a path for others.
• Become a mentor – You yes, you – can help others realize their potential.
• Be a champion of dignity and respect – Encourage other to do the same.
Additional Resources
Here are some great resources to help build your knowledge of issues surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion in advance of the listening sessions:
- Video: PBS: Race, the Power of an Illusion
- Video: The Myth of Race
- Research: The State of Race in America
- Research: CSI’s Talking About Race Tools
- Article: White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
- Netflix Video: 13th
- Video: On Intersectionality
- Research: White Supremacy
- Articles: Blueprint for Belonging
- Research: National Equity Atlas
- Research: Center for the Study of Ethnicity & Race
- Book: Racing to Justice
- Book: The New Jim Crow
- Book: Race Matters
- Book: Racism without Racists
- Article: Structural Racism
- Video: How do I Explain Racism to my Black Son?
- Article: America’s Changing Color Lines
- Article: The Other Wealth Gap: The Racial Wealth Rift…
- Book: We Gon Be Alright
- Book: The Color of Law
- Book: My Grandmother’s Hands
- Book: We Want to Do More Than Survive
- Book: How to Be Anti Racist
- Book: This Book is Anti Racist
- Book: So You Want to Talk About Race
- Book: A More Beautiful and Terrible History
- Book: Pedagogy of the Oppressed
- National Equity Project
- Pacific Educational Group
- White Privilege Conference
- www.tolerance.org: Resources for social justice in teaching spaces
- www.hrc.org: Campaign to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people
- www.thinkinclusive.org: Resources for educational inclusion
- www.ihollaback.org/bystanderintervention: Free training on how to interrupt harrassment, and de-escalate a situation