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LeadLearn 2023: Staying the Course

In February, members of the California Subject Matter Project (CSMP) network met in Santa Clara for our annual LeadLearn conference. This year’s theme was “Staying the Course,” building upon the work of the past two conferences, which anchored our work around the importance of equity in our approach to teaching. More specifically, conference attendees were asked to re-engage and prioritize our commitment to racial justice and what it means to lead and teach for equity and social justice.

On the first night, participants learned about CSMP-wide initiatives, including work on universal Transition Kindergarten, partnership with the 21st Century California School Leadership Academy (21CSLA), Environmental Justice, and Ethnic Studies. On the second day, we heard from our keynote speaker, Dr. Farima Pour-Khorshid, who urged us to emphasize healing-centered engagement. In this way, Pour-Khorshid suggested, we could honor our students' experiences, while simultaneously affirming their culture, agency, relationships, meaning, and aspirations. This powerful keynote was followed by many subject-matter-focused discussions and demonstrations of how to promote equity in the classroom across the disciplines. 

In addition to compelling presentations, a 2021 Lead-Learn working group announced the completion and publication of an anthology of CSMP Educators’ Reflections on Leading for Equity. This collection of essays covers a broad range of topics that reflect the diverse backgrounds and experiences of teacher-leaders within our network. Through their words, we hope that you will be inspired to chart your course to make courageous changes to your practice and join us within CSMP as we work with urgency to lead for a more equitable education for all. You can read and download this anthology under our Resources tab here.

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