Key Highlights:

1. Desmond's Dilemma: A Teacher's Crossroads: Peek into Desmond's inner world as he grapples with tough decisions about his teaching career. How does an educator reconcile personal well-being with professional duty?
2. Jesse's Transformative Experience: Uncover the emotional journey Jesse undertook during the strike. What profound realizations emerged from this blend of pain, joy, and gratitude?
3. Thriving in Adversity: Dive into the discussion on thriving post-strike. Can maintaining an open heart in times of challenge lead to personal and professional transformation?
4. Envisioning Education's Future: Explore Jesse's 'Genius Awakening Curriculum.' How can tapping into collective and individual genius revolutionize the educational process?
5. Healing and Hope in Education: Join the conversation on navigating systemic challenges with honesty and kindness. What does a future built on open-heartedness look like in education?
6. An Uncertain Yet Hopeful Path Forward: Contemplate the future of the podcast and the education system. Will the mantra "genius over doubt" guide educators and students into a new era of learning?

Tune in for an episode that not only reflects on the aftermath of a teachers' strike but also delves into the broader implications for personal growth, systemic change, and the art of thriving in the complex world of education.

I'll share clips from today's rally to help us align with the themes of community health and individual well-being. This episode isn't just about listening; it's an invitation to join in a journey of understanding and contemplation.

We explore the deep connections and support systems we've built on the picket lines, the power of community, and how we're facing our fears head-on. There's an urgent call for our leaders to face their fears too, to engage in honest, vulnerable communication. It's time to question and dismantle the fear-based structures in our schools and replace them with systems that recognize our humanity and genius.

I'll share some personal reflections and a rap I wrote, capturing the emotions and vibrations of this historic time. It's about seeing every obstacle as a pathway to new possibilities and transforming our struggles into a thriving way of life.

-Jesse the Emajyner

In this episode, we explore the emotional highs and lows of the strike, from the strong sense of community among educators to the looming uncertainties and fears. We delve into the recent negotiations, the complexities of union decisions, and the ongoing challenges with PPS management.

This strike isn't just a protest; it's a deep dive into the systemic issues facing our education system. We're not only fighting for better conditions but also for the recognition and respect of our profession. It's a historic moment for Portland Public Schools, and as we navigate these uncharted waters, we're reminded of the power of community, the importance of honest dialogue, and the need to stand up for what we believe in.

As always, genius over doubt.

Enjoy the Episode

-Desmond

03:02 Desmond "We want there to be an objective measurement of learning, however when you start diving deep into what learning is... the learning experience is inherently a personal one. And there is no real way for me to know actually know what a student has learned. I know what they choose to show, I know what they choose to do.... and I can make a judgement that they've learned something based on that. But the actual experience of them learning and internalizing that connection is ultimately theirs.

04:36 Desmond "I noticed I was holding back creative ideas and insights that could really make a difference for students because I wasn't going to grade it. If I'm not going to grade it then what is the incentive for them to do it? I'm giving them less than my best creative thinking because I'm trying to manage my work load of all I'm trying to do. Then when I did my little tricks of like alright I'm going to make you think I'm grading this even when I'm just grading a small piece of this... it didn't feel right.

05:36- Desmond "It got to the point where I'm like alright, I'm not doing my best work and I'm not liking the dynamics it creates amongst students with myself. And I also don't like the effect it creates on students."

06:22- Desmond "I would create a system where I would try to promote action and thought from my students. As long as I had the power to evaluate their work and have real outcomes for them, they were trying to figure out the cheat code to get the A and not actually learn."

06:45- Jesse "What I hear you saying is that grading was preventing a depth of learning. For genius to awaken, to get into the meat of learning, was prevented by grading."

07:00- Desmond- "I want to be very clear when I say grading, I mean when you get a whole bunch of assignments ini,ts when the only feedback your giving is a number. They can't do anything about that. There is a lot of work of being done to put the check marks into the system...and the feedback on the paper is greatly ignored because students are conditioned to only look for the grade."

07:54- Jesse "How would you describe upgrading for our listeners?"

8:00-9:26 Desmond answers the question...

08:25- Desmond the feedback you give is specific to what you see in the work... talk to me about your process... learn through the mistake... mistakes are necessary for learning...

09:25- Jesse "In your class how is this process facilitated?"

09:34 Desmond- "For me, I'm okay with the messiness.... There is what I'm actually doing and there is what I want to change as I get further along in the process of it... A lot of self reflection, the grade comes from students, we do self evaluation. Students assign themselves a grade based on the work they've done, what I'm calling the process portfolio... I would rather document that they are engaged in the class and thinking...

12:23- Desmond "The accountability comes in through frequent reflection... I give them guided reflections to probe them deep into their self awareness."

13:47- Des- I have a process where students post questions to a service called Packback. Which focuses on inquiry. Shoutout to Packback. They post one question and respond to two. Thats minimum. I say minimum is average and average a C. 'your still using that grading language?' A little bit because they are still in it.

14:33- Desmond "We've trained them with escapism; the game they (students) are playing is what is the least I need to do to get the maximum...]]>In this episode Jesse interviews Desmond about his upgrading practices to stop using grades to have power over students but create a classroom culture increase learning through enriching classroom experiences. Desmond talks about the joyful mess of this process and in this short bonus episode there are many gems. So many gems we had to contemplate in silence and not lay down our usual freestyle at the end. Ha. Enjoy!

03:02 Desmond "We want there to be an objective measurement of learning, however when you start diving deep into what learning is... the learning experience is inherently a personal one. And there is no real way for me to know actually know what a student has learned. I know what they choose to show, I know what they choose to do.... and I can make a judgement that they've learned something based on that. But the actual experience of them learning and internalizing that connection is ultimately theirs.

04:36 Desmond "I noticed I was holding back creative ideas and insights that could really make a difference for students because I wasn't going to grade it. If I'm not going to grade it then what is the incentive for them to do it? I'm giving them less than my best creative thinking because I'm trying to manage my work load of all I'm trying to do. Then when I did my little tricks of like alright I'm going to make you think I'm grading this even when I'm just grading a small piece of this... it didn't feel right.

05:36- Desmond "It got to the point where I'm like alright, I'm not doing my best work and I'm not liking the dynamics it creates amongst students with myself. And I also don't like the effect it creates on students."

06:22- Desmond "I would create a system where I would try to promote action and thought from my students. As long as I had the power to evaluate their work and have real outcomes for them, they were trying to figure out the cheat code to get the A and not actually learn."

06:45- Jesse "What I hear you saying is that grading was preventing a depth of learning. For genius to awaken, to get into the meat of learning, was prevented by grading."

07:00- Desmond- "I want to be very clear when I say grading, I mean when you get a whole bunch of assignments ini,ts when the only feedback your giving is a number. They can't do anything about that. There is a lot of work of being done to put the check marks into the system...and the feedback on the paper is greatly ignored because students are conditioned to only look for the grade."

07:54- Jesse "How would you describe upgrading for our listeners?"

8:00-9:26 Desmond answers the question...

08:25- Desmond the feedback you give is specific to what you see in the work... talk to me about your process... learn through the mistake... mistakes are necessary for learning...

09:25- Jesse "In your class how is this process facilitated?"

09:34 Desmond- "For me, I'm okay with the messiness.... There is what I'm actually doing and there is what I want to change as I get further along in the process of it... A lot of self reflection, the grade comes from students, we do self evaluation. Students assign themselves a grade based on the work they've done, what I'm calling the process portfolio... I would rather document that they are engaged in the class and thinking...

12:23- Desmond "The accountability comes in through frequent reflection... I give them guided reflections to probe them deep into their self awareness."

13:47- Des- I have a process where students post questions to a service called Packback. Which focuses on inquiry. Shoutout to Packback. They post one question and respond to two. Thats minimum. I say minimum is average and average a C. 'your still using that grading language?' A little bit because they are still in it.

14:33- Desmond "We've trained them with escapism; the game they (students) are playing is what is the least I need to do to get the maximum result. I give them the minimum and tell them that the minimum is average. What I'm trying to do pry into their brain is that if you can do more, do more... because that is what gets you the best results... That is criteria. I hit them with that a bit into our journey.

15:40- Desmond "Its training at this point, its training them to get into different habits, if you want best results in your life, then you have to do more than just the minimum."

15:55 Jesse "This reminds me of a poem by M.K. Asante who is the author of Its Bigger Than Hip Hop. He has a poem called 2 set of Notes

16:30- 2 B.A.R.S. Guided mediation

18:48- Desmond- "When I say the minimum is a C and you are grading yourself, I'm priming it into your brain, 'well shoot, I want an A, but all I did was the minimum.' Thats the key, and when I ask you questions like, 'how did you push yourself?' in the reflection... the criteria is in the questions I'm asking in the reflection."

19:39- Jesse "What have you seen are the benefits and challenges being two years in?"

19:46 Desmond "Benefits is that I can really spend my time prepping an enriching learning experience because I'm not saddled by having to go over absolutely everything and put numbers on it. I can look at their work, take it in a human being and deliver honest feedback directly to the student or the class as a whole, that is more thoughtful then what I was doing in the past. Sometimes experience is the feedback, and their work can guide future learning experiences."

21:00 Desmond "The I create experiences and provide material to guide based off where they want to go. From a real place of 'I want to learn.' not 'I just want to get through the class.' There is a shift that needs to take place from all those years of escapism. Once we make that shift... they experience the joy of developing their own ideas and their own creativity."

22:06 Desmond- "Student anxiety is lower around it. There are other things I do around it, its not just that I upgrade and yea!....

22:16 Desmond- "I would say for me and the ungrading practices, it freed up a lot of time, attention and energy for the real work of crafting and experience that really allows students to learn."

22:33 Jesse "What's been student feedback so far?"

23:20 Jesse "Thats inspiring.. the possibilities that can exist in a classroom if we get curious enough to get outside the box a little bit and be willing to take a risk."

23:57 Desmond "Quarantine was the tipping point to go all the way with the upgrading."

24:43 Desmond "Ultimately it came down to the experience- 'I have less conversations with students about a letter, and more conversations about an idea, a skill or something that they are interested in that comes up from the experience in the class. And more conversations about their life."

26:10 Desmond "What some students do, what some people do is think, 'I'm not doing well in this domain so thus I'm going to de value what it is to justify my choice to do something else.' "

26:29 Jesse "How do you see upgrading connecting to systems thinking and 'real life'?

26:42 Desmond "The question comes up what if we were all upgrading...Trauma aside- mostly all students want to learn and feel capable; What do we need a grading system for to enforce that? To hold them in on it. we say, 'If you don't do this it will effect your grade.'.... What if we release that?... The control and power always lies within the student...

28:07 Desmond "I don't think we do a service in todays world by trying to control students power with arbitrary standards.... If you competence then the skill of self evaluation is key. The skill of motivation is key. Self awareness is key... I did this work now reflect on the process. From a systems perspective it shifts us towards the growth of our students and less the measurement of our students."

29:06 Jesse "What if over the course of high school... from freshman to senior year your got used to ungrading... what if you learn that self awareness, that self evaluation, the joy of learning, the community, your getting feedback, your giving feedback out, your making as many mistakes as you can to learn and grow as a human being and that was the impetus?

29:40 Desmond "Going in this whole idea of Worth Work and building worth is that we start to feel we don't have enough worth when we don't measure up to somebody else's expectations. And that's what our grading system does. Thats what creates all this anxiety...

30:30 Jesse "Its important to stop and reflect on our trajectory, the hill we're climbing, what we're asking students to do and what is really worth pursuing? What is this human experience really about? What do we want to draw out of it?

31:00 Desmond "The challenges is trying to craft one experience in the class that meets all the students needs. That is messy and difficult. Thats another episode- the art- How do I create an experience that allows students to feel a part of the class and connected to what we're doing but have enough autonomy for them to do their individual work... This has always been the challenge... but by doing upgrading then I'm focusing on it more and I'm seeing the complexities in it. There is an urge to go back to the simple solution, 'okay for you how about I do grade you' because if they aren't engaging... then do I for you?"

32:41 Desmond "I'm forging ahead even though there are not a lot of models for what I'm doing."

01:35- What comes up for your when you think of worth work practices?

01:58- Jesse "Embracing our whole selves so that we can embrace others. In a quantum sense- 'you are my other me' and that comes from the In Lak Ech poem, that ancient Mayan concept. We are all connected, so its practicing that connection. Practicing our humanity."

02:36 Desmond- "There are a lot of folks dealing shame, a lack of self worth. Which creates all sorts of ways that our pain in manifesting in the classroom and in the systems. The idea is worth... of self worth, the value we innately have by being here and being here another day.... every time we see the next day there is something that decides we are worthy of seeing another day, without having to do anything. If we can stay connected to that, we don't fall victim to the way we convince ourselves that we're not enough."

03:32 Desmond "There is the work piece and the practice piece. Not just showing up to do the work when the work is needed, but practicing the skills you need in order to do the work. Its continuous, its daily.... there are times when we lose the human connection and we need to practice the skills that help us maintain the human connection while we deal with the challenges of meeting everyone's need in the system."

04:21- Desmond "A worth work practice is something you create yourself to practice internal skills, so when its no longer a drill, you're ready to act."

05:15 Jesse "In Worth Work- the vision is to create a world where everyone has access to everything they need to live their highest selves. In our context- eradicating white body supremacy.... we need practices to evolve. Some practices are passed down from our ancestors and then we also need to develop and expand new practices to adapt to what our times are calling for."

05:55 Desmond - "And having the skill set to adapt. Which may not be present if your don't have a creative practice... We are attempting to create something new...humans have always been dealing with the human condition... What we are trying to do is deal with the human condition together. "

07:00 Jesse- "These practices are way to deal with out pain. Like Resmaa Menakem says, clean pain over dirty pain. Pain will be expressed some how. Our practices help us express pain in productive ways, in ways that bring connection.... With worth work we are trying to build that human connection in the context of the institution of school despite all the obstacles we face on the daily. Which might be a good segue into your story of how to channel pain and the value of having practices."

08:18 Desmond "Yea cause when you said how to bring humanity into it. The simple answer is allowing our stories to be heard and told in community, in our classes."

08:45 Desmond sets up and shares an experience 2/15/22....

14:02- Desmond "It got to the point where I said 'the human part of me wants to go and have a conversation with the other classes, the teacher part of me is hesitant to do so. It was in that point that I realized, 'oh I'm a human before I'm a teacher.' I experienced the dehumanization of what was happening, through the word and the culture context that we're in..."

Enjoy this episode. More show notes on the way.

https://worthworkpodcast.substack.com/

It's a great time to think about our systems. So enjoy this episode. It's one of my favorites.

-Desmond

Show Notes:

03:05- Desmond- "The book I pull from heavily is Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows ... and Systems Thinking for Social Change by David Peter Stroh"

03:36 Desmond- "Thats when the lightbulb went off, Oh! that's why I'm good at systems thinking because its about the inner connection between all things."

04:22 Desmond "The only way we can understand and conceptualize this stuff is by creating separation between ourself and the system and the different components of it. But the reality is that the separation only exists in our understanding of it, not in the lived day to day experience of it. Thats the hard part... when we begin to think about systems..."

05:37 Desmond "When you here the term (systems thinking) Whatever comes to mind for you is essentially what your operating with... When we think about systems we often think about it as something separate from ourselves. We often thinking about the conglomerates of corporations and institutions, bureaucracies and school districts....the problem is that we start to think that the part is the whole. We start to think that our experience is the only experience, that the system is in charge and has all the power."

07:18 Desmond "We separate the mind from the heart, and the mind from the body but it's all one body. We separate them to have different kinds of conversations, but we don't have a practice to brining them back together and having conversations about how they relate to each other as a whole system."

09:24 Desmond- "Its important to understand: The system is the map and the map is never the terrain...."

11:51 Whats the relationship between systems and culture?

14:03 What is the purpose of our education system? Desmond- "I'm gonna give you a quote from Thinking in Systems- The least obvious part of the system, its function or purpose, is often the most crucial determinate of the systems behavior. I don't have a straight answer for you about what is the purpose of the education system. Because it's the least obvious part. You get what I'm saying? I know what I think the purpose is and that's what I teach from. But is what my purpose of education- human being development. "

15:20 Desmond "If I had a false dichotomy choice between giving a student all the skills in the world vs. Know who you are. I'm going to go with the know who you are."

16:08 Take two BARS guided mediation. Breathe Align Relax and Shine.

18:15 Jesse shares how the education system doesn't value the knowledge of self by how the system is set up. He shares story of the power of Step Up Camps. "I learn more about my self in those five days than a whole school year."

23:22 Desmond- "When I get excited about systems thinking is because Oh this explains how the system is fundamentally human because it becomes hypocritical at some point... "

26:26 Colleague clip- Sam "I think we need to blow the whole thing up. I think the way we educate our students is preparing them for either jail or becoming robots. Just the way that we make em line up, sit and not say anything in class. All that is preparing you to be a worker and not a boss."

Not said in the episode but this quote makes me think of another quote by Buenaventura Durruti “We are not in the least afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth; there is not the slightest]]>Today, in Portland Public Schools, we start planning for the year.

It's a great time to think about our systems. So enjoy this episode. It's one of my favorites.

-Desmond

Show Notes:

03:05- Desmond- "The book I pull from heavily is Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows ... and Systems Thinking for Social Change by David Peter Stroh"

03:36 Desmond- "Thats when the lightbulb went off, Oh! that's why I'm good at systems thinking because its about the inner connection between all things."

04:22 Desmond "The only way we can understand and conceptualize this stuff is by creating separation between ourself and the system and the different components of it. But the reality is that the separation only exists in our understanding of it, not in the lived day to day experience of it. Thats the hard part... when we begin to think about systems..."

05:37 Desmond "When you here the term (systems thinking) Whatever comes to mind for you is essentially what your operating with... When we think about systems we often think about it as something separate from ourselves. We often thinking about the conglomerates of corporations and institutions, bureaucracies and school districts....the problem is that we start to think that the part is the whole. We start to think that our experience is the only experience, that the system is in charge and has all the power."

07:18 Desmond "We separate the mind from the heart, and the mind from the body but it's all one body. We separate them to have different kinds of conversations, but we don't have a practice to brining them back together and having conversations about how they relate to each other as a whole system."

09:24 Desmond- "Its important to understand: The system is the map and the map is never the terrain...."

11:51 Whats the relationship between systems and culture?

14:03 What is the purpose of our education system? Desmond- "I'm gonna give you a quote from Thinking in Systems- The least obvious part of the system, its function or purpose, is often the most crucial determinate of the systems behavior. I don't have a straight answer for you about what is the purpose of the education system. Because it's the least obvious part. You get what I'm saying? I know what I think the purpose is and that's what I teach from. But is what my purpose of education- human being development. "

15:20 Desmond "If I had a false dichotomy choice between giving a student all the skills in the world vs. Know who you are. I'm going to go with the know who you are."

16:08 Take two BARS guided mediation. Breathe Align Relax and Shine.

18:15 Jesse shares how the education system doesn't value the knowledge of self by how the system is set up. He shares story of the power of Step Up Camps. "I learn more about my self in those five days than a whole school year."

23:22 Desmond- "When I get excited about systems thinking is because Oh this explains how the system is fundamentally human because it becomes hypocritical at some point... "

26:26 Colleague clip- Sam "I think we need to blow the whole thing up. I think the way we educate our students is preparing them for either jail or becoming robots. Just the way that we make em line up, sit and not say anything in class. All that is preparing you to be a worker and not a boss."

Not said in the episode but this quote makes me think of another quote by Buenaventura Durruti “We are not in the least afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth; there is not the slightest doubt about that.... We carry a new world here, in our hearts. That world is growing in this minute.”

29:25 Jesse reads lyrics from the third verse J Cole's song High For Hours- What good is takin' over when we know what you gon' do? The only real revolution happens right inside of you

30:47 Desmond "It gets to this idea- policy created racism, racism creates racists ideas, racist ideas reenforce racist policies, and what we have to remember is the people who created racist policies weren't necessarily operating with the racist ideas, since they hadn't been invented yet, but they were operating with the human condition. They were operating with self interest and that balance that we all play with: doing for self and doing for others. We convince ourselves that doing for self is doing for others... convincing ourselves that our we are doing the policy for the greater cause... we start to tell stories about how other people are less than human.

34:08 Desmond- "one of our greatest powers and our greatest weaknesses as humans is story. I came to realization about how stories are a weakness because stories have a to have a beginning, middle and end... We use stories understand the system around us and to understand ourself. Stories are simulations of reality."

36:26 Desmond "Map not the terrain... I have a story of my life, story of what my classroom should be. Something comes in that's not a part of that story. Instead of changing my story, because that's the harder part to change- stories are powerful. I ignore and push out the part that doesn't fit."

37:33 Colleague clip Same- "Kids are the most adaptable people in the world. Whatever we say we're doing we're rocking with it. Whether its courageous conversations this year, whether its RJ. Whatever, they're going to adapt. Its adults that push back on all that stuff."

38:40 Desmond "Thinking about the systems work we can do to bring more equity into it. How does our system bring in normally marginalized folks?... Marginalizing folks are marginalizing themselves. It's the systemic result of how we do things. So do we then rethink our systems to bring in folks that are normally left on the outside, that have been pushed out of the story by default. Not by intention by the lack of attention to the normal experience..."

39:50 Desmond breaks down what happens when teachers try to take on a strategy without doing the work to embody... Teachers revert back to old habits and the same story.

40:40 Jesse "Doing the inner work is changing the internal systems by receiving the work from the outer systems. Whats working and not working?"

42:10 What are systems for? What is education for? To serve the needs for the people apart of the system.

47:29- Desmond uses an analogy of NBA draft to apply to the education system. Teams/schools at the bottom should get the first pick for funding.

50:00 Desmond "Where do we begin this work? We begin were we are... We seek to understand more than we do now... We can begin making decisions that are more aligned with the whole..."

50:41 Colleague clip- Sam- "I think emotionally for the people in power they don't have the capability of doing that. Of admitting wrong. Because, its just like going into RJ the first thing you do is identify what happened, who was affected by it, what can we do to make things right, and how can we keep things right. The key part of it is taking accountability and responsibility for what you did in that situation. And I don't think our education system in the United States is ready to take accountability for what they've done. And you can't fix a problem if you've never admitted it to being a problem."

54:15-Desmond "A lot of these episodes, these themes, is a lens for analysis of our experience to maintain the curiosity and openness to act towards equity. Once we close off from that and go into strict self preservation mode we default to status quo... Then we do the harm of the status quo."

54:46- Colleague clip-Sam- "What you like you don't hurt, what you feel a part of you take care of. If we get to a space, you like your teacher, you like your classmates, - that's from learning each other. Thats why the whole community circle process is so important. You get to know each other on a level- not just as my classmate or my teacher. Because you're less likely to hurt who you like. Once you feel a part of the fabric of your school you more likely to police yourselves. "

55:20 Key Words and Phrases Freestyle edition: capitalism, it' s all connected, cliches, revolution, blow it up, stake holder.

01:36- Desmond- "Its good to understand power to use it in ways that isn't based in default conditioning and the need to self protect. That is the impetus if you will. The question is How do we use power in a way that can bring equity and inclusion into classroom spaces as well as the world.

02:24- Jesse "When I'm empowered I feel it in my chest and solar plexus, thats when I'm using all my genius and gifts to make the world a little better.... When I'm feeling threatened by power or unsure of my own power, I get in my head...being aware of the dynamics of power in my own body.

02:50- Jesse -"On a collective level... I'm contemplating power in all the hierarchies we live in. Having access to things you need, food, water, shelter. Today power is symbolized in money...

03:20 bell hooks in Teaching to Transgress: "It was only when I began to interrogate my fear of power that I began to understand that power itself was not negative."

4:10- Desmond -"As a black kid, I'm navigating power structures to get my needs met. Not from a place of inherent self worth as a human being... which is the default of the culture.... In our culture You have to prove yourself before you have power.... to bring change and inclusion we have to recognize that every person has power.... We have to interrogate it for ourself to understand it's not the force thats the issue, it's the use of it."

05:30 What is the definition of power? Brene Brown in Atlas of the Heart. Echoing Martin Luther King Jr. "A defintion of power is the ability to take care of needs and effect change."

06:07 Jesse- shares how his realizing of social power came when he participated in courageous conversations about race working for Step Up and realized he had a certain amount of power because of his skin color.

06:43- Desmond refers to wheel of power or privilege. This tool helps us realize our social location in our context.

08:34 Jesse- "Courageous conversation was the first time I could own my power in terms of race. I look at my power as my genius and abilities I can contribute to my community. I can give and receive.

10:30 Desmond- "I've been thinking of the domain of spiritual power... Spirituality I was raised with taught me to turn inward, and by turning inward and connecting myself, with my body... There is innate wisdom in my body that guides me.... We need to recognize that there is something larger than us that effects us. It doesn't have to be gods, angels, demons, it can be the culture. The culture effects us....That force that is culture in collective story and sense making, has a spiritual component we need to pay attention]]>Worth Work in full effect. This episode focuses on the relationship of power in our teaching profession in individuals and in the system. What do we gain when we give up power? How can we shift the culture so power is more evenly distributed? A real gem in this episode is around the 30:10 mark hear a story from from a few years from students (now in college) about how they were able to shift the power dynamics at their school in a event called Time to Talk, where adults had to be the primary listeners and how that student voice impacted the school. As always tune in to the end where Desmond and Jesse freestyle rap with key words of the episode.

01:36- Desmond- "Its good to understand power to use it in ways that isn't based in default conditioning and the need to self protect. That is the impetus if you will. The question is How do we use power in a way that can bring equity and inclusion into classroom spaces as well as the world.

02:24- Jesse "When I'm empowered I feel it in my chest and solar plexus, thats when I'm using all my genius and gifts to make the world a little better.... When I'm feeling threatened by power or unsure of my own power, I get in my head...being aware of the dynamics of power in my own body.

02:50- Jesse -"On a collective level... I'm contemplating power in all the hierarchies we live in. Having access to things you need, food, water, shelter. Today power is symbolized in money...

03:20 bell hooks in Teaching to Transgress: "It was only when I began to interrogate my fear of power that I began to understand that power itself was not negative."

4:10- Desmond -"As a black kid, I'm navigating power structures to get my needs met. Not from a place of inherent self worth as a human being... which is the default of the culture.... In our culture You have to prove yourself before you have power.... to bring change and inclusion we have to recognize that every person has power.... We have to interrogate it for ourself to understand it's not the force thats the issue, it's the use of it."

05:30 What is the definition of power? Brene Brown in Atlas of the Heart. Echoing Martin Luther King Jr. "A defintion of power is the ability to take care of needs and effect change."

06:07 Jesse- shares how his realizing of social power came when he participated in courageous conversations about race working for Step Up and realized he had a certain amount of power because of his skin color.

06:43- Desmond refers to wheel of power or privilege. This tool helps us realize our social location in our context.

08:34 Jesse- "Courageous conversation was the first time I could own my power in terms of race. I look at my power as my genius and abilities I can contribute to my community. I can give and receive.

10:30 Desmond- "I've been thinking of the domain of spiritual power... Spirituality I was raised with taught me to turn inward, and by turning inward and connecting myself, with my body... There is innate wisdom in my body that guides me.... We need to recognize that there is something larger than us that effects us. It doesn't have to be gods, angels, demons, it can be the culture. The culture effects us....That force that is culture in collective story and sense making, has a spiritual component we need to pay attention to.

12:13 Desmond refers to an incident with a racial slur on a desk at school and how he called us to examine the culture. He invites us to all do the work to change the culture so the impact of these actions doesn't do as much harm. Desmond asks "How can we change the culture to allow more voices to be heard."

13:40 Jesse talks more about courageous conversations about the exchange of story. To be in-formed by peoples story. As teachers with our words and actions we are teaching students how to interact with power.

15:21- One of the things we gain when we share power in the classroom is relationships. Desmond shares about power being shared in his classroom by grading differently. More details on that in episode 10- Ungrading.

16:27- Jesse- "how do we empower outside the institution? Empower our physical bodies, emotions, intellect, our spirits. There are so many levels to power."

17:00 Two BARS guided meditation. Breathe, Align, Relax, Shine.

19:05- Colleague clip- Ken Gadbow- "If I have the privilege of being in a classroom where people are genuinely listening to each other that is an element of equity to me. Usually we don't listen to each other, usually we're waiting for the other person to stop talking... Instead of really listening and accepting whats happening right her in front of us."

20:05 Jesse- "Thats a worth work practice right here. If we're confident in our self worth, we are ready to hear and take in the worth of the people around us. And not only listen, but implement, act on it, feel it."

20:45 Desmond breaks down how important it is to make mistakes... mistakes and continue to grow... His experience with rapping, is he can go to the edge of his ability because I'm willing to make a mistake. He refers to educators who don't want to make a mistake in the race conversation, but then they don't fully listen to students and the inaction causes harm because of not wanting to make a mistake. Getting to self worth is to really feel a student or another adults story, and have the ability to stay present with it if it's difficult to take in. And then do the healing work. Thats another use of power. You don't have to use power to defend yourself.

22:48 Jesse reflects on a culture shift were its normalized to talk about power dynamics in a non-threatening way. Examples: Asking what pronouns a person uses, talking about race and where the power dynamics are at any given situation. The invitation of Worth Work, is to have practices that help us shift how we use power in the classroom.

23:55- Jesse- Freestyle rapping is a great practice to make mistakes, and grow from them. And shares a bit about encouraging students to 'embrace the cringe' when they share their work.

24:51 Desmond- "If I'm pursing mastery in anything I need to be okay with mistakes. Mastery of freestyle is how do we respond when we make mistakes? How do we respond internally? Do I maintain the joy of the artform."

27:09- Desmond "If you avoid the cringe, you are avoiding your true power...Really its transformation. The resistance to transform is that cringe... The rules of culture won't always serve our transformation and change."

28:40 Desmond- "...part of being alive: pain, guilt, death.... If you going to make your life meaningful and filled with joy, then recognize I can't avoid these things. Feeling uncomfortable emotions will help you know where your power lies."

30:10- Jesse sets up the next clip. Its important we have creative examples of how distribute power, enter this clip of two college students reflecting on an event a few years ago where they helped shift the culture of a school.

30:30 Colleague clip- peer mentor share about an event called Time to Talk about school resource officers in schools. Student leaders asked community leaders to come into circles led by students. Adults had to listen in the small circles then report back to the whole group what they heard then check in with students to make sure they got it right. The event helped get a restorative justice coordinator hired in at McDaniel. A great example of students getting out of way and letting youth shape culture.

35:05- That event flipped the normal power structure where adults had to be the primarily listeners. How can we get creative and have more events like this?

35:50- Desmond "We need the youths perspective because they haven't been conditioned by the system as long." If we keep that in mind as adults, being self secure enough to know we make mistakes thinking we know everything and ask 'young person- how do you see it?' Feeling heard is a part of the human connection. Imagine when these young people take over our positions they can operate with a different sense of how school can be.

37:10 Recent graduates clip- "Everyday, every hour, its always I'm right your wrong, go to class, you can't be here, get out. Thats what they're relaying to these students. And then they wonder why these students miss class... The first time someone listened to me, I was like 'Oh, no I have to actually think about why I'm mad....then we can actually talk and communicate. Compared to when your not listened to and there is a power structure."

38:15- Jesse If a student isn't being heard in the class and they don't want to be there, where are they going to go? Bathroom, hallway, etc. Then we talk about a place that used to exist at my school- The Spot- which was a place students could go, check in with an adult, and be in a safe place if they weren't in a position to go to class.

39:27- college student clip about The Spot- "Elias had a way to connect with you and make you feel like a person. The Spot is ours he would say.... It was the only spot in the building that I felt like I belonged. It kept me in the building. If I couldn't be in class, I would have just went home. But going to the spot I could go do my homework and catch up on assignments.... Feeling like you belong will keep you in the building. If there is no place like that then you'll leave...

41:15 Jesse- "I'm inspired to interrogate my own power. And inspired to take risks and look for opportunities to flip power on its head. Be creative and make platforms for students to share their voice."

42:21- Desmond "I'm curious about how we can create practices and policies that normalize power with and power to... My grand experiment in the classroom is how can I use my power the least saying what to and how to do it, and my power the most in waking students up to themselves, understanding they have abilities, gifts and genius that they can express.... so the culture can shift when they have positions of power."

44:37- Key words and phrases freestyle edition. Power, empowered, culture, mistakes, practice, cringe, conversations, mastery and connected.

01:37: Desmond- "Worth work as this idea to reframe equity from the burden and the 'when will it be done' type of approach. Switching it to a way of being. And from this way of being you will experience your worth and others will experience their worth more often. So they don't have to question it. They have more resilience for others and they can be more compassionate. its being, its movement, its not done, its continuous..."

02:42- Mentioned Cornelius Minor from his book We Got This. The actual quote that Jesse alludes to is "The true masterminds- the real enemies- in this dystopia are the business as usual attitudes, binary thinking, and inflexibility with which we have been conditioned to approach these problems."

03:23 Jesse- "The biggest hindrance to creativity is fear of all sorts." Jesse shares a metaphor for fear that have been helpful from him. Keep fear in the backseat of the car but don't let him DJ and play the music when you're driving. Listen to fear's 16 bar verse but not his playlist. Hear what fear is saying and be informed but don't let fear control the vibe. This metaphor he credits to hearing somewhere along the line from author and speaker Rob Bell

04:57 Desmond- "It's acceptance that every person is on their journey." Desmond shares an analogy about a labyrinth [from a book called Find Your Red Thread by Tamsen Webster] Labyrinths exist in our minds- we can see where a students journey could take them into vitality, but we don't know where the students labyrinth will take them. We can provide space to navigate the labyrinth.

07:38-08:32 Jesse explores how as educators can build capacity with an alive-it (word play off diet) what we feed ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally to take a vibration into the world that helps heal instead of getting sucked into the fear based vibrations that exist all around us- in the news and all the gossip.

09:05 Quote from a Forbes Article: This is the Hard Part of Teaching. Its Getting Harder by Peter Green- "A fundamental challenge of teaching is coming to grips with this: There is never enough. Never enough time, never enough resources, never enough you..."

10:03 Desmond- "The idea of not enough...This brings up a few questions- What's vital? What's enough?"

10:10- Jesse- "What would it look like to serve the whole? Ideally thats when we are the most whole hearted and alive, when we have that vision tucked into our daily actions."

10:20- Desmond- "Yes- moments of whole heartedness. It's not permanent where you reach this state and you're done. It's this dynamic...]]>In this episode of the Worth Work podcast the quest begins with the question: Why are teachers leaving the profession? Enter these fifty three minutes and twenty three seconds where Jesse and Desmond have a conversation and contemplate the heart of the matter. The invitation that emerges from their conversation; Worth Work is a way of being, a beneficial way to expand our humanity. Deeply knowing our own worth will help in little shifts to create conditions for justice and equity to be more present. If we dare to feel our fear, learn from it, pivot into the joy of the process who knows what types of creative visions emerge. Be sure to catch the 2 BARS guided meditation at the 15:35 mark and the key words and phrases freestyle rap summary at 50:45 mark. Enjoy!

01:37: Desmond- "Worth work as this idea to reframe equity from the burden and the 'when will it be done' type of approach. Switching it to a way of being. And from this way of being you will experience your worth and others will experience their worth more often. So they don't have to question it. They have more resilience for others and they can be more compassionate. its being, its movement, its not done, its continuous..."

02:42- Mentioned Cornelius Minor from his book We Got This. The actual quote that Jesse alludes to is "The true masterminds- the real enemies- in this dystopia are the business as usual attitudes, binary thinking, and inflexibility with which we have been conditioned to approach these problems."

03:23 Jesse- "The biggest hindrance to creativity is fear of all sorts." Jesse shares a metaphor for fear that have been helpful from him. Keep fear in the backseat of the car but don't let him DJ and play the music when you're driving. Listen to fear's 16 bar verse but not his playlist. Hear what fear is saying and be informed but don't let fear control the vibe. This metaphor he credits to hearing somewhere along the line from author and speaker Rob Bell

04:57 Desmond- "It's acceptance that every person is on their journey." Desmond shares an analogy about a labyrinth [from a book called Find Your Red Thread by Tamsen Webster] Labyrinths exist in our minds- we can see where a students journey could take them into vitality, but we don't know where the students labyrinth will take them. We can provide space to navigate the labyrinth.

07:38-08:32 Jesse explores how as educators can build capacity with an alive-it (word play off diet) what we feed ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally to take a vibration into the world that helps heal instead of getting sucked into the fear based vibrations that exist all around us- in the news and all the gossip.

09:05 Quote from a Forbes Article: This is the Hard Part of Teaching. Its Getting Harder by Peter Green- "A fundamental challenge of teaching is coming to grips with this: There is never enough. Never enough time, never enough resources, never enough you..."

10:03 Desmond- "The idea of not enough...This brings up a few questions- What's vital? What's enough?"

10:10- Jesse- "What would it look like to serve the whole? Ideally thats when we are the most whole hearted and alive, when we have that vision tucked into our daily actions."

10:20- Desmond- "Yes- moments of whole heartedness. It's not permanent where you reach this state and you're done. It's this dynamic equilibrium. Meaning the amount going into the system is essentially the same as the amount going out. The flow is balanced and there is always movement and change.

11:00 Quote used at the 01:37 intro mark- Desmond: ""Worth work as this idea to reframe equity from the burden and the 'when will it be done' type of approach. Switching it to a way of being. And from this way of being you will experience your worth and others will experience they're worth more often. So they don't have to question it. They have more resilience for others and they can be more compassionate. its being, its movement, its not done, its continuous..."

11:55- Desmond- "Imagine people having this way of being- 'I have a lot of power in this room, I'm going to step back, because I should not have this much control and power in this room. I'm going to empower somebody else so that equilibrium of the space can be maintained."

12:40 Desmond- "Whats vital? At the core of any learning is relationship. I can't teach anybody anything if I don't have a connection with them... But the way we've constructed these systems to facilitate taking care of our needs, our learning needs, our eating needs, our child care needs and all that... the system is constructed to not really care about our race. (BIPOC)"

13:28 Jesse mentions an interview he did with Carlos Chavez and how he made a connection about covid pandemic being a metaphor for the virus of racial injustice thats been existing in our context and culture. The whole interview with Carlos Chavez is worth checking out.

15:05 Jesse- "Its not as scary as we've been conditioned to really go into our fear..." But we can't do it alone- together we can create these conditions

15:35 2 BARS guided meditation. Breathe. Align. Relax. Shine.

17:54 Desmond- "Racism have convinced white folks they are fragile.... Humans are resilient, racism has convinced humans who identify as white that they are fragile. That they require privilege and power just to feel comfortable. The resilience of the human spirit, every person has, have you done the work to develop that strength?...It comes back to- experience is the best teacher. The experience of struggle will teach you resilience.... The shadow work will gift the most light."

19:38-20:58 Jesse explores an idea that whiteness is sampling the worst things about humanity: the fear based versions of power and control. The beautiful aspects of humanity were not sampled when whiteness in our context was created. The work is to sample something better then what whiteness gives us.

23:35-25:36 Desmond shares an analogy comparing getting honest music feedback to why we need different perspectives and background to do things differently.

26:46 Desmond "Its by committing to move through the tension that we ascend to the next level. And the tension is that we want to get to the next level with as little pain, guilt and death as possible. There will be pain, guilt and death. These are the doors we have to go through to get to the other side. Every time we see these doors we have the ahhh- I don't want to go through them."

27:34 Jesse- "Makes me think about a slowing down to give ourselves time to feel that... and back to that- 'every external thing happening is an invitation to an internal process.' I think that Worth Work is creating a world or communities or schools where its more and more accessible to take that time..."

28:35 Jesse "I'm still in the process, what is my piece to play in eradicating white body supremacy, my part in serving the whole, my part in creating a genius awakening, genius over doubt type of community and culture. It’s starts with myself and it’s connected to every one else. It's both doing my own work and creating and being a part of everyone doing their work..."

29:50- Desmond- "That manifesting of worthiness is dynamic equilibrium. When there is balance there is an equal worth thing. Imagine a classroom where every student knows they're worthy. They are worthy of a full life's experience..."

31:33 Desmond shares a vision for at sometime we will provide Worth Work habits and practices. So then when certain situations happen, we can trigger our habit loops. We can develop habits of responding that is intentional about building worth, equity, and conditions for justice to emerge.

34:38 Jesse shares some ideas for habits of building worth- taking 2 BARS to breathe, align, relax and shine. Have creative dreaming mode- to exchange knowledge and ideas. PDSAs (Plan, Do, Study, Act) at the end of a creative dream mode. Adisa Bonjoko's practice 3PA>1NT - Three positive actions are greater than one negative thought. From his book Bruce, Bobby and the Bronx- The Secrets of Hip Hop Chess

36:46 Desmond shares a practice that before you start any type of change initiative- do a practice of beginning the gathering by discussing what is working. Quick wins.

37:40-40:35 Desmond explores the idea how to track our growth in Worth Work with small practices. "Every time you practice a mode of communication that improves your listening skills- thats worth work. Every time you practice using language in an intentional way that doesn't trigger a fear based reaction... thats worth work.... Then we can model this way of being...

41:14- Another way to look at Worth Work is to build a capacity to grow and expand.

42:11 Desmond "The pursuit of perfection for me its the fallacy that joy only happens once I'm perfect. Joy can happen in the midst of imperfection and mistakes. Worth Work as the reward is the many experiences of joy that you will have in being this way.

44:06- Desmond explores what our fears can help us reveal. "The fear when we're in it, the Worth Work pivot is the idea of knowing what we are trying to protect (when fears come up) helps us reveal what we want. The pivot is too reframe and refocus on what we actually want. And have gratitude for what you want that is with you in the presence...even if it's just the dream of it."

45:34-49:00 Jesse explores the timeless aspect of our humanity, and how worth work invites us into envision higher frequency dreams: What does a world without racism look like? What could school be like where everyone is getting their needs met? Have the idea, the dream, be committed to it. And yet not attached to how we will get there. What if as teachers we had an entry way into what that dream is for us? A piece of art we make, a vision statement, a song or something of the like. That would help us re-member us to the depth of life.

49:01 Desmond builds off the idea of looking at our work as beautiful over being perfection driven.

50:45 Key words and phrases freestyle edition: enough, fear, propping up, business as usual, moments of whole heartedness, awakening, think tanking, resilience. Get it Des!

We encourage you to tune in at the 35:19 mark of the episode where Desmond and Jesse explore a simple practice to track you're experience of a class period. A 2 BARS guided mediation is at the 12:29 mark. And of course we end every episode with a summarizing freestyle rap- 50:45 ENJOY!

01:36- Desmond- The question we were asking our interviewees: 'What social and emotional barriers exist to keep us from doing equity work?'

02:32- Jesse- "The way I think about inner work is developing practices and ideally developing a way of being, a way of developing your character, where you build this well within. So when the inevitable chaos of life comes, or the unexpected thing happens in the classroom. That you can draw upon this well that you've built up through whatever practices work for you to develop love, live from your genius and respond to truth, to direct your energy in a way that doesn't harm and brings a sense of creativity."

03:20- Desmond- "When I think of inner work, its the work that done within yourself and I think of practices you use to cultivate your inner being. For me I've been a big reflection person. Writing, journaling, all those things to capture a little bit of whats going on in my experience- in my head- and to look at it and determine- okay, thats helpful, thats not helpful as it relates to connections in the class room."

06:30- Desmond- "How do we create the space for teachers to be able to do the inner work that is necessary for them to maintain themselves in the job? During the job hours.."

08:33- Desmond- "In the Zeitgeist of this time, there is these words; mental health, self care... and I don't know if people connect that this inner work is also needed for racial equity..."

08:48- colleague clip- Lambert- "My expectation is that people would turn internally, its easier to blame someone or get intellectual or say the framework isn't right, instead of turning inside and saying I got to own some of this stuff. For example..." (shares a story)

09:39- Jesse- "The connection for me going from the fu fu feel good to the real heart of it is getting into the shadow work of it. Specially taking ownership of being a white man in this country and this context, is being a part of a demographic that has caused an immense amount of harm.... to take real ownership brought me into the heart of the work, because of the potential for shame, the potential to be the bad guy, the potential to be misunderstood and wanting to belong and do the right thing."

10:32- Jesse- "If we want to go there we have to do the shadow work. We can't bypass it. I think by passing is another product of white culture, like 'I just want to get to where we're all equal.'... yes lets get to where it's equal, but we have to heal this wound first. And that racial wound is deep. As a white man I have my work to do to heal that. It's a process."

11:00 Desmond- "Why would anyone want to do this work?" I understand why i do it and want to do it. Part of what this podcast is about is providing an actual lived experience of why we do this work.... It's a dynamic experience... this culture wants us to get to the...]]>This episode of the Worth Work podcast Desmond and Jesse investigate the importance of inner work for creating racial justice in ourselves and our school communities. Desmond shares the background about where the name of this podcast; Worth Work- came from. To summarize briefly- the process of liberating ourselves from ubiquitousness of shame begins by claiming our inherent worth that comes from simply being alive. Dominant systems at play want us to continue operating as though our worth comes from what we produce. Let's do the inner work my friends- the work to create our purpose outside the status quo. A purpose that liberates and creates a more humane and just world for us and our grandkids grandkids. This isn't quick fix gratification. This is the inner work. The worth work.

We encourage you to tune in at the 35:19 mark of the episode where Desmond and Jesse explore a simple practice to track you're experience of a class period. A 2 BARS guided mediation is at the 12:29 mark. And of course we end every episode with a summarizing freestyle rap- 50:45 ENJOY!

01:36- Desmond- The question we were asking our interviewees: 'What social and emotional barriers exist to keep us from doing equity work?'

02:32- Jesse- "The way I think about inner work is developing practices and ideally developing a way of being, a way of developing your character, where you build this well within. So when the inevitable chaos of life comes, or the unexpected thing happens in the classroom. That you can draw upon this well that you've built up through whatever practices work for you to develop love, live from your genius and respond to truth, to direct your energy in a way that doesn't harm and brings a sense of creativity."

03:20- Desmond- "When I think of inner work, its the work that done within yourself and I think of practices you use to cultivate your inner being. For me I've been a big reflection person. Writing, journaling, all those things to capture a little bit of whats going on in my experience- in my head- and to look at it and determine- okay, thats helpful, thats not helpful as it relates to connections in the class room."

06:30- Desmond- "How do we create the space for teachers to be able to do the inner work that is necessary for them to maintain themselves in the job? During the job hours.."

08:33- Desmond- "In the Zeitgeist of this time, there is these words; mental health, self care... and I don't know if people connect that this inner work is also needed for racial equity..."

08:48- colleague clip- Lambert- "My expectation is that people would turn internally, its easier to blame someone or get intellectual or say the framework isn't right, instead of turning inside and saying I got to own some of this stuff. For example..." (shares a story)

09:39- Jesse- "The connection for me going from the fu fu feel good to the real heart of it is getting into the shadow work of it. Specially taking ownership of being a white man in this country and this context, is being a part of a demographic that has caused an immense amount of harm.... to take real ownership brought me into the heart of the work, because of the potential for shame, the potential to be the bad guy, the potential to be misunderstood and wanting to belong and do the right thing."

10:32- Jesse- "If we want to go there we have to do the shadow work. We can't bypass it. I think by passing is another product of white culture, like 'I just want to get to where we're all equal.'... yes lets get to where it's equal, but we have to heal this wound first. And that racial wound is deep. As a white man I have my work to do to heal that. It's a process."

11:00 Desmond- "Why would anyone want to do this work?" I understand why i do it and want to do it. Part of what this podcast is about is providing an actual lived experience of why we do this work.... It's a dynamic experience... this culture wants us to get to the promise land of everything being 'good'.

12:29 Two B.A.R.S. guided meditation to breathe, align, relax and shine.

14:33- Colleague clip-Mercedes- "Equity work is a necessity for my survival right. And in an institution that was not only harmful to me, but was harmful to my own children. And I'm that person to wiggle the mouth of the machine to do something. Thats actually counter of what it's supposed to do. Its designed to create the status quo..."

15:21 Jesse - "Living in a more liberal city thats white, has those challenges like- I've read the latest book, I've listened to the latest podcasts (which is this one), I know the latest terms- so I'm perceived as the woke white person or whatever. But the heart of this, and this is coming at it from an artists perspective, is I want to get in touch with the depths of my pain, because thats where the depth of life is. I want to get in touch with the depths of my wound cause thats where my greatest healing is. I want to create from the depths of the human experience - I want to educate from there.... at least the highest part of me does, often I forget that."

16:22- Jesse asking Desmond- "You birthed the idea of worth work, How do you see inner work and worth work connected? Are they the same thing? Is inner work a part of worth work?

16:28- Desmond- "I was looking up other words that were synonyms of equity and I saw the word worth... and from living in the system and going to PDs you could just hear, shame, shame, shame... everybody operating from some degree of protecting themselves from shame. And shame has you feeling like you are not worthy. When I think of worth work, I think of a work that reclaims self worth. That self worth is inherent in every human being, cause you're alive and you're here."

17:24- Desmond- "There is a vested interest in the zeitgeist of our culture for the last 400 or so years to convince you that your worth is outside of yourself. From the root of colonialism you can get free labor, you can own land-ownership, and you can also classify things. If people are convinced that their only worth comes from what they can contribute to a society through the means of labor, then those in positions of power are being served by that."

18:53 Desmond- "If we can reclaim our worth, rediscover our inherent worth, then it becomes easier to connect with another human being, outside of the ways we identify, which have embedded moralistic hierarchies. Said another way white at the top and Black on the bottom. and various shades in between. Thats the racial identity piece and you can add class and wealth and gender and sexuality and all these things that our system has created hierarchies for."

19:44- Desmond- "I can stop chasing that ideal (of what the system says I should be based on the hierarchies) and start doing the inner work to discover- 'What is my ideal?'... I get to identify it for myself and not have the society do it for me.

20:01- Jesse - How do we reclaim our worth? What are those practices?

20:09- Desmond- A lot of it for me is the capturing of what is going on inside my mind and body, through writing, journaling, artistic practices, creativity, conversation, processing, therapy. To pause a bit of the dynamic that is my internal lived experience, the constant flow of thoughts, ideas, sensations, all that. Pause it, take a little sample of it and then ask myself essentially 'Is this effective for where I want to go. For the purpose that I've created for myself.' And part of the inner work is creating that purpose for yourself."

20:50 Desmond explores how society gives us a certain purpose- be productive, be skinny, earn this much $, act like this, be a consumer of goods and ideas, for the promise of happiness based on events. The inner work is cultivating joy... from a standpoint of serving others for the enjoyment not because there is an obligation.

21:55- Colleague clip- Mercedes- "People who don't know me usually only the serious side, its weird but to appreciate humor and be able to bust out a laugh I gotta trust you and know you...With my friends and close colleagues we're popping and we'll crack up. It just fills my heart up. And I see that joy as a part of the resistance. I see that joy as a connection to my ancestors. Cause how else did they survive the things that they did. And now I feel like my opportunity is not just to survive but to thrive."

23:28 Jesse- "Doing that inner work illuminates the steps of the outer work- the path."

23:45 Desmond- Tuning fork metaphor. "One prong is within you and the other one prong is outside you. So if you find something in tune you resonating on the same frequencies.

23:58 Desmond- said in another practical way its the being able to notice within yourself when something resonates outside of yourself... If there was a standard for inner work- that would be it. Its not necessarily a comfortable feeling, there could be something resonating in you that is more along the lines of anger, sadness, envy....whatever the emotional experience is, that you catch yourself in...."

25:40 Jesse "The things that piss us off the most could be our biggest opportunities to grow."

26:15- Colleague clip, Mercedes- "The kind of check you have to have on your mind and spirit to be aware and ever seeking. Like the situation about the young man I brought up comes up. You got to be able to listen to that and lean into that."

26:30 Desmond refers to non-violent communication as a part of his inner work process.

26:55- Desmond- "The learning is how do you maintain the ability to observe what it is you feel without judgement. And Again- moralistic judgement- this is a bad feeling, this is a good feeling.... It could be oh this feeling here usually indicates I'm not align with my values or this feeling indicates I'm aligned with whats important to me... You have to know and discover what those things are and how you know and discover what those things are is you learn how to feel. Feelings give you that information..."

28:08 Desmond- "The body is in the flow of the continuously lived experience. And there is wisdom.....information. There is a lot of information within the body that if you are beginning to open yourself up to feel you can use that information as you continue to move towards what truly has value for you."

29:02- Desmond- "Thats the work for them (students) to figure out why are they are here and creating that sense of purpose."

29:30- Desmond "If your not defining yourself and defining what is important to you, then society is doing it for you... It's there, did you choose for it to be there."

29:51- Jesse was hearing two things come up about inner work: -1) Find your purpose, your genius, your inner gifts inherently there in your DNA. 2)To take time to feel. That feeling has that information. That wisdom.

32:20 Desmond- "There is no system in the world that will protect you from the chaos of life. What I mean by chaos is the unpredictability of life.... there is some level of unpredictability that we're all dealing with."

33:50 Desmond- "Part of what the inner work is about is being able to take in more information that is within us and understanding that enough to be able to teach whoever is in front of us. To make connections with whoever is in front of us and be the best guides in learning that we can be.

34:15 Desmond- "because the system was designed against children of color. Now the understanding that the task and part of the inner work is being actively for children of color."

34:37 Desmond "the false dichotomy of me being for something is not me being against the other thing."

34:55 Jesse quotes Darshanpreet from episode 1 The Art Work. "The school system does very successfully what is was meant to do: educate white boys."

35:08 Jesse "As educators we want to bring in the dynamic equilibrium, the balance, where everyone gets the resources to awaken their genius."

35:19-38:40 Practice for teachers: Slow down and pay attention to yourself during a class. What did I feel over the course of a class? What had an energetic charge? Whatever has the most charge- thats my teacher in the classroom. What is the narrative attached to that charge? What is the information your body is giving you? Through journaling, reflecting on it some understanding may arise. Then use that insight.

Start with 3 words that summed up the class today and do that consistently for a few weeks. Then add a bit more reflection over a time. The intention is about capturing your experience and know your capturing information about what your perceiving.

38:44 Jesse "One thing that grounds me is knowing that a students behavior is their best way to get a need met in the moment."

39:09- How is inner work sustained? Practices: Individual: writing, reflecting in depth, meditation, prayer, yoga, therapy, to quote Resmaa Menakem- get your reps in, and build your capacity, having routines, meal planning.

Community practices: group reflection/journaling, group meditation.

41:25 Colleague clip Mercedes- "I talk to my people, I have the huddle whenever we can do it. Because its not just about me talking about the things that have happened in a week or in a month but being able to listen. Something about being in that space and knowing its not just you or me fighting against this system and these oppressive forces. But we are holding down our individual spots and we are a collective. So I find power in that."

42:00 Desmond shares about the shift of having inner work being built into the work day for educators. "You don't sustain inner work by yourself."

42:00- Desmond explores the layers and connections of self actualization, self care, creating purpose and healing together.

47:16- What makes us want to do inner work? The growth that comes with it. Human connections that comes with inner work. Helps us get through difficult things. Improved ability to connect. A relationship with fear where your not controlled by fear or the narratives interwoven

50:45 Key Words and Phrases Freestyle edition: self care, feel, the truth hurts, information, vulnerability, dynamic, shame, triggers, shame, creativity and zeitgeist.

In this episode, we explore the work of racial Identity, and our discussion reveals Desmond's resistance to this episode. Jesse shares a nutshell version of his racial autobiography as a white man. We are working not to get cookies for doing the right thing. We are doing this work to be more fully human.

The paradigm is shifting, balance is coming, and shame wants to stop us from the full embrace.

We all have a unique part to play in dismantling white body supremacy in our society, and enter into the discussion of what that can look like for us as educators.

Https://worthworkpodcast.substack.com

Notes and Highlights

02:55 Quote: “The job isn’t to catch up to the status quo, the job is to invent the status quo.” Seth Godin

03:21 Jesse mentions the transformation of taking ownership of his racial identity started with Courageous Conversations when he worked for Step Up.

03:35 Jesse mentions the term White Body Supremacy. Look into Resmaa Menakem’s work.

03:54 Inciting incident for this episode: 1619. Desmond- “Race is construct, that has been invented to- among many things- to create free labor and justify the means for creating that free labor. Which was stealing human bodies from Africa.”

05:03 Ruth King- from her book Mindful of Race. Two truths doctrine: We all live in ultimate reality and relative reality. In relative reality we are some body, habituated, ego driven, relating to life through concept. Ultimate reality there is neither race nor reason to suffer, we’re formless, empty of self and eternal.

06:18 Jesse mentions Dismantling Racism Training.

07:26 Desmond- “Racism thrives in the shame. Shame thrives in the shadows.”

09:10 Desmond- “The policies and practices and things that have to change, have to start getting us to the point where we are dealing with the aspects of our own selves and identity that could commit the same atrocities if we were in the same positions.”

10:40 Desmond- “That practice of telling ourselves stories to get rid of the tension and discomfort is what allows us to be bystanders to oppression.”

11:01 Desmond- “As we start understanding what it really means to be human… its these fluctuations, its these cycles. Its while I’m doing my part to change the system, there are times when I am complicit with the harm that the system does. As I do the work to give myself grace in those moments I can come back to doing this work.”

12:02 Desmond- “I have many maps of who I am. But the terrain of who I am, I’m always exploring.”

12:21 Jesse asks “How does your understanding of racial identity….impact you as an educators and what you bring into the classroom?”

13:43 Desmond quotes KRS-One about identity being like putting on a jacket.

14:52 Jesse guides a 2 B.A.R.S. meditation. Breathe. Align. Relax. Shine. To absorb whatever is coming up for you.

17:00 Colleague clip: “Back home (in California) people knew that I was not only Indian, but that I was Punjabi, because there is such a huge community of us. People could tell the state I was from. The religion I was. There was enough diversity to have knowledge around that. Moving to Portland was the first time I learned that I identify as a person of color. I did not know that growing up. I really had no idea. Moving here was a huge culture shock.”

19:26 Referencing Resmaa Menakem again and his concept of clean...]]>Racial Identity

In this episode, we explore the work of racial Identity, and our discussion reveals Desmond's resistance to this episode. Jesse shares a nutshell version of his racial autobiography as a white man. We are working not to get cookies for doing the right thing. We are doing this work to be more fully human.

The paradigm is shifting, balance is coming, and shame wants to stop us from the full embrace.

We all have a unique part to play in dismantling white body supremacy in our society, and enter into the discussion of what that can look like for us as educators.

Https://worthworkpodcast.substack.com

Notes and Highlights

02:55 Quote: “The job isn’t to catch up to the status quo, the job is to invent the status quo.” Seth Godin

03:21 Jesse mentions the transformation of taking ownership of his racial identity started with Courageous Conversations when he worked for Step Up.

03:35 Jesse mentions the term White Body Supremacy. Look into Resmaa Menakem’s work.

03:54 Inciting incident for this episode: 1619. Desmond- “Race is construct, that has been invented to- among many things- to create free labor and justify the means for creating that free labor. Which was stealing human bodies from Africa.”

05:03 Ruth King- from her book Mindful of Race. Two truths doctrine: We all live in ultimate reality and relative reality. In relative reality we are some body, habituated, ego driven, relating to life through concept. Ultimate reality there is neither race nor reason to suffer, we’re formless, empty of self and eternal.

06:18 Jesse mentions Dismantling Racism Training.

07:26 Desmond- “Racism thrives in the shame. Shame thrives in the shadows.”

09:10 Desmond- “The policies and practices and things that have to change, have to start getting us to the point where we are dealing with the aspects of our own selves and identity that could commit the same atrocities if we were in the same positions.”

10:40 Desmond- “That practice of telling ourselves stories to get rid of the tension and discomfort is what allows us to be bystanders to oppression.”

11:01 Desmond- “As we start understanding what it really means to be human… its these fluctuations, its these cycles. Its while I’m doing my part to change the system, there are times when I am complicit with the harm that the system does. As I do the work to give myself grace in those moments I can come back to doing this work.”

12:02 Desmond- “I have many maps of who I am. But the terrain of who I am, I’m always exploring.”

12:21 Jesse asks “How does your understanding of racial identity….impact you as an educators and what you bring into the classroom?”

13:43 Desmond quotes KRS-One about identity being like putting on a jacket.

14:52 Jesse guides a 2 B.A.R.S. meditation. Breathe. Align. Relax. Shine. To absorb whatever is coming up for you.

17:00 Colleague clip: “Back home (in California) people knew that I was not only Indian, but that I was Punjabi, because there is such a huge community of us. People could tell the state I was from. The religion I was. There was enough diversity to have knowledge around that. Moving to Portland was the first time I learned that I identify as a person of color. I did not know that growing up. I really had no idea. Moving here was a huge culture shock.”

19:26 Referencing Resmaa Menakem again and his concept of clean pain vs. dirty pain. If you haven’t- please go buy My Grandmothers Hands and read it, re read it and reference it often.

21:07 Jesse’s nutshell version of his racial autobiography as white man.

23:19 Desmond- “The ability to hear stories that challenge your view of the world and view of identity and still maintain a connection to the people who share those stories. Thats the leveling up that we need to continue to do.”

23:38 Jesse references J Smooth’s analogy of doing the work around racial awareness is like brushing your teeth and not like getting your tonsils removed. “The belief that you must be perfect in order to be good, is an obstacle to being as good as you can be.” Jay Smooth

26:03 Desmond- “I don’t want to internalize any more than I already have, the division of racism. So when I say I’m a Black man, I say it not because Black is actually a thing. I say it because as long as I know folks that look like me and have had this shared experience identify this way across the globe- thats what I’m down with. I’m not doing it because I want race to be real.”

28:03 Colleague clip- “I got lumped in with other groups that I never really associated with. Growing up most of the people I went to school with were Mexican American. Even then there was enough Indians to know she’s Indian. But here I’ve gotten everything from Indigenous to African- Ethiopian to are you Latinx. People just don’t know and so I got thrown in with that group and I just didn’t know that now I’m somehow a representative of all these other groups that I know nothing about. It was a huge shock.”

28:47 Desmond “ You may personally identify as one way racially, but people around you will say, ‘Ah, no you look like this.’ And I think what really matters is how your treated. So if you present a certain way, then the world is treating you some way based on how you racially present not how you personally identify. That creates tensions within you. But I think for understanding race in the culture its about understanding how the perception of your race as it contrasts and aligns with your own defintion of race.”

29:34 Desmond- “I’m Black because it connects me to my people. I’m not Black because somebody tells me I’m Black.”

30:21 Desmond- “Me knowing the history of racism I don’t want to cling to the race based labels because race is not a thing. But I will identify how I want to identify to find connections with other people. If we’re gonna use these terms thats fine but lets make sure we’re doing it for that purpose of connecting not reinforcing division like race’s original intent.”

31:09 Jesse- As educators we gather in affinity groups… And recently I was invited into this reframe of white accountability groups instead of affinity groups because its about being accountable to white body supremacy and shifting culture.

31:39 Jesse quotes two of colleagues- Darshanpreet “Our education system is designed to educate white boys so its doing what its intended to do.” Gadbow- “The system is set up for white people to feel comfortable.”

32:06 Jesse- “…We have to get comfortable having and normalizing these conversations.” (speaking of white educators)

32:47 Jesse- “Here is the invitation of Worth Work, of inner work; build capacity to follow those triggers, that charge, the uncomfortable- so we can to start to heal.”

32:57 Colleague clip- “For like two years I’d say I just kind of reeled by my lack of understanding. I was at a very diverse middle school and kids of color would come up and talk to me like we had shared knowledge about something. Of course I’m of color but my experience growing up in Central California was no where near as traumatic as theirs here.”

33:31 Desmond “Will the culture change enough to allow us to say- ‘I’m sorry’ ‘okay’ accept whats communicated and move forward.”

33:52- Desmond shares an example of a community building project: learning a students name properly then creating a classroom culture where the burden isn’t on the student to re explain how to say their name every time.

35:30 Desmond- Have those continuous community building practices throughout the year, where you’re providing opportunity for stories to be shared, heard and celebrated. So that kids can get to know the fullness of each others humanity.

36:10- Jesse- “How can normalize transformative conversations about race, acknowledge the charge that comes with that, notice the shame and continue to invite these conversation in a way that invites us to change?”

37:00 Jesse- “I can’t be afraid to make a mistake and take ownership of it. Thats a part of the process.”

37:07 Jesse “As a Worth Work collective I think thats an invitation we can offer- we need young, old, everyone- come together normalizing conversations that are hard to have in a way that brings depth of transformation, creativity and growth.”

37:54 Desmond talking about the process of sharing the process of having a difficult conversation after he said something wrong…

39:58 Desmond- By confronting this harm openly and honestly and working through it, there is a chance for a stronger relationship.

41:15 Jesse mentions a poem he wrote- Accolades Addict. We’re not doing this work to get a cookie. We’re doing this work to be more fully human.

42:00 Desmond- you do this work because its allows you to be aligned and to practice what you value.

42:15 Key Words and phrases freestyle: systematic, 1619, 400 year charge, ultimate reality, relative reality, courage to heal, social construct

In this episode, we explore a dynamic definition of equity, and our discussion springboards from a collage of quotes from our colleagues. Join us as we build off our first episode about the artform of teaching and use an artful lens to get into the nitty-gritty of racial equity. The paradigm is shifting, balance is coming, and shame wants to stop us from the full embrace. We all have a unique part to play in dismantling white body supremacy in our society, and enter into the discussion of what that can look like for us as educators.

Notes and Highlights

01:57-Clip from a colleague: Elias-“I think equity looks like adults out of the way at its best…student leaders making decisions around what their school can be for them…equity work at its core, when it’s really working, it’s responsive to what students are, and students are having that self determination around what direction they want things to go.”

03:20 link to artform of teaching episode

03:46- Jesse references knowledge of self is the 5th element of Hip Hop- self actualization.

04:35- Desmond: “The system incentivizes you to not be engaged, to try and figure out what’s the least amount of work I can do to get the top result versus how do I learn, how do I better myself and gain skills and confidence.”

05:48 Jesse - “One of our challenges as educators is to model bringing our genius in the classroom.”

06:16 Clip from a colleague- Daniel: “We make adjustments to our approach and curriculum …. Striving for equality…When it’s working well students are feeling empowered and energized and getting what they need.”

07:50- link to Ungrading episode coming soon

07:55 what is racial equity?

08:20- Jesse- “for equity to happen we need to approach teaching from a vantage point of the knowledge of white supremacy is happening and we’re steeped in it.”

08:30 Jesse and Des- explore the metaphor- guitar string needs tension to create beautiful music. We are invited to lean into the tension of creating equitable systems.

09:23 Invite teachers and students to understand systems. Desmond “we need to start recognizing and seeing as much of the system as we can.” Improving relationships between the parts of the system.

10:00- Exploring how we isolate ourselves as teachers. Our culture's emphasis on independence.

12:50- how can we serve the whole?

13:20- “doing what’s best for you and just thinking about the next class.” What percentage of the time are you in this mindset?

14:25- Jesse- self-actualizing isn’t in our justice b description but is the bedrock of teaching. link to how to self actualize

14:55 Des’s idea- teach who you are ————>teach who you want to be

16:35- Two BARS pause- guided meditation

18:43- Clip from a colleague: Ken- about equity being radical acceptance

20:20- Jesse- each of us has an invitation and part to play in healing the inequities

20:45 Des- radical acceptance- accepting each other at the core of who we are.

21:46- Desmond- radical acceptance is maintaining the human-to-human relationship. active listening

22:49 Jesse- part of the risk is to slow down and really listen- see ourselves, see our students, see our colleagues.

25:50- Desmond- “if you're used to going a 100mph and someone is asking you to stop. That’s some tension coming to that stop.”

26- Jesse- taking two BARS to take a pause to connect with the breath. Link to dynamic mindfulness training out of...]]>Defining Equity

In this episode, we explore a dynamic definition of equity, and our discussion springboards from a collage of quotes from our colleagues. Join us as we build off our first episode about the artform of teaching and use an artful lens to get into the nitty-gritty of racial equity. The paradigm is shifting, balance is coming, and shame wants to stop us from the full embrace. We all have a unique part to play in dismantling white body supremacy in our society, and enter into the discussion of what that can look like for us as educators.

Notes and Highlights

01:57-Clip from a colleague: Elias-“I think equity looks like adults out of the way at its best…student leaders making decisions around what their school can be for them…equity work at its core, when it’s really working, it’s responsive to what students are, and students are having that self determination around what direction they want things to go.”

03:20 link to artform of teaching episode

03:46- Jesse references knowledge of self is the 5th element of Hip Hop- self actualization.

04:35- Desmond: “The system incentivizes you to not be engaged, to try and figure out what’s the least amount of work I can do to get the top result versus how do I learn, how do I better myself and gain skills and confidence.”

05:48 Jesse - “One of our challenges as educators is to model bringing our genius in the classroom.”

06:16 Clip from a colleague- Daniel: “We make adjustments to our approach and curriculum …. Striving for equality…When it’s working well students are feeling empowered and energized and getting what they need.”

07:50- link to Ungrading episode coming soon

07:55 what is racial equity?

08:20- Jesse- “for equity to happen we need to approach teaching from a vantage point of the knowledge of white supremacy is happening and we’re steeped in it.”

08:30 Jesse and Des- explore the metaphor- guitar string needs tension to create beautiful music. We are invited to lean into the tension of creating equitable systems.

09:23 Invite teachers and students to understand systems. Desmond “we need to start recognizing and seeing as much of the system as we can.” Improving relationships between the parts of the system.

10:00- Exploring how we isolate ourselves as teachers. Our culture's emphasis on independence.

12:50- how can we serve the whole?

13:20- “doing what’s best for you and just thinking about the next class.” What percentage of the time are you in this mindset?

14:25- Jesse- self-actualizing isn’t in our justice b description but is the bedrock of teaching. link to how to self actualize

14:55 Des’s idea- teach who you are ————>teach who you want to be

16:35- Two BARS pause- guided meditation

18:43- Clip from a colleague: Ken- about equity being radical acceptance

20:20- Jesse- each of us has an invitation and part to play in healing the inequities

20:45 Des- radical acceptance- accepting each other at the core of who we are.

21:46- Desmond- radical acceptance is maintaining the human-to-human relationship. active listening

22:49 Jesse- part of the risk is to slow down and really listen- see ourselves, see our students, see our colleagues.

25:50- Desmond- “if you're used to going a 100mph and someone is asking you to stop. That’s some tension coming to that stop.”

26- Jesse- taking two BARS to take a pause to connect with the breath. Link to dynamic mindfulness training out of Oakland.

29:24- Desmond "...It (emotional intelligence) doesn’t help us navigate the old paradigm. Paradigms are shifting- we are moving from productivity at all costs to a balance. Design for productivity vs Design for resilience."

31:25-Desmond- the radical acceptance and listening needs to be grounded in the new paradigm of a design for resilience. “If the system and the paradigm is still about okay, how we can be better to fix our problem quickly- then it doesn’t change. If it's about- okay come talk and share your experience so we can all collectively adjust to this paradigm, adjust our views and get a better understanding that we are all valuing and wanting the same core things as far as being able to live and enjoy life. But yet the way that we’ve designed the systems society makes that difficult for some people and easier for others.”

32:25-Jesse- Part of the New Paradigm is prioritizing slowing down, community connection, and emotional intelligence.

32:40- Desmond- “As things start to fall and change, and rearrange. I think racial inequities and all kinds of inequities just keep going on because we’ve set it up to where that folks with the means, the resources, the power, and the status then move up the societal hierarchy. They make decisions that aren’t actually serving the masses that create the hierarchy. It serves their position so they can maintain and hoard. All the efforts desist because we want to be like them.”

33:17- Clip from a colleague: Sam Thompson- “For me equity is about being impartial, giving people an opportunity to have a fair shake. A lot of times we focus on equality when what we really need is equity. Equity is being fair. That's what we want the most as people is fairness... I run a basketball camp in the summer. If I wanted to practice equality I would give everyone size 13 shoes. Everybody gets the exact same thing. But being equitable I ask all the players- what size shoe do you wear so you can get exactly what you need. That's what equity is, meeting people where they’re at, being fair, and giving people exactly what they need to be able to succeed.”

34:30 Desmond- “ Fairness in this context is seeing what people need... To call it out as we should- the system is designed to meet the needs of white male bodies. So it's already asking them what they need and want. It's not asking what Black, Brown, and Indigenous folks, LBGTQ+, it's not asking what they want or need. Then these groups force a conversation, cause we need stuff like any other human... How do we then create the ability within those who have the resources to have the capacity... to be able to truly hear it and connect.

36:20- Jesse- “Another analogy is that you need the correct medicine for your symptom. You don’t need Tylenol for everything. What do you need for your genius to awaken? Not everyone needs the same assignment....”

37:00 min- Jesse- “All our work is to dismantle the white body supremacy so everyone is getting their needs met.” Jesse’s following words about white folks using the victim card here are influenced by the quote and article - “If you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”

37:50- Jesse- “I have a part to play in this work- I can’t lean on my friends and colleagues of color to do the work and tell me what's up and give me that stamp of approval that I’m one of the good ones. I have my work to do and my part to play...”

38:13- Jesse- “I need to create a platform so all voices can get heard... and integrated... We’re forming a different system...Trying to be a white man isn’t what everyone’s goal is. We are taking down this whole hierarchy ideally. And that comes back to not just teaching who you are but teaching who you want to be. Teaching as a way of that I’m one of many voices in this room that has skills, stories, and knowledge to share.”

38:55- Desmond- “Flipping it to- its work to do, and hence the name of the podcast- Worth Work. This work restores the perception of worth within yourself. I say perception because that's how we determine if we’re a good person or not... When perceptions keep us in shame spirals that's where the problem occurs.”

39:46 Desmond- “To me racism at its core is a shame system. If I can get people who don’t look like me, darker-skinned people, to inherently hate themselves. And look up to what I want and what I have then I can have control and power over them. That is the foundation of the country.”

40:45- Desmond- “Being uncomfortable when you're used to having a life of comfort- is scary. In my Grandmother's Hands, there is this idea of White Fragility. Link to my Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menekem Link to White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo. Podcast with both Resmaa and Robin- Onbeing

43- Desmond- Exploring the depth of privilege, resilience, and race. “Needs are dynamic.”

44:45- Desmond- “We are all conditioned to learn in a certain way. I call it 'pretend learning.' If you not engaging fully in the content and you’re getting an A... if you're not making mistakes if you're not pushing yourself to that place where you’re not understanding it, and pushing yourself. Then all you’re doing is playing school, and not actually challenging yourself to grow. That what the whole system does.”

Jesse- “That's what we need to do as Educators is have a culture of growth as well. Not just I’ve taught this curriculum for this many years, take a test and show me you have the knowledge too.

47:37- Desmond's definition of equity is meeting students' needs, not their wants. Example- of deepening reasoning. “What do you want to do with your success?”

48:16- Jesse references RZA’s Tao of Wu book. Pillar of Wisdom- The Call. Part of educating is unlearning, and understanding why we were taught what we were taught in the first place.

49:20- Desmond- “You get that 4.0, and prove to yourself that I’m the type of person that values my education. Now what?... What do I want to do next?”

49:55- Jesse- “The question of what is equity? takes us back to the layers of what it means to be human. Those questions put us on this quest of what matters in life... How do I live from my heart?... and stay aligned with it.”

50:50- Desmond- “The problem with words is that they don’t keep going. Have a dynamic definition of equity means that you evolve... It's good to remind ourselves that at one point equity was equal, now it's realizing the needs of each of us and taking the time necessary to figure that out..... and our students get better at that... and thinking long-term... Equity is understanding that we all have worth and working for that. ”

52:15- Keywords and phrases Freestyle edition- Keywords: equity, beyond compliance education, white body supremacy, tension for music, get in your bag, teach who you want to be.”

Summary: Welcome to our first Worth Work podcast! This episode we focus on seeing the vocation of teaching as an art form. Using this podcast as a canvas we paint with quotes, clips from empathy interviews of colleagues, a guided meditation, storytelling, insights, and end with a freestyle rap using the key words and phrases of this episode. Our hope is to bring infectious energy to help you energize your approach to teaching. Enjoy! 

0:00- Intro song and summary

01:35: "To practice any art no matter how well or how badly is a way to make your soul grow; for heavens sake- so do it." Kurt Vonnegut

02:40- Darshanpreet quote- about changing the way we do things- ""instead of changing the way we do things, telling the kids again and again- why can't you meet these standards? Then of course it goes into who did set the standards in the first place? How do we scaffold them appropriately if we do think they are important so that there is multiple points of entry? I see how things that are already inequitable from the start, where people are starting at different level, then we put them in a school system that was never built for everybody and then the school system does very successfully what it was meant to do: educate white boys."

04:08- Des exploring the tension of meeting standards

05:29- Jesse explores that tension by sharing his journey through school as white man.

06:23 Jesse “I could check the boxes, I could get the As and Bs. Bu there was this whole other part missing. That’s me sharing my story, that’s me expressing myself, that’s me finding my unique genius in the world.”

07:33- Slide of genius awakening pedagogy vs traditional school

09:40- Des sharing his unique journey through school as a black man. Seeking to over achieve…

12:25 Des “we turn away from the work of equity, because of not wanting to be shamed by it. Not understanding that we are all dealing with some degree of ‘not good enough’ and having some type of reaction to that because of an intentionally created hierarchy based on skin color.

13:35 Jesse asking Des- “how much of your school experiences do you carry with you as a teacher?”

14:38- Des as a junior was invited by his mom to read The Four agreements. The four agreements are: -always do your best -don’t take things personal -be impeccable with your word -don’t make assumptions

17:38- 2 BARS pause

20:12 Lila Watson wiki page.

Check Brother Ali’s episode of Rhymes and Reasons podcast where he breaks down how our liberations are bound up with each other.

24:30- Des quote along the lines of project based learning- “who says you have to wait till your out of high school to make a contribution?”

25:55- Desmond’s acronym- G.O.D- genius over doubt. Which is about liberating folks from shame.

27:13 Jon Acuff- book called Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking

27:55 Desmond- “a good chunk of what this podcast is about is the art of healing from a collective shame that we’ve all been conditioned to...]]>The Art of Teaching

Summary: Welcome to our first Worth Work podcast! This episode we focus on seeing the vocation of teaching as an art form. Using this podcast as a canvas we paint with quotes, clips from empathy interviews of colleagues, a guided meditation, storytelling, insights, and end with a freestyle rap using the key words and phrases of this episode. Our hope is to bring infectious energy to help you energize your approach to teaching. Enjoy! 

0:00- Intro song and summary

01:35: "To practice any art no matter how well or how badly is a way to make your soul grow; for heavens sake- so do it." Kurt Vonnegut

02:40- Darshanpreet quote- about changing the way we do things- ""instead of changing the way we do things, telling the kids again and again- why can't you meet these standards? Then of course it goes into who did set the standards in the first place? How do we scaffold them appropriately if we do think they are important so that there is multiple points of entry? I see how things that are already inequitable from the start, where people are starting at different level, then we put them in a school system that was never built for everybody and then the school system does very successfully what it was meant to do: educate white boys."

04:08- Des exploring the tension of meeting standards

05:29- Jesse explores that tension by sharing his journey through school as white man.

06:23 Jesse “I could check the boxes, I could get the As and Bs. Bu there was this whole other part missing. That’s me sharing my story, that’s me expressing myself, that’s me finding my unique genius in the world.”

07:33- Slide of genius awakening pedagogy vs traditional school

09:40- Des sharing his unique journey through school as a black man. Seeking to over achieve…

12:25 Des “we turn away from the work of equity, because of not wanting to be shamed by it. Not understanding that we are all dealing with some degree of ‘not good enough’ and having some type of reaction to that because of an intentionally created hierarchy based on skin color.

13:35 Jesse asking Des- “how much of your school experiences do you carry with you as a teacher?”

14:38- Des as a junior was invited by his mom to read The Four agreements. The four agreements are: -always do your best -don’t take things personal -be impeccable with your word -don’t make assumptions

17:38- 2 BARS pause

20:12 Lila Watson wiki page.

Check Brother Ali’s episode of Rhymes and Reasons podcast where he breaks down how our liberations are bound up with each other.

24:30- Des quote along the lines of project based learning- “who says you have to wait till your out of high school to make a contribution?”

25:55- Desmond’s acronym- G.O.D- genius over doubt. Which is about liberating folks from shame.

27:13 Jon Acuff- book called Soundtracks: The Surprising Solution to Overthinking

27:55 Desmond- “a good chunk of what this podcast is about is the art of healing from a collective shame that we’ve all been conditioned to because it served those in power at the time.”

28:28 Link the assignment of empty your cup. Shame keeps us from being vulnerable and mutual liberation. This is an assignment designed to share story. Teacher demonstrating- students having space to write and empty their cup by processing their life experience.

29:40 Des “Being human is inherently vulnerable.” Jesse - “facts. And we can pretend it’s not for a whole 90 min block period…and we get caught on n just going through the motions.

30:13- Jesse “as educators, as adults in the space, we set that tone…

31:10 - @mosiaceye Instagram page clip about compassionate self care.

32:15- our artform starts with- ‘we teach who we are.’ To be with the depths of ourselves- our breath, aware of our humanity, our own suffering, our own inherent vulnerability as humans. We start there and then we can see the humanity of the young people we share space with.

33:15- Des- ‘when your sitting with the pain of the moment, let’s not get it twisted it is pain…. It’s not as soft as the word compassion tends to imply…. Pain is an inherent part of being alive. We can’t escape it, but the conditioning of society would have you believe that you can.

34:49- Victor Frankls work- the tragic triad- we can’t escape pain, guilt and death.

36:39- Des references Resmaa Menakem’s work- My Grandmothers Hands. And the idea of clean pain vs dirty pain. Clean pain moves through our body without us projecting it on someone else.

37:22 Desmond- there are ways to communicate what we actually feel. This piece is hard for people in authority to do if they are not in the practice of doing this work.

38:12 Desmond- thats admitting as teachers we don’t have the answers… Jesse - “but my liberation is bound up with yours so let’s do this together."

39:20- Jesse - “ part of our human experience is to take our pain and use the energy to architect our life- make something beautiful."

39:38- Freestyling with key words and phrases: artform, multiple points of entry, genius, school journey, liberation, 4 agreements, perfectionism, joy and self care.