Addressing Racial Equity in our Adult Education Classrooms, Programs, and the Field

This series of webinars will examine the way implicit racial bias shows up in adult education and how it creates inequity for learners. First, we will look at implicit bias — what it is and how we can face it and work constructively to change it. Second, we will share classroom strategies that will teach about equity in the context of basic skills and make your classroom more inclusive and relevant to all. In our third webinar, we will showcase programs that have made changes to make racial equity a key part of its program practices.

Addressing Racial Equity in our Adult Education Classrooms, Programs, and the Field
This three-part series of webinars examined the way implicit racial bias shows up in adult education and how it creates inequity for learners. First, we look at implicit bias — what it is and how we can both face it and work constructively to change it. Second, we share classroom materials and strategies that both teach about equity in the context of basic skills and make your classroom more inclusive and relevant to all. In our third and final webinar, we showcase programs that made changes to make racial equity a key part of their program practices. The webinars took place in April, 2021. Cynthia Peters, editor of The Change Agent, led the webinar series.

Webinar 1: April 13, 2021, 4:00 to 5:30 PM ET, “Implicit Bias” (view recording/view slides)
Implicit bias shows up in all individuals, organizations, and institutions. This webinar investigates how racial bias shows up in ourselves and in our field, and we propose solutions — some short-term and some long-term.

Webinar 2: April 20, 2021, 4:00 to 5:30 PM ET, “Classroom Strategies for Talking about Race” (view recording/view slides)
In this interactive webinar, we share ideas about how to use relevant, student-written content to help students understand topics like race, racism, inequity, inequality; how to use this understanding to navigate their lives in the United States; and how these conversations can build stronger connections between students.
Riva Pearson, ESOL teacher at JVS in Boston, co-presented this webinar.

Webinar 3: April 27, 2021, 4:00 to 5:30 PM ET, “Action Steps for Programs and the Field Addressing Racial Equity” (view recording/view slides)
In this webinar, we offer various steps that programs and the field can take to move towards equity in adult education. We explore how you can use orientation and other program-wide policies and practices, along with hiring and staffing policies, that help you address equity. We also investigate how we can advocate for changes in our field that will help reduce racial inequity.
Note: Carmine Stewart, President and CEO of Aspire Consulting and Educational Services, and Vice President of Programming at Seeds of Literacy in Cleveland, Ohio, co-presented this webinar.