Examining Bias and Interrupting Systemic Patterns of Educational Injustice to Support Anti-Racist School Communities

Rhiannon Kim, M.S., CCC-SLP & Gillian Boudreau, Ph.D

Oct 7 @ 1:00 pm – Nov 4 @ 1:00 pm

Target Audience: Anyone working in PK-12 schools.

Join Rhiannon Kim and Gillian Boudreau for a two-part series of conversations on identifying and interrupting systemic inequity in schools.

Webinar #1: Understanding and Interrupting the Over-pathologization of BIPOC Students Rhiannon and Gillian will discuss the ways implicit bias impacts Black, Indigenous, and Students of Color (BIPOC) in Vermont PK-12 schools. Policies and procedures intended to ensure equal access to education continue to over-identify BIPOC students with diagnosable disorders. Grounded in Disability Critical Race Theory, we will examine what scholar Annamamma calls the “hyper-surveillance, hyper-labelling and hyper-punishment” of BIPOC students and consider ways to understand and interrupt these patterns in our own thoughts, actions, and communities.* *Subini Annamamma The Pedagogy of Pathologization: Dis/abled Girls of Color in the School-prison Nexus, 2017

Webinar #2: School to Prison Nexus | Pipeline Beginning in PK-12 schools, the frequent punishment and pathologization of students of color--as well as those who live at the intersections of race, dis/ability and poverty--results in higher dropout rates, less access to employment, and a greater likelihood of being sent to prison. The VT prison population has a disproportionate population of black men, and their hyper-punishment begins in school. Using an anti-racist framework, schools must continue interrogating and examining both their covertly and overtly racist policies, procedures, and curricula. This webinar introduces a practiced interrogation process that our communities can use to grow and transform in order to fight inequity.

Gillian Boudreau, Ph.D, is a licensed clinical psychologist and licensed school psychologist. She has spent years as a clinician in therapeutic and hospital-based schools in New York City and developed and directed a school-based initiative in Vermont providing intensive behavioral programming in public elementary schools. She provides extensive consultation and training to schools and agencies in Vermont and NYC.

Rhiannon Kim, M.S., CCC-SLP, holds a Master’s Degree in Speech and Language Pathology and is working toward her Doctorate of Education at UVM. She currently teaches graduate level courses on Mindfulness, Equity, and Social-Emotional Development at the University of Vermont and St. Michael's College. Rhiannon blends her work of equity, trauma-aware practices, and mindfulness with Yogic, Buddhist, and Restorative teachings.

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