Diversity and Equity in UPPI with Bonnie Fusarelli
23m | Nov 7, 2023Ever wondered how institutions can tangibly incorporate diversity and equity into their educational programs? How is NC State striding towards equity in the education sector through initiatives like public conversations on race?
On this episode of In the Lead with UCEA’s podcast series on the University Principal Preparation Initiative (UPPI), UCEA Executive Director Dr. Mónica Byrne-Jimenez talks with Dr. Bonnie Fusarelli, Professor of Educational Leadership and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis at NC State University and Director of NC State’s Leadership Academies.
In the Lead with UCEA is a production of University FM via a grant from The Wallace Foundation.
Chapter Timestamps:
- How did NC State decide to pursue this initiative? | 1:13
- NC State’s process of defining Equity and Diversity | 2:02
- Diversity, Equity, and NC State’s Legacy | 6:34
- Making Partners True Equals | 7:48
- The Impact of this Equity work | 10:46
- Creating Safe Spaces to Grow Together | 15:06
- Changes in District Partners | 17:34
- How Have the Conversations Evolved? | 19:19
- Summary & Closing | 22:03
Episode Quotes:
Reflecting on district partners' changes from the integrated learning approach in the redesign
07:08: We saw a lot of our district partners start to have more courage to engage in those conversations publicly. One of our proudest examples is Edgecombe County, where they did an entire process where they brought together the community about what do we want for our kids. Let's talk about how racism and all the other isms have impacted their ability to learn at high quality. And they've just done some amazing work to build community and practice.
Humility helped develop a shared definition of equity and diversity
15:19: We all have bias, but it's about seeing how our bias impacts other people and hurts other people and how can we tap that down and exchange that for ways that we're building up people. And I think really the main way we've done that is really focusing on humility. And so, we are open to the idea that we're all flawed people. And so by focusing on that instead of perfection, that really helps us to recruit the right kind of students.
Building a culture of teamwork in education
20:09: We work together. Our team was willing to say, "I'm not just teaching my course. I'm a part of this program." And you heard me call them team because we don't refer to our faculty, or I don't think my friends do either, that I work with. We don't go, "Oh, we're the faculty." We say we're the team with educational leadership. And I think by viewing that as teamwork, we really have been able to take it from coursework to program.
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