On today’s episode: Educators Leah and Rena Dunbar

Leah and Rena Dunbar are twin sisters and educators, committed to community building, listening, and engaging in Courageous Conversations about race, gender, and class. Leah is a language arts and social studies specialist at the Lane Education Service District and Rena is a project specialist at the University of Oregon and works with indigenous communities.

Topics:

 * 02:17 Creating a Courageous Conversations course
 * 05:30 The “circle” of time and the backlash to discussions around race
 * 09:30 Developing ethnic studies in Oregon
 * 14:08 Community building around art and words
 * 18:23 Disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline
 * 25:51 Restructuring classrooms to encourage collaboration

Teaching Challenging Conversations with Leah and Rena Dunbar

The Journalistic Learning Podcast explores the question: What if we infused journalist strategies into English Language Arts courses to teach students media literacy, critical thinking, and effective communication skills? 

Join hosts Ed Madison and Bo Brusco as they chat with ELA teachers who are leading or have led journalistic learning projects in their classrooms. Hear their stories of trial and triumph, as well as their tips and advice. Along the way, Bo will keep you up-to-date on relevant education news, and Ed will share quarterly Journalistic Learning Initiative updates. 

Ed is a professor and researcher at the University of Oregon and serves as Executive Director of the Journalistic Learning Initiative (JLI), a non-profit organization that pioneers and promotes journalistic learning as a way of empowering students to discover their voice, improve academic outcomes, and engage in self-directed learning through project-based storytelling. 

Bo is the Communications Manager of JLI, a former high school ELA teacher, and an award-winning multimedia journalist. 

Many of the teachers you'll hear from have taken part in JLI's Effective Communicators Program, a 10-week, standards-aligned instructional plan that guides students through a journalistic learning project.

If you'd like to learn more about JLI, journalistic learning, or our Effective Communicators Program, visit journalisticlearning.org [https://journalisticlearning.org/]!