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Episode 10: Beyond Words - Understanding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as Keys to Relationship and Belonging
188 Plays1 year ago
Comprehensive school-based mental health initiatives seek to advance mental well-being throughout the school community. At the core of this work are relationships and building a sense of belonging for all students. In this episode, Allyson Forseth, Behavioral Health Initiatives Manager with the WI Association of Family and Children’s Agencies is joined by Dr. Armando Hernández, a Licensed Psychologist and Equity-Centered Leader with 20 years of experience specializing in culturally responsive practice, behavioral health consultation, and systems change. Their conversation explores concrete initiatives to grow diversity (mindset), equity (outcomes), and inclusion (relationship) within our school communities, as well as how these strategies serve as a foundation for student success and community connectedness. Acknowledging that this is a challenging and sometimes divisive topic, Dr. Hernández brings a perspective grounded in his cross-system work and invites us to center on curiosity, respect, and relationship while boldly exploring resistance within ourselves and our systems.
Show Notes
Coalition for Expanding School-Based Mental Health in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction - Comprehensive School Mental Health
Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework
National Center for School Mental Health DEIA Resources
Othering & Belonging Institute
National Equity Project - Liberatory Design
Toolkit: Design for Belonging by Susie Wise
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'School Mental Health Works'
00:00:17
Speaker
Welcome to School Mental Health Works, a Quick Tip monthly podcast presenting dialogues on school mental health in Wisconsin.
00:00:26
Speaker
Our mission is to share the successes and challenges experienced by a range of partners in Wisconsin as communities continue to collaborate and show that school mental health works. This series is a product of the Coalition for Expanding School-Based Mental Health in Wisconsin, a statewide coalition with a mission to advance and support expanded, comprehensive, and integrated mental health services within the school setting through school, home, and community partnerships.
00:00:53
Speaker
I am Allison Forseth, an educator currently working as a manager of behavioral health initiatives at Wofka, the Wisconsin Association for Family and Children's Agencies. I was a former Spanish teacher, and in my current role, I curate our continuing education program, facilitate communities of practice for mental health professionals, and oversee many of our school-based mental health initiatives. I'm really looking forward to today's conversation.
Guest Introduction: Dr. Armando Hernandez
00:01:20
Speaker
We are joined today by Dr. Armando Hernandez, a licensed psychologist and equity-centered leader with 20 years of experience. He specializes in culturally responsive practice, behavioral health consultation, and systems change.
00:01:35
Speaker
He currently holds a position as Managing Director of Clinical Programs at Trails, an organization that focuses on transforming youth mental health care delivery by equipping school staff with the training and resources they need to provide evidence-based and culturally responsive programming to their students.
00:01:53
Speaker
Armando has held positions in community mental health and healthcare, Madison Metropolitan School District, and was previously the chief diversity officer for Journey Mental Health Center. He was also previously a coalition board member. Thank you so much for joining us today, Armando. Thank you so much, Alison.
Why is DEI Necessary in School Mental Health?
00:02:12
Speaker
I appreciate the opportunity.
00:02:14
Speaker
And we are going to talk today about diversity, equity, and inclusion in school-based mental health programming. Excellent. So I'm thinking maybe to get us started, we could dive right in to the why. Why does it matter? Why is diversity, equity, and inclusion important in school-based mental health services?
00:02:34
Speaker
Yeah, this is a very important and I think fitting place to start when we talk about diversity, equity and inclusion. It's really, I think anybody doing that work, as we know in any organizational initiative, the why is critical. That really is what energizes us, what provides us a sense of grounding for this work.
00:02:59
Speaker
We also know that school-based mental health being in that intersection between education and mental health and health care can be really hard. And adding a diversity and inclusion lens to that work can really move us into even harder territory. So being grounded in a Y is really important.
00:03:22
Speaker
And for me, I think about three different answers to that question. And the first one is that for me, DEI is about assuring, really in a way guaranteeing, that we are effectively serving all of our students, that we are creating a
00:03:45
Speaker
system of care, that we are providing interventions, that we're providing strategies that are welcoming, that are respectful, that are effective for every single student. And that includes students of color. It includes students that identify in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, non binary.
00:04:09
Speaker
and includes really any students that is diverse or historically marginalized on any dimension of cultural diversity, from either where they live to a dimension of disability, etc. So really, it is about informing our programs and our systems of care and institutions towards that assurance of effectiveness.
00:04:36
Speaker
The second dimension of why, it's really, it's about avoiding harm. We are, hopefully our listeners are aware of our history of oppression, marginalization, disparities that exist, and that really put, again, historically marginalized groups at risk. So I think we have a responsibility
00:05:04
Speaker
We can call that ethical, we can call that professional, we could call that moral responsibility to really avoid that harm. That is really grounded in our awareness, again, of those historical and persistent disparities. And it's important to really assure that that isn't happening and that we're not
00:05:30
Speaker
intentionally or unintentionally playing a role in those those disparities. And then finally, I think that we all understand that when our needs are met, we function better as a society, we function, we have better schools, we have better teams, better programs. And one of I think the fundamental needs that we have
00:05:58
Speaker
I think as humans, is to belong. When we belong, when we feel a sense of connection to the team, to the school, to the community that we are part of, that sense of affirmation essentially helps us work better.
00:06:18
Speaker
Equally, that is also true for the students and the young people that we are serving. When we are able to have school communities where they belong, where they feel a deep sense of connection, then that really can deliver the best educational experience. And in the same way, when that sense of belonging is integrated into our school mental health initiative, it really increases the likelihood of success.
Defining Belonging in Mental Health Services
00:06:45
Speaker
Yeah, that's so wonderful. Thanks for breaking it down in those three points. You talked a little bit about belonging, and I'm wondering if there's a way that you would describe or define that for folks just a little bit more concretely.
00:06:59
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I think that all of us have a sort of, hopefully a foundational sense of what belonging is. And sometimes we can talk about belonging as a psychological sense of connection. I also really like the very basic definition of belonging, as just being part of a caring community. I also resonate with John Powell's definition of belonging. John Powell,
00:07:27
Speaker
is inspirational scholar and really leader of the Othering and Belonging Institute and he defines belonging this way.
00:07:38
Speaker
Belonging means more than just being seen. Belonging entails having a meaningful voice and the opportunity to participate in the design of social and cultural structures. Belonging means having the right to contribute and make demands on society and political institutions.
00:08:03
Speaker
I think there's so much to that definition from where it begins that obviously being seen being recognized as a core element of belonging. But this deeper understanding of it goes beyond it really centers.
00:08:19
Speaker
in the notion of having a voice and really having a sense of participation. As we talk about initiatives in this area of diversity, equity, and inclusion, we know that one of the most powerful initiatives
00:08:34
Speaker
It's really having have those participants of our services, which are young people, which are families, particularly those participants and family that are historically placed at the margins to having have that sense of voice, having been able to be participants in the programs that they're a part of.
00:08:55
Speaker
I think for me as a mental health provider, I've often noticed how mental health often is something that happens to people. It's the idea of a treatment, the idea of a passive patient that just receives it. And I think that DEI and culturally responsive practice really pushes us to really make that interaction a much more collaborative one.
00:09:21
Speaker
And beyond the voice, John Powell here adds the notion of having a right to contribute and really even make demands that that active participation, that advocacy is really integrated in this concept that, again, begins with a sense of just being seen to really full participation.
Understanding DEI: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
00:09:44
Speaker
I really love that distinction you made to bring in that mental health is not just a thing that people receive or that they need when there's a problem, that there's a responsibility to nurture and cultivate mental wellness that expands beyond people who have like a diagnosed problem, for example.
00:10:02
Speaker
100%. Yeah, and I think that that's something that I think it's the really powerful contribution of school based mental health, where it really transform how we think about mental health delivery, because it integrates by design concept of education,
00:10:23
Speaker
which are really often more participatory, more collaborative, and we understand. We understand that good schools are schools where the community is involved, the community is singing and that we are responsive to it. And I really always see, I just always energize by seeing mental health programs
00:10:46
Speaker
that are in that space of integration and that are responsive to other initiatives, whether it is restorative justice or whether it is initiatives that again bring in the community in a very active way.
00:11:00
Speaker
Yeah, before we get too deep into this, I'm wondering if we can take a quick pause to think about some terms that we think folks might need to know moving into this episode as we continue. So if there were three things that you wanted to define for folks, what are those three things that they need to know?
00:11:20
Speaker
Absolutely. So we know that within DEI, there is a vast series of terms and concepts that we could talk about. It is not uncommon to have DEI initiatives begin with that common language.
00:11:36
Speaker
with those sets of principles, even starting with concepts like race and gender and culture, which can be very nuanced in our understanding. For the purpose of our conversation, I'd like to say a few things about DEI.
00:11:53
Speaker
culturally responsive practice, and then one less common term that I really resonate with, which is equity center practice. And of course, all of these really overlap with each other. I think that there is my assumption with these terms that even though for some of us, we might be familiar or we have heard of them, I never make the assumption that we're talking about the same thing.
00:12:20
Speaker
So when somebody says DEI, my assumption is that we may have very different understandings of what that means. For me, DEI is that larger organizational framework, those sets of guiding principles that essentially provide a vehicle for the things that we mentioned earlier, right? That provide a vehicle for assuring effective services,
00:12:49
Speaker
a vehicle for avoiding harm, particularly on the basis of race, gender, and culture, and then also provide a vehicle for belonging. The culturally responsive practice or equity center practice is really more of our own practice, how we are embodying those sets of principles in a day-to-day basis.
00:13:11
Speaker
Technically, regardless of whether my agency or district or work setting has a DEI initiative, I can always practice in a way that can be culturally responsive and equity-centered.
00:13:26
Speaker
Now, if I don't have a context that values DEI, then it's going to be really hard to do. And many of us can resonate with that experience. It's going to be an uphill battle. So the ideal context always is that our work setting or community setting embraces a larger DEI framework that then nurtures the way that I practice day in and day out.
00:13:51
Speaker
So I'll start, I'll go by fairly quickly through these because there'll be a lot here, but then we can go back and maybe elaborate a little bit. So a lot of different definitions on DEI. So diversity, equity, and inclusion. Personally for me, how I conceptualize these three powerful guiding principles. For me, DEI, I mean diversity is about mindset
00:14:19
Speaker
Equity is about outcomes and inclusion is about relationships. So diversity is really for me, it's about a mindset that understands and sees any social and cultural differences as a strength, at something positive, at something that builds opportunity,
00:14:42
Speaker
creativity and
Culturally Responsive Practices and Equity
00:14:44
Speaker
can enrich a team, a school, a community. So that when I enter into any space and I see diversity, whether it is racial diversity or gender diversity or cognitive diversity, et cetera, that any of that, when I see that, when I notice that, that that's going to make the environment richer and with more opportunity.
00:15:09
Speaker
So for diversity, essentially the strategy in that space is for us to engage in meaningful professional development opportunities that can nurture that strength-based mindset around diversity. Now, many times I think the traditional definition of diversity has to do with demographic diversity in numbers, which is definitely related. I tend to see that more as an outcome in the area of equity.
00:15:39
Speaker
I think that diversity is something that it's more malleable, something that we can have more of an influence on, which is again, that mindset work that we can engage on. Equity, as I mentioned, is based and grounded on outcomes. Many of us have probably have seen the very different understandings of the difference between equity and equality, where equality essentially relates to sameness
00:16:07
Speaker
and treating everybody the same. And equity really is about being responsive to the needs of the people that we're seeing. So imagine, for example, if I stepped into a shoe store and they say, well, listen, a sandal is the more versatile shoe and a nine is the average shoe size of the population. Here you go.
00:16:31
Speaker
And I may say, hey, I actually have a size 10 and I didn't want a sandal, I wanted a tennis shoe, right? So the most basic of terms, right? Equity, it's about being responsive to what is being presented, but also then measuring those outcomes to then say, where are we meeting the needs?
00:16:54
Speaker
of the population that we are serving. For many of us in the healthcare setting and mental health, that's really an integrated component. Individualized services and treatment, I think is a concept that we are used to. However, to individualize it at the group level is something that is still an area of opportunity. It isn't only individualizing at the individual level,
00:17:19
Speaker
It's also understanding that if a young person is black, or is Latina, or is non-binary, or is from a particular religious or spiritual background in a particular rural or urban setting, that those type of social locations are going to come with some implications.
00:17:37
Speaker
that we want to be curious about adapting what we are doing, depending on not only individual factors, but also social cultural factors, especially race, gender, and culture in a setting. So the strategy around equity really becomes systems evaluation.
00:18:01
Speaker
We really want to be able to establish what are our desired outcomes and then really measuring those outcomes and disaggregating them to have a clear understanding of whose needs are we meeting and whose needs are we not. And of course, the implication then is that we are modifying our system to be responsive to those differences.
00:18:26
Speaker
The next element is inclusion, which for me it's about centering relationships. I think actually inclusion and relationship is the most important one. I think that diversity and mindset, it's very individual.
00:18:45
Speaker
But that is really providing the context for us to be able to engage in nurturing and caring relationships. I think equity measures in some ways those relationships.
Strategies for Integrating DEI in Schools
00:19:00
Speaker
So we know that there are many systems of care that become very technical.
00:19:06
Speaker
and that really lose the centrality that this is about establishing caring relationships about again big connection here to what we were talking about belonging, right? So for me, I often see belonging as that really development or strong connection to inclusion or strategy that center relationships.
00:19:29
Speaker
Yeah, I really like kind of breakdown of the DEI. Like I feel like we, it rolls off the tongue so easily that it's become common language to say DEI without really breaking down that each one of those letters is a step unto itself, that we are shifting our mindset to see difference as a strength. We are working actively to see the impacts of our services and if they're actually meeting the needs of people.
00:19:56
Speaker
and then we're fostering relationships on a daily, minutely, hourly basis to ensure that that's kind of moving along. So yeah, thank you so much for breaking that down.
00:20:08
Speaker
I think you also wanted to speak a little bit to culturally responsive practice. Do you want to move to that one next? That's right. Yeah. And I'll talk about them both in combination because I think they're very related. You know, culturally responsive practice, it's definitely the more common term, which is critically important.
00:20:27
Speaker
Essentially, if we take the example of a mental health provider embedded into a school, when that practitioner works through a culturally responsive lens, they are really attending to being mindful of integrating the social cultural dimension of the students and communities that they are working with.
00:20:52
Speaker
And there's, of course, a number of different ways to going about that. And part of that includes being explicit about race, gender, culture, and other dimensions of diversity that are really relevant to that situation. Of course, this could be a very nuanced conversation around how do we open the door to those conversations.
00:21:16
Speaker
how explicit are we, how implicit, but at the core is the understanding that every interaction is a multicultural or a social cultural interaction, that those dynamics are always really at play.
00:21:31
Speaker
And it's a matter of, it's a very consequential matter, to really be mindful of when I should be particularly attentive to that dimension. Another example is language needs, to really be mindful of, again, the linguistic needs, both of primary language spoken at home, to also that moves us into health literacy and also other communications issues.
00:22:01
Speaker
that we want to be mindful of the importance of that element in some systems that becomes very concretely having intentional initiatives to have bilingual providers or at least bilingual providers involved when it comes to connecting to the family
00:22:17
Speaker
to the family system. So again, being responsive, I think it's really critical. Equity center practice for me is a extension that moves us into not only being responsive, but also assuring that I am being equitable and fair in my
00:22:42
Speaker
interactions with every, again, colleague, young person, and family that I interact with. It goes back to original principle, or how do I assure that I am serving all students well and effectively? This really involves both a commitment to our own inner work
00:23:07
Speaker
and attending to the interpersonal dimension in all of our relationships and services that we offer. Of course, a lot that we can say in this space, but that inner work involves me being aware of my own cultural identity, to do my own bias work, and to nurture those equity-centered mindsets like how we have discussed.
00:23:34
Speaker
And that relational dimension involves having a sense of empathy, disrupting bias or discrimination wherever I see it, and really sharing power in the service of voice and opportunity as we have also discussed before. So a lot there that if we have more time, we can definitely dive into.
00:23:56
Speaker
Yeah, hopefully that gives folks a good foundation to kind of move into the how of all of this. So we talked a little bit about our why, we talked a little bit about our what, these kind of foundational building blocks that we're going to work with. And as we move into how, like really how can schools and perhaps individual mental health providers as well prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion?
00:24:19
Speaker
in school-based mental health services. And I'll just quickly note that in our show notes, we'll have some resources, including the National Center for School Mental Health's DEIA resources. So for folks interested in learning more, we'll have a little bit more there too. But yeah, getting started with the how. How do we do it?
00:24:38
Speaker
That's right. So I will revisit and ground us in the particular understanding of framework of DEI. So part of the how is three strategies that really are connected. It's first, professional development.
00:24:56
Speaker
Having a very intentional strategy for nurturing a culturally responsive and equity-centered mindset in our practitioners, administrations, and really any participant in our school mental health program. Second, we want to have an outcome component
00:25:17
Speaker
where we have identifiable quote universal outcomes to the services that we offer and then ideally have the capacity to desegregate those outcomes based on the particular demographic or cultural dimensions that we can understand that might make a difference.
00:25:37
Speaker
Certainly, race, gender are great places to start, and there could be other dimensions, language needs, SIP code, etc., and other dimensions as well. And then the third strategy, which I didn't highlight earlier around inclusion,
00:25:55
Speaker
really becomes having a community building strategy. So how are you creating community? How are you nurturing a sense of voice in all the participants of your system, right? And we know that it's multi-layered. How are you building a sense of community among your
00:26:14
Speaker
your providers and your school staff? How are you building a sense of community before between those two systems to make the system collaboratively and integrated? And also how do you nurture a sense of community between mental health and school providers and the community itself? So answering those three questions and being very explicit becomes really a powerful place to start. So
00:26:42
Speaker
In very, very specifically, the question that I start is when we are again implementing school mental health collaborative, usually there is a contract, there's a memorandum of agreement or understanding.
00:26:59
Speaker
that really lays out the parameters on our collaboration. Most of the time, DEI is really limited to literally either those three words or even culturally responsive where there's a commitment that we will offer culturally responsive services.
00:27:16
Speaker
Now, that's important, right? I definitely rather have those two words in there other than not. What I think frequently is missed is more of an explanation of what is meant by that. What do we mean when we say culturally responsive services?
00:27:36
Speaker
Now, I think in many spaces, articulating that can really be a big task. So even if the initial commitment is to explore and to delineate a framework that can really be clear on what is culturally responsive services, what can that look like, then that's really important. If that doesn't exit up front, then at least being committed to having an intentional space
00:28:04
Speaker
where that can happen. I think a frequent observation, as we know, we frequently have two big contrasting cultures, right? Whether it's the education systems, schools that often come with their own specific culture, and then whether we call it health care or whether we call it mental health,
00:28:26
Speaker
And again, there isn't even consensus on each one of those settings as to what DEI or what a culturally responsive system of care is. So even more reason why we need to have intentional conversation and being transparent. And then being intentional about what is the process, what is the space very concretely as to where we're going to revisit these goals and further that conversation.
00:28:55
Speaker
And this is not rocket science, right? Whether it's a DEI workgroup, a DEI committee that has representation from all the different partners, or whether it is your coordinating space that very intentionally creates space for DEI conversations at a particular cadence.
00:29:17
Speaker
For me personally, I think it's really hard for something as complicated as the EI.
Challenges in DEI Work
00:29:22
Speaker
If you're not talking about it at least a couple of times a month, I think it's just going to be really hard, really hard to move that forward because it really does take a lot of work to share that common language, to talk about our own form and principles and then go from there.
00:29:40
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's really great to point out that that initial conversation between the school and the community based partner is often one of excitement to say like, wow, we're going to work together. This is so great. Sign the contract. But really to take the time to say, you know, in this MOU, it says culturally responsive practice. Can we have a conversation about
00:30:02
Speaker
what that looks like and if the individual providers that we're gonna be working with really have an understanding of that. To ground into, it's not just about drafting language that sounds good about this, but really it's work in action, it's not just work written down, that it's a continual evolving thing between the partners and everyone involved really. Exactly, exactly.
00:30:28
Speaker
So as we kind of move forward, I know you mentioned a little bit about that intentionality and the importance of kind of how often it's revisited as well. But if a school is kind of thinking about how to get started with this, what would you recommend in terms of staffing or structure or frequency to make sure that this is work in action and not just work on paper?
00:30:55
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, for sure. So I think that the place to start is to really answer the question, where are we being intentional about articulating and applying our DI strategy? What is the space where that is happening?
00:31:15
Speaker
And often, if the space isn't there or there isn't a natural space, the place to really start is who is really the champion for this particular initiative. Often, I know in some settings where I've been in, I've looked around for those champions and what I find is a mirror.
00:31:36
Speaker
is I have to be the one that really moves forward. We know that in most organizations, being a champion for DEI, it's volunteer. I think that's something that we need to change. I think we need to move that volunteering into being part of a person's job description and being intentional about how much time should that person allocate into DEI work.
00:32:02
Speaker
And that becomes a really interesting conversation, right? I know that many of the listeners right now probably may potentially feel somewhat isolated in their DEI initiative. I know that that's still very common. So having that conversation between you and your manager and your leader to say, I want to champion this and I want to be intentional around how much support do I have
00:32:28
Speaker
to allocate particular sets of time. So is it two hours a week, right? Is it 10%? Is it, and then going from there, right? Having a conversation. And then this work has to be relational. It has to really reflect the principles that we are espousing. So very quickly moving from I wanna move this forward to I need a small group,
00:32:55
Speaker
to create a space to have this conversation. Now, again, many spaces have a DI space that only meet once a month for a couple of hours. I'm unfortunately not very optimistic that that really is an adequate allocation for this work to really move it forward.
00:33:13
Speaker
We know that one of the barriers of this work is that by design, the barriers become performative or it just becomes a check, right? I've been part of some DEI committees that at the end of the day, I actually had the realization this is creating more harm than good because it's not really having any real influence. It doesn't have really an impact and it's just serving the cause of we're doing something.
00:33:40
Speaker
So we really need to move DEI into an authentic initiative that is positioned to have influence because as we describe today, it is an uphill battle. So again, two core places to start is who are those champions, reach out to them,
00:34:03
Speaker
understand that being courageous and maybe a little defiant sometimes it's part of the work to really create the momentum to move forward.
00:34:13
Speaker
Yeah, so we've definitely touched a little bit already on some of the barriers to moving forward and progressing with DEI work in school-based mental health. So for example, we've touched a little bit on the complexity of relationships between schools and community partners or agencies and individual providers even that everyone's going to have a different understanding of what is being talked about.
00:34:37
Speaker
And additionally, you talked a little bit about resource allocation, you know, school staff are often overstretched already. And if they get a little 10% DEI added on to their work label, it's not always enough to really prioritize it in terms of the whole school. What other barriers or challenges do you see and how can we move past those?
00:35:00
Speaker
That's right, yeah. I'll mention two additional ones. I often find myself in DI spaces, quote, using my mindfulness skills, right? Because I think it's important to acknowledge the reality of resistance, that this is hard work. And by the way, resistance isn't something that happens to other people. It happens in me as well, right? So I have to do my inner work.
00:35:27
Speaker
I identify as a cisgender man, so I have plenty of privileges in that lens that I constantly need to be aware of and really nurture a sense of curiosity and humility in that space. So acknowledging that resistance
00:35:48
Speaker
and really navigating both riding the waves and then going underneath them all the strategies becomes really important. The second piece that is often a barrier is recognizing the emotional labor that this work involves. It is not surprising that often the I initiative falls on the hearts and mind of people of color
00:36:09
Speaker
on LGBTQ plus folks who are already at the margins and are already are experiencing marginalization. And then on top of that, there really are often digging deep to promote initiatives that really invite resistance. So that really is a call for both allies and co-conspirators to really see that emotional labor
00:36:33
Speaker
to recognize it organizationally in a very concrete way to, as you said, allocate time for this work so it can move forward.
00:36:44
Speaker
Yeah, identifying the champion and then not putting too much on that champion's shoulders. Yeah, absolutely. All right, thank you so much for speaking to some of those barriers. And as we kind of think about winding down this episode and we think about the relational daily work of DEI in school-based mental health environments, what would you like to leave us with? What's on your mind?
00:37:06
Speaker
Yeah, thanks, Alison. I really appreciate the space. I think for me, one big question that often comes up is the notion of hope. We know that we are living through very difficult times right now.
00:37:26
Speaker
And there's frequently a tendency to really end these type of conversations after we've covered the ground we've covered in a really hopeful and optimistic sort of note. If I'm being completely honest in this moment, I am not hopeful.
00:37:44
Speaker
in the sense that I see a lot of resistance. We know how DEI, even social emotional learning, and so many initiatives that are grounded in just respect and inclusion and welcoming have a lot of pushback, have a lot of resistance. And typically, our systems really do not truly incentivize us to do this work.
00:38:13
Speaker
Now, just because I'm not hopeful, it doesn't mean that I'm not engaged. Actually, if me acknowledging the fact that it's not looking good, for me, it further energizes me around the importance and the urgency of this work. That if you listener right now, if you don't pivot into a more courageous, maybe even defiant,
00:38:41
Speaker
role in relation to disrupting the bias, the disparities, the small and big acts of dehumanization that happen day in and day out to so many of our students, then nothing will change. That there is really a need for that engagement.
Taking Action and Resources for DEI
00:39:04
Speaker
I really think that there are so many different paths for this, but most importantly, it's just to create a space. To create a space for authentic dialogue and authentic connection to, again, touch on some of the things that we have talked today in the service of all of our students.
00:39:30
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's really important to acknowledge the kind of axis of hopefulness and hopelessness and that really on both ends, it's going to drive us into action. There is action here that needs to be taken. Absolutely.
00:39:43
Speaker
Is there anything else you'd like to speak to before we wind down? No, other than I really appreciate the space and I know that in the show notes we'll share some resources that could be some great places of connection. There's so much out there. You'll see a phenomenal book on DEI called DEI Deconstructed by Lily Zhang.
00:40:06
Speaker
along with Othering and Belonging Institute, and then a great book called Design for Belonging by Susie Wise. So again, lots of work out there along with, of course, National Equity Project, who probably just has the best work in the space of equity center practice and educational systems. All right. Thank you so much for being here with us and sharing your insights, Eduardo. Thank you so much, Alison. I appreciate it.
00:40:36
Speaker
All right, everyone, until next time, keep working at School Mental Health because School Mental Health works. If you're looking forward to future episodes, make sure to subscribe on the podcast platform of your choice and leave us a rating so that others invested in better mental health for Wisconsin students can find us. You can learn more by checking out today's show notes, as well as by visiting us on schoolmentalhealthwisconsin.org. Thanks so much, everyone.