Our Approach
We know that institutions are a network of human relationships. So social justice work is community work, and keeps the relationships at the center. We need to tend to the relationships, so that we can cooperate and work and live as communities, and focus on making those relationships sustainable and repairing harms that come from oppression.
We also know that transformative work requires a multi layered approach. It’s not one single action. Because of this, we are committed to being availabe to you over time as the work evolves.
Experience
CES specialists have helped school districts and organizations across Massachusetts… etc. A recent project for Belchertown Public Schools, for instance, included a workshop for the School Committee; work with district leadership on resonance practice, equity in the district, the history of racism, and bias and microaggressions; work with the elementary and middle schools; and the D.R.E.A.M. TEAM – 50 participants (students, family, school committee members, educators, and administrators building a shared vision of equity in order to design the pathway together.
Equity Teams
Addressing inequities in schools requires that adults and young people work together to explore, assess, and transform school culture. CES provides a highly skilled and racially diverse co-facilitation team to walk your equity team through this important, complex, and intersectional work.
Student-Centered Work-Intergroup Dialogues
This program seeks to integrate social justice and equity focused philosophy and practice into district schools and classrooms through the research-based practice of Intergroup Dialogue.
Intergroup Dialogues are a series of small group, co-facilitated, carefully structured experiences that encourage relational dialogue rather than debate while exploring social group identity, conflict, community, and equity.
Customized Professional Development
We offer a range of tailored professional development, team and individualized coaching, and technical assistance related to equity, district and building leadership. These are designed for educators seeking to enhance their knowledge, perspective, and skills, and we can bring those development experiences on site to your location. We recommend beginning district-wide or school-wide equity work with building a relational foundation and then exploring historical legacies of oppression that are impacting our schools today.
Anti-racism Practices and Teaching
Including technical assistance for implementing anti-racism curriculum.
Equity and Inclusion Assessments
School Climate Audits, surveys, focus groups, interviews
Featured Resource
Leading for Equity Framework: National Equity Project
Free Resources
Please visit our growing list of free resource links for your social justice and equity programs and questions.
Safire DeJong, Ed.D.
CES Social Justice and Equity in Schools Specialist
Safire leads social justice focused consulting and PD for PK-12 schools with an array of talented and experienced co-facilitators and consultants. Her decades of training in social justice education, co-leading intergroup dialogues, training intergroup dialogue facilitators, and her research on young people’s experiences with status and power in schools and communities have enabled her to develop a broad set of tools and skills. Safire supports school administrators, educators, and students to respond to difficult conflict related to incidents of oppression, and to empower them to think proactively and strategically about changes that can be made to build school communities that keep more students safe, especially those students who are most frequently marginalized.
Tom Chang, M.Ed.
CES Social Justice and Equity Specialist
Tom has been advocating for students, families, and their schools for over twenty years. He has spent fifteen years in elementary schools as a classroom teacher and math