Relationship to KConnect
Align and Design Team: Diverse Educators
Success Measure: Career Readiness, Post-Secondary Success, Thriving Family Income
Approach: Creative. Courageous.
The Educators of Color Network (ECN) is a student-led organization at GVSU committed to supporting both pre-service and in-service educators, offering professional development, mentoring, and networking opportunities. ECN strategically aligns its efforts with Shades of Strength Collaborative (SOS), a dedicated network fostering a supportive and enriching community for PK-12 educators of color within Kent County, for enhanced impact to train and retain educators of color.
SOS is a KConnect initiative launched by the Diverse Educators Align and Design Team. This team utilizes the 360-degree model to inspire, train, recruit, and retain educators of color.
Diverse Educators 360° Model
- Inspire: students of color currently in Kent County to become teachers of tomorrow
- Train: future teachers of color in college programs that are high quality and culturally responsive
- Recruit: teachers of color to fill open teaching positions in Kent County schools
- Retain: teachers of color by ensuring the Kent County and the community are places where people from all backgrounds can find belonging
This past year, ECN and SOS collaborated in a Professional Learning Community around the work of author Dr. Rita Kohli, Teachers of Color: Resisting Racism and Reclaiming Education. This Professional Learning Community included Kent County in-service education professionals of color and pre-service education students of color, involving conversation, virtual discussion sessions, a reflection reception, and an in-person learning experience delivered by Dr. Rita Kohli, a Professor of Teaching and Teacher Education in the School of Education at the University of California, Riverside.