Learning to Relearn: Building Identity-Affirming Classrooms
Description
In this episode of The Equity Hour, Dr. Tami Dean sits down with Kwame Sarfo-Mensah—founder of Identity Talk Consulting and author of Learning to Relearn—to unpack what it really takes to create identity-affirming, culturally responsive classrooms. They explore how “compliance culture” undermines agency, the history behind school policies (from uniforms to hair), and practical ways educators can “clean the lenses,” confront bias, and center joy, belonging, and critical thinking.
What you’ll learn
- Why “compliance” often replaces true learning—and how to reverse it
- How history informs present-day school policies (uniforms, hair, discipline)
- Practical steps to build identity-affirming, anti-bias, anti-racist practice
- Strategies for nurturing student agency, joy, and criticality
- Ways teachers can honor their professional identity—even within constraints
https://www.identitytalk4educators.com/
Get the book: Learning to Relearn
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