Habits of Work: Shifting from Compliance to Liberation

Description: One common shift when working toward equitable grading and reporting practices is to separate out behavior, or habits of work, from academic grades to better assess a student’s proficiency of the content and skills. Habits of work have been leveraged in schools across the country as an act toward educational equity to remove barriers from demonstrations of learning. Habits of work can provide valuable opportunities for students to reflect on how they approach their work and where there are places to continue to grow. However, how often have we paused to reflect on whose values are centered in the habits of work? Are habits of work facilitating growth and reflection? Are habits of work reinforcing systems of compliance and oppression or systems of liberation? Through shared learning and discussions, together, we can build systems to honor the individual while strengthening the collective.

Participant Outcomes:

• Deconstruct the impact of bias on traditional habits of work.
• Identify strategies, resources, and policies to support liberatory habits of work.
• Apply frameworks to reflect on and plan for our own contexts.

Audience:
Classroom teachers, teacher-leaders, instructional coaches, and school or district administrators