Building Inclusive Communities
As Montessori educators, creating and maintaining a school culture that celebrates diversity, inclusion, and global citizenship is at the forefront of our work with children and families. Last week, faculty and administration took part in a three-hour professional development workshop with internationally recognized diversity and inclusion consultant, Dr. Derrick Gay. The topic was “Building Inclusive Communities” and the session built upon a previous faculty workshop with Dr. Gay in October 2019 which explored, “Raising your Awareness & Responsiveness to Unconscious Bias in Education.”
During the session, more timely than ever given recent world events, Dr. Gay encouraged using mindfulness to process our emotions. He addressed individual awareness of race, overall perceptions of race/racism, and common understandings of non-racism vs. antiracism. We were honored to have Dr. Gay here at Princeton Montessori School for the second time to continue this important work.
Dr. Derrick Gay is an internationally renowned consultant to businesses, educational, arts, and philanthropic organizations around the world on issues of Diversity and Inclusion and Global Citizenship. In this capacity, Dr. Gay partners with organizations, domestically and abroad, to promote empathy, cultivate cultural competency, and deepen inclusion. Visit his website to learn more.
