As we settle in to a new school year, I wanted to share a few of the projects I’m working on and some of the issues I’m thinking about.

• Since last year I worked with Quiet Revolution, the consulting initiative begun by Susan Cain as a result of the runaway success of her book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking. My role had been to research and write content for the Quiet schools’ initiative. This project has been completed, but the questions of true inclusion, range of temperament as one more among many sources of diversity, and how educators can recognize a range of voices that vary because of temperament, culture, or opportunity, remain keen interests. I’ll be speaking at schools like Linden Hall and at the Independent Schools Association of the Central States conference exploring issues of deep inclusion this fall, and developing exercises, presentation and training materials around these fascinating topics at the intersection of neuroscience, pedagogy, diversity and global learning.
  

  About 900 people showed up in our little local park to “Stand Up for Love” following Charlottesville marches. This was initiated by a 19-year old.

• Following the march by Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville, which came right on the heels of my first visit to Germany and a concentration camp, I have been reflecting deeply and urgently on tools that can help teachers and administrators build safety and inclusion in multicultural school settings. In many ways, this problem is not new to me, as it ties closely to work I’ve been doing with Lincoln Financial Foundation on civil rights education and the core of my global citizenship education work. The profound, lingering crisis of racism just came into sharp focus after Charlottesville, and spurred in me a need to make materials and courageous conversations as easily accessible as possible. The fact is that 83% of American teachers are white and it’s likely few are comfortable talking about race, though they want to honor their students and create the best environment in which they can learn. My hope is that this project can help to fill this significant gap. I’ll also be presenting two workshops at the upcoming NAIS POCC (National Assoc of Independent Schools People of Color Conference): one on how to break down the silos between global initiatives and diversity work in schools, and another, with my brother Eric Dozier, on “Diversity is not the goal,” exploring transformative steps schools can take toward deeper inclusion.
• I continue to work with media companies to help ensure their work faithfully captures diverse perspectives and authentic experiences. I’m currently working on a new project with Disney Channel! I won’t write about it in the blog yet, but I’ve been sharing some of the lessons learned with teachers and students to help illustrate challenges they might face in curating content, storytelling, assumption-making, and stereotyping.
• I’m giving some webinars, keynotes, and workshops for cohorts of global educators, in-service days for teachers, and speaking at assemblies for elementary, middle and high school students on various elements of global citizenship. Some of the titles of my upcoming talks include:
  • What Does Leading Like a Global Citizen Look Like? (This has been adapted for a student leadership conference as well as an upcoming women’s leadership event)
  • What is Global Competence and Why Does It Matter?
  • What Does Real Inclusion Look Like?
  • Global Education Opportunities Right in Your Zip Code
  • Connecting Civil Rights and Global Competence for Powerful Learning: Tools, Strategies and Building Buy-In
  • Diversity Is Not the Goal: Exploring Transformational Principles in the Quest for Racial Justice
  • Growing Up Global: An Essential 21st Century Skill
• I’m searching for my muse on a creative project for children…stay tuned…
• Please reach out if you have any questions on any of these points, or are interested in talking about projects you are working on, or potential collaborations.