keynote speakers
Wednesday November 4th 12:00PM
Darrick Smith
Thoughts on Praxis and Uncertainty: Finding Our Center as The Table Wobbles
Dr. Smith will explore the necessary intersections of expectations, equity, and purpose as educators grapple with the challenges of teaching in difficult times. Attention will be paid to the stressors associated with the tasks of being an educator in a historic moment in time in which communities and professionals alike face tremendous adversity. The intention of this talk is to affirm and support the work that is being done all over the country to improve educational outcomes and experiences for students and the adults that serve them.
Dr. Darrick Smith is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of San Francisco and Co-Director of the School of Education’s new Transformative School Leadership (TSL) program. Dr. Smith’s course load includes requirements for the completion of the Educational Doctorate as well as the California Administrative Credential. Dr. Smith’s pathway has led him to consult with a number of colleges and school districts addressing equity concerns in the areas of policy, pedagogy, and leadership. His research interests are culturally responsive discipline practices; equity in the community colleges; critical pedagogy; transformative leadership, and education for social justice.
Thursday November 5th 12:00PM
Jose Vilson
A Conversation with Jose Vilson
Jose will discuss the current state of education and the roles we play in ensuring equity for all school communities.
An alum of the first Nativity school, José Luis Vilson is a veteran math educator for a middle school in the Inwood / Washington Heights neighborhood of New York, NY. He’s also a committed writer, activist, web designer, and father. He's also a doctoral student at Teachers' College, Columbia University, focusing on sociology and education. He is the co-founder and executive director of EduColor, an organization dedicated to race and social justice issues in education. He is a National Board Certified Teacher and a Math for America Master Teacher.
His first book, This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and the Future of Education, was published by Haymarket Books in the Spring of 2014.
Friday November 6th 12:00PM
Christina "V" Villarreal
Know History, Know Self: The Importance of Honoring the Humanity of Our Students & Ourselves
How does who we are impact how we do in the ongoing struggle for justice and liberation? Through storytelling, this session will focus on the relationship between knowing history and knowing self, and interrogating the ways that educational institutions - and those of us that work within and in spite of them - both affirm and deny the dignity and lived experiences of young people. Creating humanizing experiences for the young people we seek to serve requires each of us to allow our full humanity to show up in the work that we do.
Christina Villarreal spent nearly a decade teaching and learning with the youth of East Oakland, CA where she taught middle school social studies and served as an assistant principal. Currently, Villarreal serves as the faculty director of the Teacher Education Program and continues to teach the Ethnic Studies and Education course at HGSE. She also serves as a radical healing trainer with Flourish Agenda, and as a consultant with Acosta Educational Partnership. Her research explores enactments of humanizing pedagogies, racial literacy, and radical healing in secondary social studies classrooms through portraiture.