Continuum of Awareness to Action:

Overcoming Roadblocks to Personal Transformation

I sat listening as a consultant conducted the second part of a multipart training to a group
of educators. These employees had met the consultant several months prior to this review, for a
workshop on implicit bias, racial anxiety, and stereotype threat. It seemed that the community
was unclear of how to take the information they had learned six months ago to the next level
because the concepts are so dense. The goal after the review session was for educators to re-
consider their practice, their relationships with each other, and their work with students and
families. The first question an educator asked at the end of this review surprised me, though it
has become an important question for me to consider in my role as a diversity practitioner. The
White male teacher, who has been in education for over 15 years, said, “I’ve been coming to
these conversations and diversity trainings for years,” and then asked, “What am I supposed to
do?”
In my head I thought, ‘You mean you have worked at X school for over a decade, you
have attended trainings on numerous systems of oppression, bias, identities, and related
concepts, and you have not done anything to change your practice or yourself?’ After my
internal and judgmental response, I realized I was hearing a question others in his community
may also have thought, but would never utter. This question, What am I supposed to do after a
diversity and equity training? surfaced again in another setting later in the school year.

Around the Table

A group of New York City independent school diversity practitioners were sitting around
a table while some of our high school students attended a youth conference in the adjacent room.
This group of practitioners ranged in age, gender, sexuality, gender expression, race, and
ethnicity. Some are graduates of parochial, charter, or public schools and their experiences as
employees in independent schools differ from those in the group who graduated from the
independent school where they are currently working. This group is close. They regularly gather
for professional development, connect over a listserv on numerous issues related to our work,
and have grown into a supportive force within the New York independent school scene.
Given the nature of our work as diversity practitioners in predominantly White schools,
we encounter similar challenges. A concern posed by one person can easily be echoed as a
common experience for others. The conversation started when someone shared that many in his
community seemed unmoved after he conducted a training or facilitated a discussion on diversity
 Continuum of Awareness to Action:
Overcoming Roadblocks to Personal Transformation

and equity. He explained the work he did to prepare for the training which included research to
support his stance, frameworks for understanding difficult concepts, protocols-or what some call
community norms-for how to engage in the discussion, and action steps for how to incorporate
this new concept into their practice as educators. Yet, he was met with resistance from some and
silence from others in his school. Another diversity practitioner expressed that she witnessed a
similar level of inaction from her colleagues after she had invited an outside consultant to
facilitate a challenging conversation on race and inclusion.
By now, heads began to nod around the table. One member spoke up to share that she
was fine with folks not knowing how to implement new knowledge, but was more frustrated
when the concepts explored were seen as unnecessary because of a host of reasons. Collectively,
we have heard educators share that they felt their school’s mission or values inoculated them
from needing to consider the concepts being explored, especially if it was a repeat discussion.
Many of us had even experienced someone in our respective schools presenting a counter
argument to what was shared to the whole community, as if the knowledge backed by science,
history, theory, and research could easily be denied by a point of view based on personal
experience or perspective. I immediately thought of the open letter and article DiAngelo and
Sensoy (2014) wrote about students who participate in social justice education and find any
number of reasons to affirm their personal worldviews when they struggle with concepts like
privilege, oppression and socialization.
I asked this group of people to share what they had heard and the list below was
generated rather quickly. After years of facilitating diversity-related trainings, we have heard;
● What am I supposed to do now?
● How do I use this in my classroom?
● I thought we did _______already! Didn't we do this last year?
● How do we teach Latin American Math?
● How does this apply to my content?
● I will let my assistant do it.
● I didn't like the way [the consultant] delivered that message.
● We value the individual here; our philosophy is to value the person.
● I need to hear from the Director of the School that this is a priority.
● I am afraid.
 Continuum of Awareness to Action:
Overcoming Roadblocks to Personal Transformation

● I’m not comfortable.

● Everything was fine until we had the workshop.
● Those kids [whose microaggressions we are hearing about] aren't even in this school
anymore.
● Why do we even do this, we don't even have the resources to help get us to the next step.
● I have content to cover! I’ve got so much to do.
● Our curriculum is set.
● Isn’t there something that I can read?
● It’s just too much to learn at once.
● How are we defining diversity? Diversity is not only about race.

While we get frustrated with the comments expressed above, we also know that diversity
training at the institutional level has an impact on the individual, and that individual growth is
paramount to institutional growth and change (Ramsey & Latting, 2005). In essence, these
questions and comments are a necessary part of the learning process and institutional and
individual change takes years to develop. Hammond (2014), in Culturally Responsive Teaching
and the Brain, discussed early on in her book the number of educators who would request the
“cheat sheet” to culturally responsive teaching (CRT). Operationalizing culturally responsive
teaching pedagogy and principles into CRT practices required focus, feedback, and reflection.
Hammond urged educators to move away from considering CRT as a “bag of tricks” and instead
to use a framework she created as a mindset for organizing instructions. Focus, feedback, and
reflection. This takes time.
Embedded in these statements made by educators was also fear of failing, both the self
and others; a sense of being overwhelmed with the yearly approaches and frameworks for
diversifying curriculum and/or becoming more equitable; and, for some, a sense of “I’m lost and
need your guidance.” I moved into the next school year with What am I supposed to do after a
training? as a motivator, rather than as an inhibitor to my work. Soon into the next school year, a
conversation with a division head brought about a different but related challenge to individual
growth and change.
 Continuum of Awareness to Action:
Overcoming Roadblocks to Personal Transformation

The Expert
A division head of a NYC independent school and I checked in about a meeting she
facilitated with her colleagues whereby she reminded them to use a race-conscious approach to a
specific aspect of their work with students. This was not the first time her school had used the
term race-conscious nor the first time they discussed practices using a racial lens. Her faculty
were aware of this approach and were loosely applying it to their work, though a few were
outwardly opposed to considering race as a primary factor in their understanding of children’s
identity development, social needs, relationships with adults, and students’ academic identity.
After the meeting, the division head was approached individually by some of her
colleagues, each sharing their discomfort with her reminder about keeping race as a primary
factor. A few advised her to be careful of the radical ideas around diversity and inclusion she was
suggesting they implement. Ironically, the educators who were challenged by the reminder, and
who came to speak to her, were active participants in diversity trainings their school conducted
and were praised for the social justice pedagogy they used in their curriculum. From many
people’s perspective, these teachers were experts in race relations, anti-bias curriculum, and
social justice initiatives, and yet the division head felt they were reigning her in from suggesting
an idea that, for them, was too farfetched.
We began to capture our discussion visually (see Figure 1). I call this model the
Continuum of Awareness to Action. During the creation of the first version of the continuum, the
division head and I positioned people close to the right of the line who demonstrated a level of
comfort and proficiency with diversity and equity work, recognizing that no one is ever at a final
stage of awareness and always has room to grow, or so we believe. One of the pitfalls, however,
is that people can fall victim to what has been called the ally industrial complex (Accomplices
Not Allies, www.indigenous.org, Version 2, 5/02/2014). Indigenous Action Media claims that
the pitfall occurs when anyone who concerns themselves with anti-bias struggles is not conscious
of the ideas they resist and the biased or oppressive thinking they perpetuate. The well trained, or
even sufficiently trained individual, including me, can easily recognize (and sometimes falsely
claim) a distance between our place on the continuum of awareness from the people who are
either unaware or the people who are novices.
 Continuum of Awareness to Action:
Overcoming Roadblocks to Personal Transformation

Figure 1

Continuum from an individualistic perspective Roadblocks to emb

concept and false fina

Unaware Novice More Expert

Individual Individual Individual

What are the strate

Unaware Individual: individuals who believe in and use a color blind ideology; who believe needed to move pe
Continuum
they are not biased because they from a the
treat everyone collectivist
same; whoperspective
believe that their progressive continuum, through
and/or liberal minded beliefs keep them from being biased towards others roadblocks. How d
embrace new conc
Novice Individual: individuals who show a heightened interest in diversity trainings because it
incorporate these c
sparked something in them and they feel compelled to do something about it; have recently
expressed an interest in “doing” diversity work, but are unclear of what this means or where to
begin learning about frameworks and anti-bias pedagogy; are self-proclaimed allies for self-
Community of Practice
interest reasons, meaning for the people they know (Edwards, 2006)

More Expert Individual: individuals who attend trainings outside of any institutional
requirements; who demonstrate a level of comfort and proficiency with diversity and equity
work; are eager to continue their learning, though at times lack humility about what they do not
know

I became fascinated with these two roadblocks, the individual who will ask, “What am I
supposed to do now that I have received this diversity training?” and the individual who feels she
is an expert and becomes challenged by a new, seemingly radical, idea. What role can I play to
motivate others’ movement along the continuum from awareness to action? What are the best
ways to present the strategies, tools, skills, and knowledge needed to embrace new ideas, shift
individual mindsets, and alter behaviors? Moving along the continuum, I have found, is most
difficult for people who are high-performing and successful in their understanding of equity and
inclusion, or the resident expert (Gulati-Partee & Potapchuk, 2014). As an exercise, I thought
about an area of learning where I might see myself as an expert, and reflected on a time when a
new idea was presented to me about my knowledge base. When was I more likely to be cynical
 Continuum of Awareness to Action:
Overcoming Roadblocks to Personal Transformation

of an analysis of inequity, particularly when my “individual agency” was under attack (Grant-
Thomas & powell, 2006)?

My Journey Along the Continuum

I am a lesbian. The first time I felt affirmed about this identity was when I read Ruby
Fruit Jungle while in college. I continued reading fiction and non-fiction gay and lesbian books.
(In the 80s, the community to which I belong was not embracing of our bisexual, transgender,
queer, questioning, or intersex members). Soon after finishing graduate school I was conducting
workshops on the gay and lesbian inclusive curriculum I created for the three year olds I was
teaching in the early 90s. I continued learning from those I deemed to be experts in this field,
such as including the btqqi with the l & g when I spoke of the larger lgbtqqi community, and
incorporating new concepts I was learning into my practice like asking people their gender
pronouns. I redesigned my workshop and was, 15 years later, approached by others because I had
knowledge they wished to know. I was an expert.
Over 25 years of educating myself and others about issues relating to the lgbtqqi+
community and I was upturned by a high school student. During a conversation with a gender
independent high school student they (the student uses all pronouns) criticized me for not adding
the plus sign at the end of the lgbtqqi term and then weeks later pointed out that I was not
supportive of the gender independent community because I did not recognize in my writing or
speech that some do not use gender as a construct. When this student was asked for their opinion
about bathroom signs we were considering for the school, they took this to mean I did not have a
clue about inclusivity and the needs of the gender/[a]gender community. For fear of being
criticized again, I did two ridiculous things. First, I assured myself that I was an expert, and that
their opinion was too radical for me or our institution to incorporate and second, I actually tried
to avoid any deep conversations with them. The idea that I could actually avoid this student was
preposterous given that we were on two adult-student committees together. This spoke to the
degree of discomfort I was in, but I did not recognize it at the time. I was the expert and they
were the novice. Clear distance between our years and our knowledge base, or so I thought.
The next time we were together, I missed an opportunity to incorporate in my language
something this student had previously brought to my attention. I watched as they cringed in the
room with other students present and realized the damage I was doing in my attempt to be the
 Continuum of Awareness to Action:
Overcoming Roadblocks to Personal Transformation

expert. After the other students left the room, I spoke to them and said that I sometimes felt that I
was being scolded and not educated, and that I did want to learn from them because learning
from students is something I believe is not only possible, but necessary for change to occur. I
asked questions about where they learned what they knew and drew closer to the student, instead
of further away. I brought up their inquiries to people in my circle who I considered experts on
lgbtqqi+ themes and read more about the issues the student raised so I could be in dialogue, not
debate with them. Focus, feedback, and reflection. This took time.
After thinking through this experience, I added two addition parts to the Continuum of
Awareness to Action. The first can be seen in Figure 2. When the expert is confronted with a
new concept, it can create a fear that they are no longer the expert they thought they were. If
there is a longer line to the continuum, and I am not positioned closer to the false final
benchmark, then I may be a novice. If I reject the new idea, provide a counter argument, share
my credentials on said topic, perhaps I can remain the expert. DiAngelo and Sensoy (2014) offer
a guideline for those engaged in social justice work and it is to strive for humility. The authors
encourage the following practice:
“Be patient and willing to grapple with new and difficult ideas. ‘Grappling with’
ideas means to receive, reflect upon, practice articulating, and seek deeper
understanding; grappling is not debate or rejection. The goal is to move us
beyond the mere sharing of opinions and toward more informed engagement.”
(page 8).

Figure 2

Roadblocks to embracing new concepts and a

false final benchmark to personal transformation

New concept

What are the strategies, tools, skills and knowledge needed to

move people from their space on the continuum, through the
first, and in essence future roadblocks? How do these tools
aid in one’s ability to embrace new concepts and initiatives
or to incorporate these concepts into new practices?
 Continuum of Awareness to Action:
Overcoming Roadblocks to Personal Transformation

The second addition to the continuum will be further discussed in part two of this article
because it took months of dialogue before it evolved and it deserves a deeper explanation. It has
to do with the power of connection and relationships. Over a lunch meeting with Hilary North,
Director of Diversity and Equity Initiatives at the Calhoun School, the continuum went from an
individualistic perspective to a collectivist perspective. Thanks Hilary.

To read other articles on identity, visit my webpage at www.chapequity.com.

Resources

Adams, M., Bell, L., & Griffin, P. (1997). Teaching for diversity and social justice: A
sourcebook.

DiAngelo, R., & Sensoy, Ö. (2014). Leaning in: A student’s guide to engaging constructively
with sovial justice content.

Edwards, K. E. (2006). Aspiring Social Justice Ally Identity Development: A Conceptual Model

Grant-Thomas, A., & powell, j. a. (2006). Toward a structural racism framework.

Gulati-Partee, G., Potapchuk, M. (2014). Paying attention to white culture and privilege: A
missing link to advancing racial equity.

Hammond (2014). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain.

Indigenous Action Media. (Version 2, 5/02/2014). Accomplices Not Allies.

www.indigenous.org.

Ramsey, V. J., & Latting, J. K. (2005). A Typology of Intergroup Competencies. Journal of

Applied Behavioral Science, 41(3), 265–284.