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Inquiry to Action Groups (ItAGs) differ from working groups; they are ongoing groups that meet on a regular basis from January through March. Although they have an action component, they more closely resemble study groups, allowing educators to closely
reflect on their own classroom practice. NYCoRE is pleased to offer an opportunity for teachers to build
community and develop as activists. Educators will participate in Inquiry to Action Groups linking social
justice issues with classroom practice. Small groups will meet weekly (for a total of six, two-hour sessions
plus a kick-off and finale) between January and March to share experiences, respond to readings, exchange
ideas and develop plans of action.
If you are interested in creating or facilitating an ItAG, please contact us at:
ItAG Frequently Asked Questions
What is an ItAG?
An ItAG is an Inquiry to Action Group An ItAG is an Inquiry to Action Group.
It's similar to a study group, but the goal is that after the group inquires
into a particular topic, they will together create action around their area of study,
making it a true community of praxis. The topics and themes chosen are always consistent
with NYCoRE’s points of unity, which have to do with issues of
education and social justice.
Do I have to be a teacher to participate?
No! Over the 5 years of ItAGs we have had teachers, parents, students, activists,
retired teachers, pre-service teachers, teaching artists, doctoral students, teacher
educators (and even one lawyer) participate in our ItAGs!
Who leads the ItAGs?
They are co-facilitated by a teacher and one other person who has knowledge in the topic
area. For example, when we offered an ItAG on Parent Organizing for Teachers, the group
was facilitated by an elementary school teacher and a parent organizer who had both worked
at a school that was started by parents in Brooklyn. The ItAG facilitators typically have
prior relationships with NYCoRE and our ongoing work, either as former ItAG participants or
members of working groups. The ItAGs themselves are coordinated by NYCoRE.
The facilitators, and NYCoRE members, are all volunteers.
Why isn’t there an official syllabus I can see in advance?
One of the things that make ItAGs different from a traditional class or professional
development workshop is that our goal is to have the eight-week experience be co-constructed
by the participants. The facilitators carve out an area and a framework for the topic, but
leave enough flexibility for the participants to say what it is that they want to focus on
and what they want to get out of the ItAG. Often times the participants facilitate a session,
suggest readings or bring in guest speakers who they know who can add to the topic.
What is the “Action” part of it?
This is always left up to the participants and facilitators. It takes different forms depending
on the topic and the people involved. Some examples from past groups:
The African Diasporic Arts ItAG created a curriculum called Through Culture We Resist!
Supporting English Language Learners created resource guides for parents and teachers
The NYQueer working group grew out of an ItAG on Supporting LGTBQ students and continues to meet on an ongoing basis.
Is 8 sessions really enough?
Often times, the participants feel that the eight weeks is just too short and continue working
together either formally or informally. Several of the NYCoRE working groups were formed and are
now lead by former ItAG participants. For example,
NYQueer started as an itag two years ago on supporting LGTB students. It now meets on an ongoing basis
and has held two conferences and other events.
Why do you hold the first and last meeting with all the ItAGs together?
Part of NYCoRE’s goal with the ItAGs is to help social justice educators who are often isolated at
their schools feel connected. We bring everyone together at the kick-off so that we can build a
larger network and community of committed people and so people can see that they are part of
something bigger. Over the next 6 weeks, the individual ItAGs meet on their own, and then we come
back together at the end to share what each group worked on. This allows everyone to benefit from
the work that went on in each ItAG. Plus the food at the kick-off and finale is delicious!
Why is there a fee?
NYCoRE is committed to making the ItAGs affordable, so we keep the fee low at $30, and have never
raised the price. We do incur some costs for running the ItAGs for food and materials, so the
registration fee covers that, plus supports NYCoRE’s ongoing work. We also offer a discount of
$25/person for 2 or more people who register from the same school or organization. We do this
because we want to encourage you to find an ally in your context who can help you to bring this
work back to your location. If you find the registration fee to be a hardship, you can speak
with the ItAG coordinator to work something out. If you feel that your ItAG experience was worth
more than $30 and you can afford it, we encourage you to donate money at the kick-off or finale.
Can I get credit for this?
At this point, no. As far as our preliminary research has gone, our understanding is that to offer
this as a course that you can get UFT credit for, we would have to significantly raise the
registration fee. We are committed to keeping the cost low for the ItAGs. If anyone has any
additional information or ideas about how teachers can receive credit for ItAG participation,
please share it with us, as we would love to learn how this could happen.
Testimonials from past participants:
I think the ItAG puts the idea of actions and acting in the forefront of my brain as I'm considering
daily practice-- not just my actions, but in how I teach students to consider their own roles w/in the school/
class community and also in the larger society. What's our larger purpose?
Each week I would bring back to my school sections of our readings from my ItAG. By sharing
resources with my colleagues I have found a new network in my school that I would not have
found otherwise. Now there are a group of about 5-6 teachers in my school that want to participate
in future ItAGs and that now are meeting to discuss our own practice.
Being in the ItAG helps me see that teachers are vital not just for good teaching in the classroom,
but also for advancing the field of education on the larger scale (like shaping good education
policies).
I already held the view that teaching is inherently political, that it is a deep practice, based on
love (and rage) in many ways, delicate, and important. Friere and Boal's ideas, as well as
discussion with my ItAG colleagues, sort of reinforced some of my own assumptions and challenged
me to explore/push those assumptions further.
Being a part of this ItAG has rekindled my excitement about teaching and learning, which is helping
me to reach out to other members in my school. It's interesting they ways in which this ItAG has
helped me reflect upon my practice. I knew after my first ItAG that I would bring aspects of it
into my classroom practice.
Participating inspires me with questions: How can we work together to improve public school
education across the city? How can teachers across schools collaborate to tackle challenging
social issues?
2008 ItAGs
Bridging the Gap: CBO Partners working in schools for social change
This ItAG aims to provide a space for people working as liaisons and specialists for community based
organizations in New York City public schools. For many new and small schools, the liaison is a valuable
role that links community organizations and services to the everyday life of a school. Yet still, the role
remains largely undefined and open to negotiation. This ItAG will be a space for those who are in those
positions as well as those who are creating and supporting those positions in their schools or CBO. We will
be examining the essential question: How can these roles be used to further the vision of social change each
school holds? We will also be looking at what makes a school/CBO partnership successful? How can a
CBO support a school? How do we sustain these partnerships when funding runs out? How can we
strengthen the connection between teachers and cbo partners?
Co- Facilitators: Tene Howard is a Youth Development Specialist at the High School for Global
Citizenship. She has worked for 8 years in youth development and after school programs. Carly Fox is
Puentes Program Coordinator at Pan American International High School, which opened this year in Queens
and serves exclusively Latin American recently arrived immigrant students. Puentes is the name of the
partnership the school has with Make the Road NY. Coco Killingsworth is a Youth Development Specialist
at the High School for Global Citizenship. She has been working in this position for 4 years and was a large
part of the school's planning and visioning team.
Unveiling Islam for Greater Community Awareness
With Islam emerging as the fastest growing religion in the United States, we are reminded about this
country’s rich diversity of its people. Unfortunately, this richness with regards to the people and their belief
systems has not always transferred to the larger sphere of public discourse. This ItAG will examine the
need for more student and teacher discussion, support, and activities for those whose religious/spiritual
belief practices do not coincide with the traditions, ideas, and even mis-conceptions of the larger body-
politic. Participants will examine some basic principles and practices within Islam in order to begin the
discussion as to why many students may feel ostracized from larger societal activities. We will examine
some polarizing vocabulary such as anti-Semitism and Zionism. Also, we will attempt to brainstorm
methods in which these sensitive topics can be addressed between students and classroom/societal models
that would foster greater communal acknowledgement and respect for one another.
The group will be facilitated by Alprentice McCutchen. Alprentice is currently an 11th year History Teacher
in the New York State Department of Education. For the past nine years Alprentice has also been involved
in the local Muslim and non-Muslim community of New York City as a member of Majidus Sabur Inc.
Education for Liberation: Bringing Freire & Boal's ideas into NYC Public Schools
This ItAG is a joint collaboration between NYCoRE and The Institute for Popular Education of the Brecht
Forum. The group will explore Paulo Freire's pedagogy and Augusto Boal's repertoire and how they can
contribute to an education for liberation in NYC public schools. Texts will include excerpts from Pedagogy
of the Oppressed [red edition], Games for Actors and Non-actors, and assorted letters and "talking chapters"
by Freire and others. The goal is to bring these texts to life and make sense of them for NYC Public School-
- finding ways for people to put radical pedagogy into their daily practices, while also using theater of the
oppressed tools and practices. Questions to be explored will include how we create dynamics for people to
become more interested in reading the world and the word so that they become involved in transforming the
world? How can literacy be framed as critical consciousness so that folks become revolutionaries or authors
of a new world? How can we build senses of solidarity & community to battle the rugged individualism of
capitalist America and the fratricidal, dog eat dog mentality found in many schools.
This group will be co-facilitated by Una Osato and Fernando Reals. Fernando is a humanities teacher on
Rikers Island and a member of the Institute for Popular Education at the Brecht Forum. Una is an educator,
performer and babysitter, who integrates the arts and social justice into all of her work, and is member of
NYCoRE's CACY working group.
Making Schools Responsive to Immigrant Youth
In this group, we will focus on the voices of immigrant youth as a
springboard for exploring how to create safe spaces for these students. We will also explore current local and state policy pertaining to English
Language Learners and examine how we can use these policies to advocate for our students and where these policies limit our ability to
improve their educational outcomes.
This ItAG will be facilitated by Nelson Flores and Maryam Dilakian.
Nelson is an ESL teacher in the Bronx and a graduate student in Urban
Education at the Graduate Center. Maryam Dilakian is a teacher at the
High School of World Cultures in the Bronx, a writer, and an immigrant.
2007 ItAGs
African Diaspora Cultural Arts Education and Social Justice in the Classroom
In this group, teachers and teaching artists will work together to learn
about various cultural arts of the African Diaspora (Latin American, North American, Caribbean, and African) including music, dance,
visual arts, theater, literacy and storytelling. Each week will introduce a new cultural art/artist, and teachers will design lesson plans tailored
to their student's needs that address a social justice issue while learning about the cultural art. The learning process will be rooted in
popular education, dialogue, peer exchanges, group coaching of individual teachers, artist and teacher partnerships, and personal
exploration of the social justice issue as a point of departure to teaching youth. Teachers of color are highly encouraged to participate.
This ItAG will be facilitated by Manuela Arciniegas, Director of The Legacy Circle, cultural artist,community organizer, and mother, and Diana Quinones, public school teacher of Sixth graders at New Day
Academy in the South Bronx, cultural artist and mother.
Radical Math
In this ItAG, participants will explore the connection between social justice and math education. We will
look at both the integration of issues of social and economic justice into mathematics curriculum, as well as
the attainment of mathematical literacy as a justice issue. There will be opportunities to discuss these issues
in the k-12 classroom context in a space that fosters the sharing of knowledge, experiences, ideas, and
resources. Participants will work together to create a presentation(s) for a conference on Math Education
and Social Justice occurring in New York this April.
This group will be co-facilitated by Jonathan Osler and Anne Marie Marshall. Jonathan is a high school
mathematics teacher at El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice in Brooklyn, and the founder of
RadicalMath.org. Anne Marie, a former elementary school teacher, is a mathematics education doctoral
student at the University of Maryland and an adjunct instructor at NYU.
Creating Safe Community for LGBT Youth and Straight Allies
How can we, as educators, foster safe communities for LGBT youth? Some topics might include supporting
student activism, working within an anti-oppression framework, working with parents, trans youth in
schools, and educating our co-workers, among others. LGBT identified and straight ally participants all
welcome.
This group will be facilitated by Reina Horowitz and Benny Vasquez. Reina teaches high school science in
Manhattan, is a GSA advisor, and has organized Safe Schools for LGBT Youth programming at high
schools in Massachusetts. Benny is the Director of Student Organizing at The Gay, Lesbian and Straight
Education Network (GLSEN) and facilitated a NYCoRE ItAG in 2006 on Social Justice Teaching.
Media Justice
This ItAG will explore media's profound influence on the lives of young people as well as the ways that youth can speak back to media power. In the new century, educators and activists
must equip youth with the literacy skills necessary to deconstruct and critically analyze the multitude of images,
sounds bytes, and print text with which they are bombarded on a daily basis, particularly the subtle and not-so-subtle message
delivered surrounding issues of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, religion, and language. Though collaboration with community and activist
organizations, participants will develop an action plan/curriculum that addresses the above goals.
This ItAG will be facilitated by Kari Kokka, a high school math teacher at Vanguard High School and
member of the NYCoRE working group on anti-military recruitment in schools. The co-facilitator will be
announced shortly.
Prior ItAGs
Transforming Mainstream Curriculum into Social Justice Teaching
In this study group, participants will explore what social justice in teaching means to them and how to achieve this in the current standards crazed context of NYC. Participants will look at a
variety of approaches to examine mandated curriculum for opportunities for cultural relevance and social action. Teachers
will work together to transform their own individual curriculum while still reaching the required standards.
The group will be co-facilitated by Benny Vasquez and Seth Rader. Benny currently serves as a director of a community
school in the South Bronx. Seth is a Middle School teacher in East Harlem and a NYCoRE member.
Authentic Assessment in a Test Crazed Context
In this inquiry-to-action group, participants will explore the testing culture of the public school system--
where it originated, what its’ ramifications are, and where it's leading us. Additionally, we will consider
alternative assessments, including portfolios. The participants will work together to devise a counter
assessment to the one-size-fits-all approach of standardized tests. Possibilities for authentic assessment
include extending learning rather than merely measuring it and leveraging a child's home knowledge and
experience, rather than ignoring it.
The group will be co-facilitated by Sara Lippi and Jen Lee. Sara is a middle school teacher at a dual
language school in East New York, Brooklyn and a member of NYCoRE. Jen is a first- second grade
teacher at River East Elementary in East Harlem and has also taught special education.
Creating Powerful Parent/Teacher Relationships for School Change
In this study group, participants will explore what parent involvement means to them and how teachers can
create the conditions for meaningful parent/teacher relationships. Non-traditional forms of parent
involvement will be examined and privileged. We will also examine the range of ways community groups
and schools are promoting the active engagement of different stakeholders to improve education: parents,
teachers, community residents, students, or the public at large. The group will look at efforts to promote
collaborations among a broad array of stakeholders in education, including community-based organizations,
civil rights organizations, faith institutions, and youth.
The group will be co-facilitated by Madeline Perez and Laura Ascenzi-Moreno. Madeline is a student at the CUNY Graduate Center’s Urban Education PhD program and has eight years of
experience as a parent/community organizer. Laura has worked as a coach and second-grade dual language teacher for the
Cypress Hills Community School (P.S. 89) for the past seven years.
See All That You Can See: Understanding and Teaching About the Military Industrial Complex
from a Systemic Perspective
What is the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) and how can educators committed to social justice facilitate
a critical, systemic understanding of it? This Inquiry to Action Group will move from theory to pedagogy.
We will first critique existing curricula and develop a common vocabulary that can be used to teach others
how the MIC operates systematically. We will use a variety of texts (including film, radio documentary and
live testimonials) to deepen our understanding and propel us towards the action component of this Inquiry to
Action Group. During the final weeks participants will be encouraged to focus on designing curricula,
resources, and potential actions that can be used to teach a systemic understanding of the MIC in a variety of
educational contexts.
This ItAG will be co-facilitated by Edwin Mayorga and Leanne Stahnke. Edwin is a fourth grade teacher in
the Upper Westside of Manhattan, and a member of NYCoRE. Leanne Stahnke is an educator and activist
who teaches radio production and critical media literacy to teens in public high schools. She also is a
member of the Wake Up Call production team at WBAI.
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