Dr. Kalise Wornum Discusses Cultural Proficiency in Workshops with RPS Families

Special to the Journal

Revere Public Schools Office of Equity and Inclusion kicked off a series of discussions with parents about becoming a culturally proficient caregiver.

Dr. Kalise Wornum, a nationally sought-after speaker, educational leader, workshop facilitator, and author in the field of anti-racist education and cultural competency will lead these discussions, which will continue through January.

The first discussion for all of RPS’s elementary school caregivers took place Tuesday morning at the Hill Elementary School. Later that morning, Dr. Wornum headed to Revere High School to host a workshop for all high school families. At the Susan B. Anthony Thursday, she discussed cultural proficiency with middle school families.

At each workshop, Dr. Wornum shares her dynamic vision and study of best practices for having difficult conversations around race and diversity. The tools Dr. Wornum offers to caregivers and educators has brought her to the forefront of preparing classrooms and schools for educational equity in the 20th century. Dr. Wornum emphasized the importance of being open-minded and accepting when it comes to cultural proficiency.

“The minute we start talking to each other, we realize everybody brings something different to the table,” said Dr. Wornum. “If we’re trying to be a more equitable school district, we all need to be on the same bus and learn from each person’s experiences, trauma, or diversity.”

Dr. Wornum defines ‘cultural proficiency’ as the ability to successfully teach students who come from cultures other than their own. It entails developing certain personal and interpersonal awareness and sensitivities, developing certain bodies of cultural knowledge, and mastering a set of skills that, taken together, underlie effective cross-cultural teaching.”

However, Dr. Wornum cautions that that definition does not tell us enough. To break down what we’re really talking about, she pointed to the words of Ralph Ellison, author of the 1952 novel Invisible Man.

The Invisible Man reflects on the various ways in which the nameless main character has experienced social invisibility during his life and begins to tell his story.

“He wrote, “Show me how I can claim that which is real to me, while at the same time teaching me a way into the larger society. Then and only then will I sing your praises and help you to make the desert bear fruit,” said Dr. Wornum. “If the first thing we say is to learn, but we are not curious about who are students are, then we are viewing them as a deficit. It has to be relationship before rigor and  relationship before rules. So I ask, what does that demand of the educator?; What does that demand of the teacher?; What does that demand of you, the parent? It demands we first see the child, understand the child and learn about the child before we teach the child. We have to learn about the child in front of us.”

This strategy, Dr. Wornum argues, challenges us to be more curious about cultures other than our own. For educators, it’s natural to see students’ vulnerabilities and work with them to support their differences, but Dr. Wornum wants educators and caregivers to learn more and dig deeper into all the various cultures of students.

“The anatomy of an inequitable classroom is curriculum without windows and mirrors,” explained Dr. Wornum. “When our schools have a curriculum that does not include a window for students to see a world larger than themselves or a mirror for them to see themselves in the curriculum, it is not equitable. Every educator that puts a class lesson in front of a child needs to say, “This is for you, and I designed this for you.”

The remaining workshops scheduled are:

For All Elementary School caregivers, Thursday, Oct. 3 at 8:45 a.m. at the Lincoln Elementary School.

For All Elementary School caregivers, Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 8:45 a.m. at the Beachmont School.

For All Middle School caregivers, Thursday, Oct. 24 at 9 a.m. at the Garfield Middle School. For All Middle School caregivers, Monday, Jan. 8, 2025 at 9 a.m. at the Rumney Marsh Academy.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.