The first time I remember my students bringing #OwnVoices up in the classroom was before Corinne Duyvis developed the hashtag, so the children didn’t use those words exactly. Third graders were examining the Coretta Scott King Award criteria—which states that for a book to be eligible it must be written or illustrated by a person who is African American. A few students declared, “That isn’t fair!” I took a breath and considered the children in the space and the mix of our group’s different intersectional identities (my own included). As a white educator with a diverse but majority white class, the moment made me uncomfortable. Still, I knew that engaging in conversations about identity and justice is how students build up the stamina to keep having them—and ever more difficult ones—as they grow. Here are things I have found helpful to reflect on as I’ve led and participated in discussions about #OwnVoices and other topics with young people in my library classroom over the years. Hold up the mirror. I must constantly work to better understand my own complex identity, and what that means in my life and in my classroom. I need to keep developing knowledge and skills to ensure that I’m not centering myself or unintentionally making students feel “othered” or further marginalized. Through reading books, attending workshops, following diversity and equity activists on social media, inviting others to learn with me, and more, I push myself to keep reflecting on what me being the teacher means for my students, especially if and when I’m not an #OwnTeacher. This learning is my responsibility and it never stops. Set norms. Norms, or agreed-upon expectations for behavior and participation, can structure conversations and keep debates focused. Ask students for suggestions for group norms at the beginning of a discussion. Document them and make them visible. Point to them if conversations go off track, or create additional norms if needs arise. One that is popular in my community is to “share the air,” also known as “three before me.” If, after talking, a person waits until three other participants have spoken before contributing again, more people have a chance to communicate their ideas. Another common norm is to only speak from the “I” perspective, which allows students to work to understand that no identity or experience is monolithic. Creating and committing to norms can keep participants accountable and conversations productive. Fairness routines. Research from Project Zero at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education shows that thinking routines are procedures that, when used habitually, can support student learning by providing structures for a particular type of thinking process. When students in my class questioned the Coretta Scott King Award criteria, I invited them to participate in a fairness routine called “Tug of War.” I set butcher paper on the ground, drawing a long line across it. One end represented the opinion that the eligibility rule was fair, whereas the other end represented the viewpoint that it was unfair. Regardless of their own opinions, students identified factors supporting and challenging each point of view using sticky notes to document as many ideas as they could, and placed them in the locations along the line matching the different viewpoints. Students read their factors and generated a list of “What if?” questions before considering whether or not their own opinions were strengthened or changed as a result of the routine. Their questions, which were candid (“What if the best book couldn’t win?”), far-reaching (“What if racism ended?”), and altogether varied, served as evidence of deep reflection and perspective taking. More information about thinking routines can be found on the Project Zero site. Start from a common place. Frameworks already exist for having conversations and evaluating texts critically. For example, studying authorship is one piece of the anti-bias lens for evaluating children’s books by Louise Derman-Sparks (found on the Teaching for Change website). Examining books through all of the elements of an anti-bias lens will help readers analyze, better understand, and form opinions about what they read. Shared vocabulary and context allow people entering conversations to have some common ground from the start. For readers identifying with and learning from #OwnVoices books and authors, conversations about them are empowering and life-changing. Discussions about #OwnVoices can vary and needn’t be seen as difficult outright. My third graders’ discussion about the award criteria revolved around fairness. However, I imagine the conversation might have evolved differently if the topic were an #OwnVoices identity other than race, different children had been in the room, or African American children were in the majority of our group that day. Regardless of the topic, I do know that whenever questions arise, they present challenging and exciting learning opportunities. For me, this is about being open to learning from feedback and sitting with ambiguity. Not knowing everything can be scary, but embracing a growth mindset and getting comfortable being uncomfortable is what opens the door for inquiry and authentic learning for all members of a classroom community—the teacher included.

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Elisa Gall is director of library services at an independent school in Chicago.   Save