Schedule

Kick-Off

Welcome to the BMEA’s annual convening. Learn more about the work of BMEA and who we are. We will give you insight into our Liberated Learner framework!

Dr. Chris Emdin

Christopher Emdin foresees a new era in which students spend less time in school and learn more. He remarked that “there was no WiFi and internet in the 1800s, no remote teaching. Now we have those things, so now let’s have a school system that reflects the modern technology, the modern creativity and the modern imagination.” 

Dr. Dorinda Carter Andrews

In 2016, Dr. Dorinda Carter Andrews was selected as the first assistant dean for Equity Outreach Initiatives, with the goal of introducing professional development opportunities to educators, administrators and policymakers. She is also the first-ever Black womanto lead Michigan State University’s Teacher Education Department. 

Centering Possibility in Education

Improving education outcomes for Black students begins with resisting racist characterizations of blackness. BMEA Board of Director Chezare A. Warren, a nationally recognized scholar of race and education equity, will discuss the imperative that possibility drive efforts aimed at transforming education for Black learners. Inspired by the “freedom dreaming” of activists in the Black radical tradition, the session will clarify how centering possibility actively refuses limitations for what Black people can create, accomplish, and achieve. Warren draws on research in history, cultural studies, and sociology to cast a vision of Black education futures unencumbered by antiblackness and White supremacy. The session is anchored by his book Centering Possibility in Black Education (Teachers College Press, 2021), and ultimately aims to inspire innovative solutions to eliminating harm and generating education alternatives that Black students desire and deserve.

What It Is Must Be What It Ain’t: Pedagogies for #BlackChildGenius

In the words of author Arundhati Roy, “The pandemic is a portal.” The global COVID-19 pandemic has placed a spotlight on the weight and impact of racism, classism, and anti-Blackness that dwells in the system of education. We stand now at the call to walk through this open portal to reimagine school, redefine rigor, and rethink cultural relevance to make what it is and what it’s been, what it ain’t. During this session with Crain’s 20 Under 20 honoree and founder of Classroom Clapback, Silver Moore will lead a discussion on how we must authentically place students at the center of curriculum and enact pedagogies rooted in the belief that #BlackChildGenius is alive and well.

Restorative Practices as the Driver for Healing and Transformation

Social unrest has reached unprecedented highs. Some news outlets have reported an increase in suicide attempts among students during the pandemic, other media outlets have reported a heightened sense of edginess and tension from community members that is escalating to alarming acts of violence and there seems to be no talk of real solutions. During this session with BMEA’s Executive Director of Programming Brandon Lane, participants will focus on applying the philosophy of restorative practices and its framework to address the overflow of societal tension in our return to in person learning during a global pandemic.  We will focus on centering healthy relationships as the driver for cognitive development, strategies to foster emotional healing and using circles to repair harm and transform conflict.