ASPIRE Speaker Series — Angell Howard
The ASPIRE Racial Equity and Inclusion Speaker Series wrapped up in February with our final workshop led by Angell Howard, Associate Director of Professional Development and Staff Recognition at Illinois State University. Angell was our first speaker in February of 2023, and we were excited to welcome her back to end the series. Angell’s workshop, The Power of Being an Equity Minded Educator explored practical strategies that create inclusive learning spaces, celebrate diversity, tackle bias, and champion belonging.
Research shows that students thrive in environments where they feel seen, included, and have a sense of belonging. The workshop aimed to help faculty elevate their teaching to empower every student to thrive. Angell facilitated an open discussion about how educators’ words had positive or negative impacts on the participants’ educational journeys. Angell shared how she herself had combatted racism and prejudice in her undergrad journey that had negative impacts on her sense of belonging at her college.
Considering that students enter classrooms with varying experiences and needs, the workshop challenged participants to interrogate why “fairness” was at the center of the education system. One participant remarked that “we struggle with this and hold fairness as the standard because we don’t want to be seen as unfair.” Yes, serving students with differing needs means that some students need more supports than others to succeed, so “fairness” or equal supports do not help us arrive at equitable outcomes for students. The workshop offered participants a resource with questions to ask to be equitable in decision making and goal setting to use.
Angell Howard is currently the Associate Director of Professional Development and Staff Recognition at Illinois State University and the owner of Necessary Change Consulting LLC which undergirds organizations, businesses, and leaders to create cultural and structural shifts through the critical examination of policies, practices, and procedures. Angell’s 14-year career consists of the support and development of students and staff from minoritized populations and staff professional and career development. She has spent the last ten years creating and facilitating diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings, challenging professionals to change and create change within their organization utilizing an antiracist lens. Click here to learn more about Angell.
The creation of the Accelerating Student Progress and Increasing Racial Equity (ASPIRE) project was in response to the Developmental Education Reform Act (DERA) which aims to address inequities in college completion among students of color and first-generation students. Passed in March 2021, the act requires public colleges in Illinois to reform their developmental education (dev ed) programs — the introductory math and English classes students may need to improve their skills, before they can take a college-level math or English class — so that students can enter a credit-bearing, college-level math or English course by their second semester.
To read our refresher on the ASPIRE Project, click here.
