Milton Academy Students Collaborative Affinity Groups

Milton Academy
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee
Seattle Girls’ School
Affinity Groups: What, Why, and How
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee (http://tiny.cc/rosettalee)

About Seattle Girls’ School

Agenda
 Basic Definitions
 Sources of Resistance
 The Value of Affinity Groups
 Launching Affinity Groups
 Overcoming the Resistance
 Identity Development

Basic Definitions
The term affinity group is used as a
bringing together of people who have an
identifier in common, e.g. race, gender,
religion, family status, etc. Affinity groups
are for individuals who identify as members
of the group and can speak to the
experience of being a member of the group
from the “I” perspective.

Basic Definitions
The term alliance group is used as a
bringing together of people who have a
common commitment to an identifier group,
e.g. race, gender, religion, family status,
etc. Alliance groups are for individuals who
identify as members of the group and/or as
people who support and stand in solidarity
with that group.

Basic Definitions
The term interest group is used as a
bringing together of people who want to
learn about, share, and engage in a special
interest, e.g. hobby, skill, topic, etc.
Interest groups are for individuals who want
to gather to teach, learn, and share.
Membership can be fluid and changing.

Why Affinity Groups Are Great
 Safety and Comfort to be
Authentic
 Affirmation
 Critical Mass
 Identity Socialization
 Building Resilience
 Preparing to Engage
Deeply with Other Groups
 Empowerment Toward
Action

Why Affinity Groups
Meet Resistance
 Unacknowledged Fear
of Assembly
 Unacknowledged
Resistance to
Empowerment
 Desire to Stay Ignorant
of Issues
 Privilege

Forms of Resistance
• False Parallels
• Inverting the Injustice
• Outright Dismissal
• Minimization
• Righteousness
• Colorblindness
• Jealousy

Stage 1: Identify the Need
 Gather data around the
school’s population
 Gather research on the
challenges groups face
 Gather research on the
benefit of affinity groups,
explicit conversations
 Gather data around need
and desire
 CONNECT TO YOUR
MISSION

Stage 2: Determine Format and
Definitions
 Affinity, Alliance, or Interest?
 Identities/Identifiers
 Timing
 Space
 Facilitators
 Group Goals or Mission
Statements
 Curriculum

Stage 3: Communicate and Invite
 Initial Communication from
Head
 Communicate the Need, the
What, the How, and the Who
 Communicate Definitions,
Goals, and Missions
 FAQs
 Faculty/Staff,
Parents/Guardians, Students

Stage 4: Facilitate Groups
 Identity Pride
 History
 Positive Change and
Activism
 Opportunities and
Challenges
 Strategies for Success
 Supporting Each Other

Stage 5: Wash, Rinse, Repeat
 Assess Effectiveness
 Make Improvements
 Re-Launch Every Year
 Utilize Student/Family Voice
 United Front

Possible Affinity Group Curriculum
 Culture Share
 Celebrations of
Holidays/Events
 Identity Exercises
 Current Events
 Movies
 Field Trips
 “What Do I Do If…”

Factors Leading to More Success
 Pride > Struggle
 Deflection of Blame
 Inclusive of Full Spectrum
 Who’s in the Room
 Youth Driven Curricula
 Opportunities to Share
 Collective Action

Factors Leading to Less Success
 Lack of Consistency
 Lack of Budget
 Lack of Curricula
 Reinforcement of
Stereotypes
 Chauvinism
 Adult Agenda
 Visitors and Gawkers

Talking Points for Affinity Groups

“Affinity Groups” We Already Have
• Gendered Bathrooms
• Faculty Meetings
• Tracked Classes
• Financial Aid Allocation Meetings
• Sports Teams
• Divisions and Grades
• Casts of School Plays
• Faculty/Staff Rooms

Equality versus Equity
Everybody gets a shirt versus everybody
gets a shirt that fits.
Giving everybody some insulin in
equality. Giving only people who are
diabetic some insulin is equity.
What is “fair”?

Conflation of Individual/Institutional

Privilege
“Privilege exists when one group has
something of value that is denied to others
simply because of the groups they belong
to, rather than because of anything they’ve
done or failed to do.”
[as described by Peggy McIntosh and quoted by Allan Johnson]
Privilege is SYSTEMIC. It drives the
systems that dominate our societies.

Situational Advantage
There are prime parking spots and seats
reserved for people with disabilities. People
with disabilities are often first to board
planes and other transportation vehicles.
These advantages are situational and do not
balance out systemic oppression.

Identity Development Models
• All Models Have Some
Value
• All Models Have Some
Limitations
• Models Are Linear;
Experiences Are Not
• Some Models May
Apply Across
Identities

 Innocence and Self Esteem
 Encounter and Self Doubt
 Assimilation to the Majority
 Immersion into Identity
 Emersion
 Integration
Identity Development:
Marginalized Identities

 Innocence and Self Esteem
 Encounter and Confusion
 Attempt to Reintegrate
 Re-Encounter and Guilt
 Acceptance and Action
 Immersion and Emersion
 Integration
Identity Development:
Privileged Identities

Debrief: My Identity Journey
What are some of your
earliest memories about
your own identity?
Who/What were the
strongest influences?
Were there events that
precipitated a change in
understanding for you?

Work Best Done in Affinity:
Intra-Group Competency

Ladder of Empowerment for
Marginalized People

Ladder of Allyship for
Members of Dominant Groups

 Parallel
 Regressive
 Crossed
 Progressive
 Symbiotic
R.T. Carter’s Model:
Racial Identity and
Social Interactions

Effect of Varying Identifications

Orientations Toward Ethnic Identity

 Identity Frames
 Intractability
 Positive and Negative Encounters
 Co-Authorship of Identity
 Identity Socialization
Identity and Cultural Inclusion

Going Forward

Schools Have ZPDs, Too!
Status Quo:
Reliance on what the school
does already and naturally
Zone of Proximal
Development:
Mindful and strategic change
toward the next stage of
growth
Too Much, Too Fast:
Unrealistic demands on the
community

Getting There From Here:
Life Cycle of Initiatives
Abe Wehmiller, NAIS Summer Diversity Institute

Success vs Failure of Initiatives
------ + Consensus + Skills + Incentive + Resources + Action Plan = Confusion
Vision + ------ + Skills + Incentive + Resources + Action Plan = Sabotage
Vision + Consensus + ------ + Incentive + Resources + Action Plan = Anxiety
Vision + Consensus + Skills + ------ + Resources + Action Plan = Resistance
Vision + Consensus + Skills + Incentive + ------ + Action Plan = Frustration
Vision + Consensus + Skills + Incentive + Resources + ------ = Treadmill
Vision + Consensus + Skills + Incentive + Resources + Action Plan = Change
*Adapted from T. Krosier’s “Managing Complex Change.”

Facilitating Conversations

Fears and Anxieties that Keep Us
from Having Conversations
 Offending
 Losing Face
 Tokenism
 Professional Risk
 Bursting the Bubble
 Rocking the Boat
 Conflict
 Lack of “Authority”

Pitfalls and Obstacles that Keep Us
from Conversing Again
 Outbursts
 Silence
 Denial
 The Good Talk
 Teacher vs. Facilitator
 Personal Attacks
 The Quick Fix
 Leadership Oppression

Openly Acknowledge

Define the Opportunity

Safety Versus Comfort
Safety: I feel that, in this space, I can ask questions without
fear of judgment. I can voice my perspective and know that
I will be validated for the fact that that is my truth. Others
may challenge my ideas, but that challenge is in the spirit of
greater shared understanding and growth.
Comfort: I feel that, in this space, my reality will be agreed
with, validated, and unchallenged. I don’t have to explain
myself to be understood, and I don’t have to justify my
perspective, as everyone shares it.
True dialogue happens in an environment where everyone is
safe but not always comfortable...
SO THAT THEY CAN LEARN AND GROW.

Moving Conversations
from Safe to Brave
 Controversy with Civility
 Ownership of intent and impact
 Challenge by choice – with reflection
 Respect in all its multiplicity
 Pointed challenges, not personal attacks
 Mindfulness of the true source of emotions

Resources
Full resources, web links,
downloadable documents, and more can
be found at:
https://sites.google.com/sitesgsprofessionalo
utreach/affinity-group-resource-page

Presenter Information
Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee
6th Faculty and
Professional Outreach
Seattle Girls’ School
2706 S Jackson Street
Seattle WA 98144
(206) 805-6562
rlee@seattlegirlsschool.org
http://tiny.cc/rosettalee

Milton Academy Students Collaborative Affinity Groups

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