Revolutionary
BIPOC HEALING AND LIBERATION
for
Reflective Practice
The Need
WHY BIPOC RELFECTIVE PRACTICE
Whether you're an early childhood educator/childcare caregiver, home visitor, family advocate, early intervention clinician, doula, community health worker, administrative personnel, supervisor, or anyone working with young children birth to five years of age and their families, you may be wondering what reflective practice has to do with your work. You can read more about the importance of reflective practice and why ther is an "increasing urgency to recognize the role of race, equity, and power in reflective practice spaces" HERE.
Participants currently participating in the Revolutionary Reflective Practice for BIPOC Healing and Liberation program share their reflections on the impact of a BIPOC reflective practice space :
See what participants are saying
Do you work with young children ages birth to five?
Do you identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color (BIPOC)?
COME JOIN US IN ENGAGING IN REVOLUTIONARY REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
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Reflective practice, at its core, is about pausing to examine our experiences in ways that allow for growth and learning to better serve families. Not having the time and ability to pause, question, and reflect is what allows the status quo to continue. Inequities in policies and practices are hard-baked in professional cultures that refuse to slow down and build critical consciousness about the broader conditions that maintain disparities in outcomes for children and families through the generations.
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Revolutionary Reflective Practice (RRP) is a collective strategy for identifying and addressing the ways in which historical and current conditions impact entire communities. RRP comes from a legacy of healing justice, anti-racist, and decolonial sociopolitical work. Specifically, RRP creates conditions to unearth unmetabolized legacies of white supremacy culture and support providers in finding innovative ways to integrate our social justice values with our roles as those who work with young children and their families.
The distinction and uniqueness of this program lies in the focus on revolutionary reflective practice, rather than traditional reflective practice, which moves away from focusing on the individual towards focusing on the collective. Every part of this program, from the organizing team to the curriculum, uses a different way of doing and being so that participants can truly be in a space where joyful and painful emotions, thoughts, and experiences can be seen, held, and ultimately transformed towards our own healing and that of the children and families we serve.
As a collective community, we will hold space for one another and move towards transformative collective healing and joy.
Collective healing and joy
Critical consciousness and re-imagining
We will build and refine our skills to explore the impact of systemic inequities, implicit biases, internalized oppression, privilege, generational trauma, and social justice for ourselves and the families we support, re-imagining what is possible
Cultivating Relationships
Relationships are at the core of our work. As a community, we will cultivate conditions and practices to deepen our connections to self and community through dialogue and being together in ways that will strengthen and transform our practice with children and families.
The opportunity
In 2023, we brought together 50 participants from across the country, prioritizing those who have not had an opportunity to engage in a reflective practice space.
All of us were at a unique stage in our learning journey, which enhanced the richness of engaging in this work together even more, as learning and personal growth are continuous and never truly reach an end.
Our Program
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A community of 50 providers working in the prenatal-five field across the nation to build collective power and radically imagine together to transform ourselves and the field
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Community groups include 2-8 providers from a shared community
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Participants attend virtual sessions and an in-person1.5 day retreat
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Embedded small reflective groups with highly skilled facilitators working at the intersection of infant-family and early childhood mental health and social justice
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Community teams radically imagine hopes and desires for the future and then begin implementing their vision for themselves, their agencies or their communities.
Meet our 2023 Facilitators
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This work takes a village. Journeying alongside our main facilitators is a wider team of folks whose work bridges infant and early childhood mental health and social justice.
This work takes a village. Journeying alongside our main facilitators is a wider team of folks whose work bridges infant and early childhood mental health and social justice.
Small-group Facilitator
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Small-group Facilitator
Small-group Facilitator
Project Director
Project Lead
Project Coordinator
The Program
The in-person retreat will be held at the Bolger Center in Potomac, MD, a tranquil space surrounded by acres of green landscape, situated on the Indigenous lands of the Piscataway and Manahoac Peoples.
One in-person retreat
The inaugural cohort of the program began in September 2023. Participants engaged in:
Sample topics:
Seven virtual sessions
- Collective trauma needs collective healing
- Critical consciousness and re-imagining
- Parent-child relationship as the site of revolution
Virtual sessions were 3.5hrs, including time together as a larger group and consistent small break-out groups, fostering strong connections.
The in-person gathering was an opportunity for participants to deeply engage collectively with interactive activities, rich discussions and food. Major travel expenses were covered.
VIRTUAL SESSIONS
IN-PERSON GATHERING
the dream
Our dream is for all providers working with young children and their families across the nation to be reflective, which will have a ripple effect on our work with children, families, and communities. As such, we hope that participants join us in this endeavor by taking their learnings and supporting others in their organizations, teams, and communities.
CONNECT WITH US
We would love to connect with anyone who wants to do revolutionary reflective practice work locally or equity-centered professional development. We are all needed in this work. Whether you are a BIPOC provider who needs this space in order to reclaim your power, practice hope, and engage in healing to support children and families, or an ally thinking about what you can do to create equity-centered spaces where all of us can work together and move forward, or perhaps a leader or funder who can help us continue this work or grow it into your community, connect with us!
Contact Us
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. You can use this form or email us at:
Monica Mathur-Kalluri, Project Director
Vy Tran, Project Lead
Joanna Seow, Project Coordinator
WestEd | Early Learning, Health, and Human Development Division
