The Exclusive Melting Pot: Leveraging the Cultural Wealth of Black and Brown Students in Educational Settings

MSAA Professional Development Workshop for All Educators 
 and Staff Who Work with Students of Color

The Exclusive Melting Pot: 
 Leveraging the Cultural Wealth of Black and Brown Students in Educational Settings

When Israel Zangwill, author and playwright coined the phrase “melting pot,” when referring to America, he was referring to an America that was compromised of white Europeans. Nowadays, that phrase is used in the context of immigrants and the assumption is that it includes people of color but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Black and Brown students are expected to fit into the “melting pot” of education by exchanging their core identity for something that is more palatable for white society because their funds of knowledge and cultural capital are not often seen as having value in the educational setting. What education is missing is the cultural wealth that Black and Brown students bring to school every day that, if leveraged properly, can produce a generation of confident leaders capable of being the movers and shakers of this world. 

In this workshop you will learn the forms of cultural capital and how to leverage them as an asset to the learning experience for Black and Brown students.

Participants will:

·         Learn the six forms of cultural capital

·         Make connections between cultural capital as wealth that can be leveraged in the learning experience

·         Learn how the cultural wealth that Black and Brown students possess can benefit the overall educational setting to produce tomorrow’s leaders

When: Thursday, January 9, 2025, from 8:30 am to 11:30 am

Delivery Method: In-Person Workshop

Location: The MSAA Office, 33 Forge Parkway, Franklin, MA

Presenter: Dr. Renée Heywood, Brockton Public Schools

PD Hours: 3 in Content Area Safe and Supportive Learning Environments

Fees: Member $150 / Non-Member $205

MSAA Contact: Ethel Kawesa, ekawesa@msaa.net 

Dr. Renée Heywood | Brockton Public Schools

Dr. Renée Heywood began her career in education over 25 years ago as a Spanish language teacher in public, private, and graduate school settings. She served 11 years as an educational leader in juvenile justice education for the Department of Youth Services. In 2018, she was appointed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as the Director of Educational Services, directing educational programming for all incarcerated youth for the state. As an internationally published writer, recording artist and speaker, Dr. Heywood has traveled the world to support education and music in places like Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Australia and has presented her work on racism in education at multiple venues including the Social Justice Conference in Finland. 

Dr. Heywood has a B.A. in Spanish Language & Literature from Brandeis University, a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Bridgewater State University, and a Ph.D. from UMass Amherst where she served as the School of Education Fellow. Her doctoral studies focused on Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies with a concentration in Language, Literacy and Culture focusing on racial and equity issues in education. She is the Assistant Superintendent of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion for Brockton Public Schools, Advisor to the PLEDJJ (Preparing Leaders in Education, Disability, and Juvenile Justice) Consortium, is the Professional Development Chair of AMSEL, is an appointed member of the MA DESE Racial Imbalance Advisory Council and is the CEO of Real Talk Leadership. She has been married for 32 years, had 3 children and 2 grandchildren.