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our vision
Educators for Empathy is designed to foster an environment in which students feel seen and supported by their school community. We aim to build classrooms in which students are safe in authentically existing and using their experiences as assets to learning. We encourage all teachers to become culturally competent change agents and to provide their students with the tools to do so as well.
teaching teachers to connect classrooms
what your teachers will take away
Unit 1
All Staff Training
Explore personal intersections, identify unconscious bias, develop culturally responsive teaching tools
Unit 2
Curriculum Dev
Develop and adapt culturally responsive teaching curriculum, 1:1 or small group visits to target enhance targeted outcomes
Unit 3
Ongoing Support
Ongoing coaching weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly coaching to support ongoing growth and an evolving responsive curriculum
Add-On
Student Workshop
Ongoing coaching weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly coaching to support ongoing growth and an evolving responsive curriculum
UNIT 1
​all staff training
Bay Area Creative’s full staff training involves two professional teacher trainers leading up to 150 teachers in a 1-4 hour equity training. In this training, participants explore their various cultural intersections to identify ways they have benefited from privileges and struggled with oppressions. Participants learn how to identify and respond to their own unconscious biases, (which we believe arise anytime we come into contact with people from different cultural backgrounds), how to support empathic communication in the classroom, and how to lead students in exercises designed to identify their own cultural intersections and how they relate to privilege and oppression. These student-based activities can be used in any discipline and focus on students’ cultural intersections and individual classroom needs.
This single training can function as a stand-alone unit in our equity-building professional development program. It can also serve as an introduction to a three unit segment involving ongoing support, coaching and curriculum development.
Breakdowns for Unit 1 training lengths are as follows:
1 hour:
Introduction to Equity, Anti-Bias, and Culturally Responsive Teaching
2 hours:
Introduction to Equity, Anti-Bias, and Culturally Responsive Teaching
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Culturally Responsive Teaching Methods
3 hours:
Introduction to Equity, Anti-Bias, and Culturally Responsive Teaching
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Culturally Responsive Teaching Methods
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Team Building and Campus Culture Goal-Set
4 hours:
Introduction to Equity, Anti-Bias, and Culturally Responsive Teaching
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Culturally Responsive Teaching Methods
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Team Building and Campus Culture Goal-Set
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Curricular Self-Study and Lesson Planning
UNIT 2
curriculum development
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This unit of Educators for Empathy focuses on developing/adapting curriculum and practices with interested teachers who attended the all-staff training and are interested in a deeper dive into creating a culturally responsive curriculum. This unit consists of 1:1 or small group visits where teachers of any discipline work with a professional trainer to assist in identifying a specific aspect of their teaching practice and outcomes that they would like to enhance. The number and length of meetings is customized for each teacher and the scope is based on the aspect of their work that they would like to focus on. Price is contingent on scope, though a trainer will be making 3 visits to assess (a) what the teacher would like to improve upon, (b) to develop curriculum, and (c) to test run the new practices, activities and assignments with the teacher trainer. These sessions can take place over Zoom or in person when safety permits.
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UNIT 3
ongoing coaching
In this unit, interested teachers who participated in Unit 2 receive ongoing coaching on weekly, bi-weekly or a monthly basis, depending on the teacher’s need; this can be on a 1:1 basis or in small groups. This coaching is intended to support the teacher as they explore equity gaps, unobserved bias, and how their culturally responsive curriculum is meeting these issues. In this unit the trainer works with the teacher to assess if goals have been reached regarding the specific aspect of their teaching practice that they intend to enhance. Coaching sessions are intended to be a supportive space rather than evaluative, as we understand that the journey towards equity involves sometimes difficult realizations and that teaching is a deeply involved profession where personal support is greatly appreciated.
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ADD ON
​student culture workshop and report
An additional service is added where a teaching artist leads a speaking and writing lesson that is intended to provide a space for students to explore their unique cultural experiences. We have developed a research-based qualitative coding process where student work from this lesson informs a report developed by Bay Area Creative that outlines the cultural intersections of a specific class.
Cost is dependent on the depth of the report requested.
What is your favorite thing about E4E?
Spending PD time with well-trained presenters speaking on timely topics that all teachers can use to impact their classroom teaching. Inspiration!
Participant
EVERYTHING! It was set up in such a welcoming, inclusive way. It was beneficial for brand new teachers and veteran teachers alike!!
S.M. High School Biology Teacher
The freshness, the focus on being in the here and now, the reality of how this directly impacts our relationships and therefore part of the quality of our teaching.
They understand that community building comes first before more change can happen!
D.H. High School Math Teacher
M.D. School Board Member
Stressing the importance of seeing our students as unique individuals and relationship building.
The activities that we can do with students to open dialogue around their experiences and how to tie it into our content.
D.P. High School Science Teacher
S.J. High School Foreign Language Teacher
Mike Taylor teaches spoken word to students of all ages. He has performed on stages from San Francisco to London and he's led national poetry teams in competition. He founded the SPARC Poetry program and continues to create workshops that connect to people from all walks of life.
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Mike Taylor
BAC Executive Director
Teaching Artist
Jamey Williams is a professional spoken word poet, actor, rapper, and educator. He has taught poetry at a multitude of institutions including: college universities, juvenile detention centers, public schools, and community events. He makes sure that students experience a fun and safe community during his lessons.
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Jamey Williams
Patrick Ohslund has been a teaching artist and professional spoken word poet for over ten years. He has toured across the nation as well as internationally and has opened for renowned musical groups such as The Wailers. Patrick currently leads spoken word workshops for students ages five to 25, and is a lecturer at San Francisco State University.
Patrick Ohslund
our team
Casey Gardner is a queer and neurodivergent educator with a focus in secondary English and Social Studies classrooms. She holds an MA in Education from UC Santa Cruz, where she conducted research on how to foster empathy in classrooms. She has served as a teaching artist for SPARC Poetry and an advisor for Bay Area Creative. She currently teaches in Contra Costa County.
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Casey Gardner
