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Collaboration with Dr. Derrick Gay to Deepen a Culture of Inclusion and Respect

Dr. Derrick Gay, internationally recognized consultant on issues of global citizenship, diversity and inclusion, ran several workshops for our community this week.

Tuesday, he met with our boys in Grades Three through Eight for sessions focused on the cultivation of empathy, which built on previous equity and inclusion work in Sophrosyne classes.

Discussions drew from the boys' exploration of intent and impact, and how personal identity can affect the impact of words. The boys applied this framework as they considered: What is the difference between intent vs. impact? Is one more important than the other? How can we recognize and stop harmful and unkind jokes? 

Dr. Gay also spoke with our parent community and faculty/staff, presenting the latest research highlighting educator, parent, and caregiver perceptions regarding the degree to which young children are aware of differences - ranging from gender and socioeconomics to family configuration and race - relative to what children actually report understanding about themselves and others. He led faculty and staff in several exercises and discussions  that examined knowledge and perceptions about race.

Dr. Derrick Gay, Assistant Headmaster Alexis Aoyama, and Co-Director of Inclusion, Diversity and Community Pedro Morales.

All of these sessions were thought provoking and advance our school's efforts, in this fourth year of our collaboration with Dr. Gay, to deepen a culture of inclusion and respect at Saint David's.


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