Powered by RedCircle
Listen on the go:
In this powerful episode of the Conscious Pathways podcast, host Brittney Carey sits down with Andratesha Fritzgerald, a seasoned educator, consultant, and author of Anti-Racism and Universal Design for Learning: Building Expressways to Success. Together, they explore the transformative intersection of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and anti-racism in education.
Andratesha shares her personal journey into education, from her early experiences to becoming a passionate advocate for inclusive, culturally responsive learning environments. She discusses how UDL—a framework originally developed to improve accessibility—aligns with anti-racist practices to create equitable opportunities for all students.
The conversation also highlights the power of recognizing and honoring each student’s strengths and cultural backgrounds through multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression. Andratesha emphasizes the importance of family involvement in education and introduces the concept of “Power Talks”—a strategy for parents to effectively communicate and collaborate with teachers to support their children’s success.
Whether you’re an educator or a parent, this episode offers invaluable insights into creating a more inclusive and dynamic educational experience for every learner. You’ll walk away with practical tools to foster transparency, student agency, and a community-driven approach to education.
Key Topics:
- Understanding Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and its connection to anti-racism
- Honoring students’ cultural backgrounds and strengths in the classroom
- Strategies for building inclusive learning environments
- The role of parents in advocating for their children through Power Talks
- How teachers and families can collaborate to ensure student success
Resources Mentioned:
- Anti-Racism and Universal Design for Learning: Building Expressways to Success by Andratesha Fritzgerald
- CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) – UDL resources
- Parent-Led Power Talks 👉🏾 Discount Code: CPLISTEN
Connect with Andratesha:
Follow Brittney and Conscious Pathways:
- Subscribe to the Conscious Pathways Newsletter
Enjoyed this episode? Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review the Conscious Pathways podcast. Share this conversation with a friend or colleague passionate about equity in education. Listen to more episodes of the Conscious Pathways podcast for more insights on education, social justice, and advocacy.
Let’s continue to reimagine education—together.
Transcript
[00:00:09] Brittney Carey: Hi, and welcome to the conscious pathways to podcast, where we explore the intersection of education and social justice through transformative conversations. I am your host, Brittney. And as always, I am so happy to have you here. Today I have a phenomenal guest. I want to introduce you to Andratesha, Fritzgerald. She is an educator of over 20 years. An education consultant, international speaker and author of the book, anti racism and universal design for learning.
Building expressways to success.
I know that I have brought this topic up a couple of times on the podcast. So I’ve been yapping about universal design for learning for oh. While It is something that I’m really interested in and I’m learning about. And I do think that this can be transformative to how we approach education.
And I thought there’s no better person who could break down universal design for learning in a way that is so incredibly approachable than. Tesha.
Just a little background on universal design for learning. If you’re not super familiar I’m so it’s something I’m still actively learning about.
So I definitely understand. I was really looking forward to this conversation just so I can learn even more. From someone who understands this topic so deeply and intimately, well as Andratesha does. so universal design for learning. It comes from. Design concepts actually. So when we’re designing, public spaces, it looks at how can we design the environment so that the most amount of people can access it.
The way that we most commonly see that in our physical spaces. Usually in the United States, if you’re crossing the road at a crosswalk, the sidewalk will dip down a little bit so that as you’re crossing the street, you don’t have to take a step down.
It just ramps down into the street and then it ramps back up and you’re back on the curb on the other side. And we do that because if you are mobility impaired, if you use tools such as a wheelchair or crutches. It’s going to be really difficult for you to step down off of that curb and then cross the street and step back up onto a curve.
Especially if being in a wheelchair that’s practically impossible. And so with universal design, what we’ve done is we’ve made those cutouts, but it benefits everyone. So if you are a parent pushing a stroller, That’s going to benefit you too. So you don’t have to constantly, toss your child off of this curve. to cross the street every time it’s actually going to benefit you.
If you are carrying something heavy and you’re using something like a Dolly, that curve cut out is really helpful for you to get off of the curb and not potentially knock over whatever the heavy thing you’re carrying. so it really does benefit a lot of people. And so when we think about design, that actually benefits the most amount of people.
If we design it to be accessible for everyone, then everyone benefits instead of just designing it for able-bodied individuals. So that’s a very simple way of approaching it and thinking about it, but that’s what universal design is. And so we’ve taken these principles for universal design and applied it into education. Within her book, enter Tesha actually talks about a lot of real life examples of what this looks like in the classroom.
. And you can tell through this conversation that that is where Andratesha’s passion comes from and her driving force for why she does the work that she does.
So I’m so excited to share this conversation with you. So let’s jump into it.
[00:03:35] Andratesha Fritzgerald: Hello and welcome. Thank you for joining me on Conscious Pathways. Today I am joined by Andratesha Fritzgerald. Thank you so much for having me, Brittany.
[00:03:46] Brittney Carey: I am so excited. I just got my copy of your book, Anti Racism and Universal Design for Learning. that came in the mail, yesterday. I cracked it open and started reading it and going through it. I was like, this is what I’ve been, there it is. I love it. It’s really emerging two of my favorite things.
together into one thing. so I’m excited to talk to you about that and some of your background and the work you do. but before we jump into all of that, can you tell me a little bit about how you got your start in education?
[00:04:13] Andratesha Fritzgerald: thank you so much for having me. So glad to be here. And, thank you for just inviting my story to the table,
[00:04:19]Andratesha Fritzgerald: I got my start in education a little bit. non traditionally. I went to college on a full scholarship for chemical engineering. I thought I was going to be an engineer.
[00:04:29] Andratesha Fritzgerald: I had been in programs from the 7th through 12th grade that were really STEM focused. while I have a strong love for math and science, And all things STEM, here I am in education. I found out the junior and senior year of college that there was an opening in a program called Upward Bound.
And Upward Bound is a federally funded, like a trio program that really helps first generation, aspiring college students to be prepared to meet the challenges of higher education. You know, I have all of this engineering background, but I really discovered that engineering and those environments just really didn’t give my heart what it needed to sing.
I didn’t feel like my purpose was being lit. I just felt like I was always in a constant fight, but working and living in residence with 109 through 12th graders that summer. I didn’t get a lot of sleep. I didn’t get a lot of pay, but what I did get was a lot of. Purpose defining moments that let me know that working with students, learning in education, learning alongside others and watching their path be clarified in front of them was truly my life’s purpose.
It is still my life’s purpose. And so I came to education, with different dreams, different aspirations, but I found purpose in seeing others discover theirs.
[00:05:50] Brittney Carey: There I think when we oftentimes stumble into education. There are some people who know in their heart and soul that this is what they want to do. I feel like I was one of those, those kids who was like, Nope, I’m going to grow up and I’m going to get an education. And then I also had to go my own journey around before I followed that dream and went into education.
but I think there’s so much beauty in the different ways that we find ourselves in it and the different passions that we see, because it’s so true that you get to be a part of. this young person’s journey. You get to be a part of their learning and their growth and their processes. And it’s a really beautiful experience.
[00:06:29] Andratesha Fritzgerald: It really is. And what I found, I thought that my family would be disappointed and upset that I was changing my major. I changed my major from engineering to English and then got my certification in English, which is a whole journey that we’ll have to discuss at another time. But what I found is that when I talked to my grandmother about it, she shared with me that it was her dream to become a teacher.
And some things, back in that day and that time really delay her from being able to reach for that dream and see it, come to fruition. But there was a beauty in the lineage of educators that she began to release to me that we had never had those conversations that I come from a family of educators.
And while it may not have been in the traditional sense, we are teachers. And so to see me embrace a dream that I didn’t even know existed for those who came before me has been as much a part of the journey of finding my own identity and affirming our culture and reaching for those as we climb. it has, lit my heart on fire and it continues to do so over and over again as I see that spark be shared with others.
[00:07:37] Brittney Carey: Yes. You get to live out part of that dream that your grandmother, never got to see actualized, in her lifetime, but to see you get to do it. And I know there’s so many great learnings that you gained from her, just, living and breathing and being with her that you were able to take into the classroom.
And I know my grandmother was the same for me. she wasn’t an educator herself, but in her work with other, teens and adolescents and seeing the way that she brought herself to, working with these young people who needed connection, who needed someone to see their humanity, and seeing her do that in a way that.
Not a lot of people were doing at the time, especially she worked at Job Corps. So especially, you know, in that space, you’re not seeing a lot of people that are, are seeing the beauty and all of the brilliance that these young people have. And so seeing that someone was there who was, that rock and that supportive person, it inspired me in my realm of education that I want to be that for other young people too.
[00:08:34] Andratesha Fritzgerald: Absolutely.
[00:08:35] Brittney Carey: Amazing. Shout out to grandmas,
out to grandmothers.
It really sounds like a lot of your purpose and passion for education came from those relationships you were able to build with your students in and around the classroom, and that’s really evident in your book, Anti Racism in Universal Design for Learning, Building Expressways to Success.
Can you tell me a little bit more about, at its essence and core, what is Universal Design for Learning?
so I have been, in education for over 20 years and in my earliest days in education, I was teaching, English in the high school setting. I chose to work in an urban area. That is where I grew up. That is what I love. I wanted to, just really lock arms with students who, needed teachers who believed in them. mind for that gem of brilliance that every single one of them had, and that could connect with them to find out what dreams they had, and then teach toward those dreams. And so, in those earliest days of teaching, I would try methods that really would awaken their curiosity to partner with them, to pique their interest.
I use videos and songs and non traditional methods. There was one activity that when we were Exploring a literary language like onomatopoeia and simile and metaphor. we, at this time, we’re having newspapers delivered to the school. And I saw that many of those newspapers were being thrown away each day.
And so we would bring those newspapers in, find articles that we wanted to speak to, respond to, write letters to the editor, or we would create our own columns for the classroom or the school environment, and then instead of recycling those, we would Take some of the information that was in them and create, just the 50 cent fashion show where we would, create fashion pieces and then have a, fashion show with these pieces that the students have put together.
And then some students would do the designing. Some students would come up with what was said while the model was walking down the aisle. I tapped into different ways of being creative, different ways of inviting their creativity to the learning space, to ensure that number one, there were different ways that students could take the learning in, but also different ways for students to show what they knew and understood.
And different ways for them to give me feedback. This is a different way of thinking and doing. And so this is how I started my career really designing to reach the students on the margin. So whatever was the barrier, if it was that you struggled with the content, or maybe you were just bored with English class, perhaps you, were new to the community, whatever the barrier was, we were going to design and redesign until those barriers were eliminated or reduced.
I found that there was language for this kind of teaching. It was universal design for learning.
[00:11:28] Brittney Carey: And I love that. So it sounds like from taking what your students’ strengths are, their innate strengths are and their interests, and then building upon that and redesigning it until it works for the students that you have directly in front of you. It sounds like that is how you started to understand. Universal design for learning in real life. In your book, you talk about these three guidelines for universal design for learning.
Would you mind walking us through those three guidelines?
[00:11:57] Andratesha Fritzgerald: In universal design for learning, there are three guidelines. One is multiple means of engagement. And really that means that we provide multiple design options for students to navigate and choose for themselves how to get through the content.
So if, students are struggling with paying attention, we don’t vilify the fact that they don’t pay attention. We say that’s a part of the human experience and we design. to earn their attention and commitment.
Multiple means of representation is simply saying that there will not be just print and lecture in this classroom.
There will be multiple ways that I’ll give the information out and then you can choose the way that it comes into you. So that means we will use words. Video, songs, poetry, closed captions, audio versions, and then you get to choose which way is most salient for your learning. And of course, I don’t expect students to know that right away, but this is a journey where they learn about themselves as a learner.
And that’s where their student agency comes from. And the third guideline in Universal Design for Learning is designing with Multiple means of action and expression. And this simply means that assessment will not be one size fits all. There will be many ways for us to check for your understanding, many ways for you to show what you know and understand.
And then there is also this element of designing assessments so that learners can make a plan for themselves. Monitor their own progress toward a goal so no one is sitting there waiting for me to tell them how they’re doing with this concept or the standard, but that they know and understand the goal clearly, and they create a pathway to that goal where they say, Look, I know this, I get this, I understand this, but this part right here, you’re going to have to reteach me, you’ll have to show me, and they’ll know the ways that they’ll need to supplement their own learning instead of waiting for An environment to be designed for them, which I do believe that every learning environment should be, I’m preparing students for those times when they’re in environments that are not designed for their success.
They won’t have to wait. They won’t have to wonder they’ll know exactly what they need and be able to reach for those things that they need So that’s what universal design is.
[00:14:08] Brittney Carey: Wow. Okay. So you just mentioned these three guidelines for universal design for learning, and I love how you connected each of those with the story that you were just telling about the newspapers in your classroom and how. And at its essence, its core universal design for learning is shaping an environment that is geared towards student success.
And so when you’re looking at these guidelines, which is multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation and multiple means of action and expression. And so I can really see how that plays out in the classroom. Even in the early learning classroom. so then given these three guidelines. How does the idea of universal design for learning connect with anti-racism in the classroom?
[00:14:53] Andratesha Fritzgerald: And the way I tie that to anti racism is anti racism is not, a theory
about racism. It is acknowledging those areas that are racist, that are disadvantageous to certain people, any kind of oppression that comes in the educational setting. We are anti racist and anti oppressionist when we take the action to dismantle, To make sure that there is no remnant left of whatever it is that is bringing about the oppression.
This is where Universal Design for Learning says, what is the goal? We’ll be clear about that goal. And when I say we, that’s the teachers, the students, the systems have to be clear about the goals. And then we have to be honest and transparent about what are the barriers to reaching that goal. Racism is a barrier.
we have to speak that and name that because no barrier that is unspoken gets resolved. when systems are silent on racism, historically, and traditionally, when we’re silent on oppression, then how can we design to eliminate those? we have to be clear on the goal. Transparent about the barriers, and then that last step designing to reduce or eliminate the barriers is how UDL becomes anti racist.
[00:16:09] Brittney Carey: Woo! You dropped so many nuggets of knowledge right there. I think sometimes when I talk about these things and I’m sure you see it as well, , you’ll hear teachers say like, Oh, that’s nice, but I can never do that in my classroom. Or, that sounds nice, but I already have like 10 trillion things I’m doing.
It’s another thing that you’re asking me to do. The way that you just broke that down and the way that it sounds, it’s really actually alleviating a lot of that stress that falls on the educator, because when you put yourself in a position to be the all seeing, all knowing, omnipresent being in the room, right?
So you’re the one who has to solve all the problems. You’re the mediator, right? now you’re doing all the assessments. you’re doing everything. And yeah, that is exhausting. that’s going to burn you out. And the way that you just described that it sounds so approachable because it’s really taking a lot of that pressure off and it’s making not just you being the one who’s doing everything.
It’s actually putting the onus on the entire community. So you don’t have to be all of it. Your community can actually help you. You can teach the students to be an active participant in this process. And then you’re not running around like a chicken with your head cut off doing nine trillion different things.
So in the book, in the first chapter, I talk about the difference between honor and power. Power is I am the holder of knowledge. I am the omniscient being in the room.
[00:17:33] Andratesha Fritzgerald: I am the end all be all. I am the decision maker. I’ll tell you when you meet the goal. Those are power plays, but in a classroom where we truly honor our learners, we invite them to give us feedback. What can I do differently? What do you hope that I never do again? But we also empower them. In that classroom to be a community of learners.
That means that we can lend our strength to one another. That means that if there’s something that I know I can still. If I master the information, if I master the content, that does not make me elite better or exempt from learning from someone who has not. There are many techniques, many, ways that we build community.
And as, I walked through the book and as people are taking in the pieces that help to build these universally designed learning environments, one of the things that has stuck out to me is that, In the learning environment, we don’t teach students how to treasure one another’s voice. We teach them how to obey authority.
We teach them how to be compliant. And when we do that, we miss the gem of brilliance that lives in each one. When we open up the classroom and allow students to work together, Truly collaborate, then we have to teach them how to treasure each other’s voice. What does listening look like to you? It may be different for each person.
It’s not always eye contact that marginalizes people who operate neurodivergent Lee, or who may be just nervous or may, just listen differently. I know that I have some hearing difficulties at times. And so when I’m not giving eye contact, I’ll turn my ear toward a person and I’ll listen differently.
I’ve learned to share with people that I’m listening deepest when my ears turn toward you to ensure that I hear every word you say. Do we carve out time before we tell people to turn and talk to just give them a chance to explain, here’s what listening looks like to me, or here’s what I need from you if you’re asking me to share my voice.
And so in our learning communities, what is that goal, what are the barriers to that goal, and the barriers can be in how we communicate, the barriers could be in attitudes or biases or beliefs that we hold about one another, the barrier could be the content or the way that the content is designed, and we have to invite that feedback on a number of levels so that students can become co designers with us and what that classroom looks like.
This is how Universal Design for Learning takes down those barriers. of racism because it invites every single learner into the power center, into the power seat to be the authority on their best outcomes because they’re choosing strategies that work for them. They’re choosing ways of knowing and doing that are, just a part of who they are and they are welcome in the space.
And so this is what universal design for learning is, but when it’s tied. implicitly and explicitly to anti racism, then that means that those barriers of bias, those barriers of historically and traditionally marginalizing cultures and identities comes to an end because we’re designing for every student to be in a place where they are the picture of success, first to themselves, and then to everyone around them.
[00:20:51] Brittney Carey: Yes, yes, yes. that sentence that you just land on, right? That, that they’re powerful to themselves and the people around them. And it makes me think, so I come from an early childhood education background, and a lot of this that we’re talking about that starts in this early education realm.
when I see that my students, you know, my students might not be looking at me while I’m reading a book or they might not be looking at me in that same capacity of what you think of when you’re thinking about students who are paying attention, and especially in early childhood, there’s a very small percentage of young children who can sit Quietly, not touch anything, give you eye contact and, and do that for prolonged periods of time.
Most of the time they’re wiggling.
[00:21:33] Andratesha Fritzgerald: percentage of adults as
[00:21:34] Brittney Carey: Exactly. Right? I’ll be giving conferences and I see people wiggling and drawing and doodling. I’m like, it’s fine. They’re listening in their own way. I look at my students who are doing that, and it always breaks my heart, especially when I see classrooms where the expectation is that they do that, because how are they learning to then advocate for themselves and advocate for what they need if we are teaching them in ways that are diametrically opposed to how they even learn, right?
And so I’m always thinking about how I can make the environment a little bit easier for , my students to engage with me, whether I’m giving them a stability ball to sit on, or I’m letting them, stand up while they’re doing their activity. , it might look different for every student, but then that’s also creating that community culture where everyone’s just seeing that.
people need different things. Not everyone is going to need the same thing. Not everyone is going to do the same thing. Learning looks different for different people and that’s perfectly fine. but giving them that tools and those power to say, this is the way that I learn best. And they can advocate for themselves in those very, very same ways.
it’s a really beautiful thing. It sets them up for success later on. Because as you mentioned before, Not every space is going to be a UDL space. They’re going to walk into spaces sometimes that aren’t for the specific way that they learn. that’s kind of the reality of life sometimes, but they now have the tools to navigate that.
Right. and that’s a really important thing.
[00:22:55] Andratesha Fritzgerald: It is. It’s so powerful when you see a student come into that knowing of themselves and they’re able to speak truth to power to say, that’s not working for me. Is there another way that you can show me? And so instead of waiting for the environment to be universally designed, they are now confident enough to demand that design for their learning, which is a powerful tool in liberation to say, this doesn’t work for me, but I’m not going to internalize a negative message about myself.
I’m going to advocate for what I need in this space. And then we walk them through what to do when it’s not working for them. What are the words that you say? This is all a part of the learning and universal design for learning has shifted the focus a bit from becoming this expert learner, knowing about you, trusting yourself as the expert on yourself to the language of student agency, where students become agents and co designers and, the voice piece for themselves.
in a number of different environments. And so that empowerment becomes a part of our design that we don’t expect it when they walk in. But how do we engineer success for all students by giving them pathways to advocate for themselves in every situation?
[00:24:15] Brittney Carey: Yes. That speaks to my soul in very special ways. I want to shift gears a little bit. I know you mentioned that you’ve been doing some conversations with parents and doing, some trainings with parents on how to do power talks.
can you start by explaining a little bit about what a power talk is and go into a little bit about how parents can use this and how it helps support their students in the long run?
[00:24:40] Andratesha Fritzgerald: absolutely. So I am an educator by trade. But I’m also a parent and I’m a parent of two amazing, uniquely gifted students, my children. And so as a parent, there is nothing that prepares you for being on the other side of the table at a parent teacher conference. And in this, I have a new resource for you.
It’s called parent led power talks and I’ll talk about that a little bit in a second, but I share a story about the first parent teacher conference I went to. So we sent both of our, our children are a year and five days apart. And so our oldest went to preschool and we had the first parent teacher conference around October and I remember going in.
And we sent, The oldest there knowing how to read at three already knew how to read, could recognize letters. And so in this universally designed expectation, I thought, okay, so since, our baby can read already, there will be maybe some other activities. Let’s see, you know, what happens. And so we go to the parent teacher conference.
We have a seat and the teacher begins speaking. And then speaking and more speaking, and then maybe with about a minute and 30 seconds left, the question was, are there any questions? And then there was an explanation about how there wasn’t a lot of time for questions. And I felt number one, that my voice wasn’t invited.
I had these inner workings of, I don’t know if I should say the things that I’m thinking. I wasn’t quite sure how to get my point across. And so there was this anxiety that was trying not to recognize there was a situation that was brewing that we didn’t even have space or margin to discuss.
And then there was my child who was not getting what she needed, who was not being seen or heard in a way that was aiding the learning. And so that is where the parent led power talk comes in. As a teacher, I had to always remember that when I’m meeting with parents, I don’t have to have a million things prepared, but I need to leave margin to say, here’s what Your student is learning.
Here’s some evidence of things that I see where the brilliance is being sparked. as a teacher, I would make space for parents to say, here’s my concerns. This is what I want to know about. Or maybe there’s some areas of disagreement. So there was space there. But as a parent, I was not receiving that.
And so this parent led power talk resource helps parents to go into the space with questions that will lead to actions and results. For their students, their child’s learning, and so I walked through, there are some questions that every parent teacher conference, the parents should come in asking, and sometimes it can’t be done in those 10 minutes slots or those 20 minute little time blocks.
And so if you are going to request a meeting, and let’s say, for instance, there are some giftings that your child has or some brilliance or some interest that you really think would be helpful in connecting with their education. This resource. This really walks you through how to clearly state your intention, how to ask questions that get to the heart of the matter quickly, and then how to continue the conversation throughout the year so that they know that education for your child has to be crafted in a way that is both acknowledging their brilliance, but also honoring who they are when they walk in.
This is also a resource that teachers can use to invite the conversation with parents, parents, teachers, Are a pivotal integral partner in the child’s learning, and often we leave that whole resource, those cultural funds of knowledge untapped because we don’t know how to build a bridge from home to school.
This is an area that has been of interest to me for quite some time, and then I’ve let some parents through how to engineer a power talk. How to make sure that we aren’t teachers are busy. They have a full plate, but your child is important and they know that your child is important. And so this resource helps parents to hit those points, to ask those point questions that build conversation and then build a plan for ongoing to make sure that the results that our children deserve are the ones that are at the forefront of how teachers design and how parents communicate.
[00:28:54] Brittney Carey: So that’s a parent led power talk. Yes, I love the way you break things down. Were you a teacher? it’s so interesting to hear this. cause I’ve only been on the teacher side. I’ve never been on the parent side quite yet. And. I think if you haven’t done both, if you haven’t been on the other side yet, you don’t know how that’s landing. So, like we’ve said, you get into your teacher mindset and, you only have such an amount of time.
And you’re meeting with, if you have 24 students at that’s a lot of slots you’re trying to meet and a lot of things you’re doing is one after another, right? And so sometimes you can get, a little too caught in the sauce and, forget that on the other side of that, you’re, you know, when you are teaching, you’re teaching other people’s children, right?
So at the end of the day, this is a collaboration between me and you. and this parent or guardian, of this child, we need to work together so that we are making sure that we are creating an educational environment that is optimized for this student right here. but sometimes we can forget that when there’s just things and your mind is going and you have, you know, deadlines and all these different things, we can forget that.
So it was really beautiful to, to have that. And also on the other side, I think, especially if you have first time parents or parents who, maybe didn’t have a great relationship in education, knowing that they have opportunities to advocate, like having a guide that shows them step by step is the questions you can ask.
This is a really beautiful resource because Those can be scary times when you’re sitting there with a parent teacher conference, when you don’t know what to expect, and like you said, you’re usually just kind of getting talked at for a period of time, and you’re getting these words that you might not be familiar with, you’re getting these, domains, you’re getting curriculum things that you might not know what that means, right?
That that’s not your background. so it can feel like a lot. I also love the term power talks. how empowering is that, that you have power in the situation that you can advocate. that’s really, really beautiful. I’ve never heard of this and I’m so excited.
[00:30:48] Andratesha Fritzgerald: I really just wanted to give away for parents to, build a conversation to keep the partnership going. because if they are. Upset or disgruntled or feeling disenfranchised that leads to a contentious relationship that really won’t help for the learning. this power talk format is very much identifying the goal between the parent and the teacher inviting the voice of the student identifying some of the barriers.
Parents have so many life hacks because they live with the child 24 7. They have so much information that we can leverage in our classroom and exploration and tapping into those interests. And this just builds that bridge so that Home to school and school to home can be a partnership where we’re collaborating to bring the best out in the child.
And it also brings in that those cultural funds of knowledge. It brings in the interest of the student, but it also identifies the barriers. We can speak them out loud. We can say our fears, our wonders, our wants, from the student, All angles and then built together with the child really needs. So I’m really excited about this resource and it’s been getting really good reviews.
Parents are taking it with them to parent teacher conferences, or they’re just pulling resources as they’re writing emails or crafting communication and reminder class dojo. They’re asking the questions that are leading to. Actions and results. and also teachers are super appreciative that parents are coming to them with a specific question instead of like, how am I, how’s my child doing in here?
And it’s like, okay, I’m not quite sure what area we’re talking about. And so helping parents to craft those questions so that teachers. know that their time is being honored. Their expertise is being invited and this partnership is being fortified by building a real relationship together to serve the child.
[00:32:37] Brittney Carey: Yes. And you mentioned something that. I try to incorporate in my classrooms and in my work and my trainings, especially, which is those cultural funds of knowledge. can you expand upon that a little bit for my audience? You might not be familiar with that. what are funds of knowledge and how do we use that, with an education setting?
[00:32:58] Andratesha Fritzgerald: So I want to give an example. in my book there’s a chapter about when Dr. Dre meets Shakespeare. I went to A predominantly African American K through eight school, very Afro centric, all of the figures, like everything around me was all black every day. And I credit that K through eight space for building me as a practitioner, Pushing toward excellence.
And anytime I speak, I always give honor to my kindergarten teacher who believed diligently in each one of us and every single day, every single way. and so I went to a predominantly white high school, nine through 12. And in my ninth grade year, there was, a lot of learning that I had to do, for a space that I had never been in that wasn’t.
culturally responsive and culturally sustaining. And so, it was my first time. experiencing racism, even though I didn’t have language for it at the time. people will always say, you write so well, and it would be like a surprise. And I’m like, well, doesn’t everyone write well here? Like, I don’t know.
I just always felt like we have our strengths and, and K through eight, it was always, everyone has strengths, but we all lend our strengths to one another to really grow and build those very collectivist society. And so when I went to high school and it was individualist, I often felt like the things that I liked.
had to be different than what I showed or shared in a school place. And so my funds of knowledge, those things that I knew, understood, was good at, enjoy, had to stay closed in the space until I had a teacher, my ninth grade year, my English teacher.
Who was teaching Romeo and Juliet. And at the end of the, reading of the play, we had, a project. So she passed out these papers and there were nine options. You could choose the project that you wanted to do to show or display your understanding. And so one of the options was that you can write a song, a poem, or a rap.
where you identify the viewpoint of a character and their change over the five acts of the play. And so I wrote, A rap and it was set to a man, but a G thing by Dr. Dre. while I don’t think this teacher knew Dr. Dre or the chronic, the substance or the album, she probably never heard of it. The fact that I could rap. Was welcome in the academic space. The fact that I knew and understood Shakespeare and the way that I showed it was welcomed through my love of rhythm and rap and rhyme and poetry. And it was the first time in that space where I felt like 100 percent of who I was was actually being welcomed in an academic space.
And now only, not only did this teacher listen to the project, of course she gave it a A, but what I loved about her, and I still keep in touch with her to this day. She played this tape that’s dating myself just a little bit.
[00:35:48] Brittney Carey: Mm
[00:35:48] Andratesha Fritzgerald: played this tape for every class that came in that day. The 9th grade class, the 11th grade class.
She played it for her colleagues. And she would reference it over and over again. I remember going to parent teacher conference with my mom. And she was so excited about this tape. I feel like every student needs that to find ways to show what I know and understand from the content that connect to who I am or what I know, what I love, what I understand, what I’m interested in, who I am authentically.
And the more we call students to separate, the more we raise anxiety and fear. And if anxiety and fear and trauma are high, then learning cannot be. the more we tap into what students know. What they understand was a part of their culture. What are their traditions and we make space for that to be the foundation of the classroom.
The more we engineer pathways to success for students. That’s not just universal design, but that’s saying we’re designing a space that is welcoming. That understands your identity, which is a part of universal design for learning. we want you to be comfortable here. We want you to be safe here.
We want you to know that we believe that you are brilliant here. And so many students are being educated in spaces where they feel like an outsider and ignoramus. until we, as a society, begin to be honest about the goal of education, the goal of education is for each student to walk away empowered and armed with something that they can turn into a career, something that they can turn into a lifestyle, something that will feed their families.
until we can be honest about that goal and be honest about the fact that the design has not been leading to that goal for all students. In fact, there are identities where there’s a predictability of failure of disenfranchisement over and over and over again. And so when we’re honest about the barriers, then we can start the business of designing for success.
For all so that every student is safe and every student is honored and treasured in ways that allows their brilliance to shine. Not one size fits all. Not everybody on one test one time a year, but every single day. Deb Delisle, who used to be the assistant secretary of education in the United States, would say every student, every day, some success some way.
And we need to make that the truth.
[00:38:21] Brittney Carey: Yes. that does remind me of something that I was reading in the book as I was kind of going through it. one thing I will say about the book, it is incredibly approachable. I’m someone, I don’t mind reading something that’s very academic. I used to read medical encyclopedias in high school just for the fun of it.
but I do love reading books that are highly educational, but also entertaining at the same time, and it just makes it an easier, fun read, I do love that in the introduction of the book, I had to put it down for a moment and reflect, you know it’s a good book when you’re just like, wait a minute, let me put this down.
Let me reflect on what I just read. it was really talking about education and education equity and how sometimes we do things for, some students that’s like, oh, it’s good enough for them. that mentality, what we think about, students, we think about their abilities, we think about, their backgrounds.
And it really influences the way that we interact with them. It influences how we view them and influences the way that we view how they learn, their abilities, their futures. that truly breaks my heart that there are just students who every day fall through the cracks. and especially when we’re talking about literacy and that’s kind of a big thing that’s been going through the education world, this year and seeing, you know, there are grown adults who are.
Functionally illiterate, right? And who have graduated through high school and have gone through the school system and are functionally illiterate. And so we’re thinking, how did that happen? what stop gaps didn’t quite happen to the point where we just kept pushing students along and pushing students along.
a lot of that I think is just our view of them is that, he’s not putting in the effort or, she doesn’t want to learn or, she’s got this or that disability. So, you know, I’m not even going to try. that is the antithesis of education. that’s not why we’re here.
we’re here for quite the opposite reason to help and support and to find those resources that those students need. I don’t think I’ve met a student who deep down doesn’t want to learn. I think there are students who have been through a lot in their lives and make learning very difficult.
I think that there are students who have encountered educational barriers, who have encountered just life barriers that make learning difficult and make, the pathways for that really hard. But I have yet to meet a student in my life who doesn’t want to learn, who doesn’t want to have knowledge, who doesn’t want to grow in that way.
it is heartbreaking to see how many students, fall through the cracks and just aren’t getting the help and support that they need and deserve, because all students deserve that. All students deserve that educational environment that you really just described. Sees them, affirms them, values them, lifts them up, and is a community.
It’s a collective of people together who are also sharing those resources, supporting each other. and that’s a beautiful thing when we see it, it’s gorgeous.
[00:41:15] Andratesha Fritzgerald: is giving people ways to wrestle with these concepts, but then be armed with different approaches to ensure that every student has that opportunity. many times we make these decisions about students for, or about them without their permission, without their consent, without their input.
And the more we can involve them, In our thinking, in our design, the more that we involve them in our feedback and our feedback structures and the way that we evaluate whether teaching has happened, that is when we’ll find out how they are learning and that we too, right alongside them, need to be learning to ensure that we are serving them the education that they deserve, the education that they are demanding from us.
[00:42:03] Brittney Carey: I got the good feelings through my bones on that one. how do you reimagine the future of education?
[00:42:12] Andratesha Fritzgerald: I reimagined the future of education. oftentimes I think about, Samaria Rice. She’s the mother of Tamir Rice. She wrote the foreword to my book. And so when I reimagined education, I reimagined us coming to, The questions that she poses, in the forward. And one of the things that she says, and I just want to turn to it if it’s okay.
She says, are you ready to fight against mindsets that prioritize policing over educational practices that lead to a life of freedom? Are you ready to partner with parents and families in a meaningful way by valuing our hopes and dreams for our babies? Are you ready to admit That teaching practices are broken and that many black babies have been labeled and over identified because educational systems haven’t wanted to face this truth. I re imagine our educational system taking in the power of what has been the past. Being honest about the barriers that still exist that benefit some while marginalizing and segregating others. I reimagine a system that is ready to stop talking about racism and anti racism, but to start, operating in truth about what truly have been the barriers, the design of our systems, the ways that we’ve ignored.
Or band or legislated the results that continue. And when we arm a generation of students to know how they learn and what they need in order to continue that learning, then every educational system will have to rise to the challenge of meeting the needs of students who know what they need. Who know what they want, who know where they want to go, and even if they don’t know fully where they want to go, they have some ideas about what it will look like when they get there.
We have to create systems that listen to learners, that listen to families, that listen to communities. we stop the policing and start participating as they personalize the protest and rise to the challenge of meeting them where they are, to see them drive to the destination of their choosing as we teach them how to learn and they teach us how to teach.
[00:44:37] Brittney Carey: I don’t know about listeners at home, but I want to, I just want to clip that. And I want that to be my alarm clock in the morning. Just like, yes, let’s go. We’re striving. We got this.
[00:44:51] Andratesha Fritzgerald: We can do this.
[00:44:52] Brittney Carey: that was just pure poetry. It was beautiful. And yes, we can absolutely, that is a future of education that I fully believe in. I know a lot of my listeners fully believe in and I see it. It’s happening when I envision it. It’s there. and it’s truly, truly beautiful.
Tesha, I want to thank you so much for joining me, for spreading all this beautiful knowledge with us. where can my audience find you or can they find your work? Where can they find these beautiful resources? Awesome.
[00:45:18] Andratesha Fritzgerald: Absolutely so they can find me on my website. And that is www dot building blocks of brilliance. And that’s B-L-O-C-K-S of brilliance.com. you can also find me on Link Tree Fritz Tesha, that’s F-R-I-T-Z-T-E-S-H-A. there are a few resources. I mentioned the parent lab power talks, and I would love for your readers to have this discount code that will put in the show notes and my book, anti racism and universal design for learning is available anywhere books are sold.
Super excited about that. There is a new resource that I have coming out with my friend, shout out to Jen Alexander. She is an expert in, trauma sensitive education. And so we teamed up to really think about how to disrupt racial harm with universal design for learning and intentional anti racism in a trauma sensitive classroom.
Through Brooks publishing on January 13th, lots of good stuff,
[00:46:20] Brittney Carey: And I will link all of that down in the show notes. so if you’re curious and you want that discount code, it’ll be right there for you. again, thank you so much for joining me. I’m going to have to have you both back on in January to talk about this new book.
[00:46:34] Andratesha Fritzgerald: Yes.
[00:46:34] Brittney Carey: I cannot wait. it has been beautiful to hear from you and to learn from you.
And I just want to thank you so much for spending time with me today.
[00:46:43] Andratesha Fritzgerald: Thank you so much for sharing your heart with me. I’m so excited about what’s coming for Conscious Pathways.
[00:46:50] Brittney Carey: Thank you so much for tuning in to conscious pathways. I hope you enjoy that conversation with Teesha. I know. I truly did. I learned so many beautiful things throughout that conversation. And I think the thing that I’m walking away with from this conversation is just the power. That can come when you’re incorporating both parents and students into that classroom. and you’re really looking at how you can use these as strengths, how you can use their perspectives and their backgrounds and these ideas and your students’ special interests.
You can use that as a strength in your classroom. To help propel them into success.I know that universal design for learning. I know I have been yapping at about it on the podcast for probably months now. , so you could only imagine, , my friends and family who are in my life, who just get to hear about me yapping about this all the time, but it’s something that I do think is revolutionizing education and it can be a really powerful tool and really powerful force for. Just the way education can go and the power of education. I want to thank you so much for listening.
Don’t forget to like share and subscribe conscious pathways, wherever you get your podcast.
Join the Patrion community that is linked in the show notes as well. I’m brainstorming some different additions that I can add to the patron unity, but that’s really going to be a space for. cultivating community and cultivating togetherness. I really want to craft a conscious community of individuals who are like-minded, who really want to see change and really want to reimagine education. And so if that sounds like you come join us over there, let me know what you want to see in that community.
What’s important to you. I really want to make sure that it’s tailored to all of us.
Let me know. What you thought of this episode? , if you’re listening on Spotify, you can add a comment in the comment section. I can’t reply to those comments, but I can see them. And I love reading them. You can also reach out on any of the social medias on Instagram, Tiktok, LinkedIn, YouTube.
So let me know what you thought of this episode. What did you learn? What are you going to incorporate into your day-to-day life from that conversation? Did you learn something new? Was it something you already knew about?
Let me know. I love hearing feedback from you all. And on that note, don’t forget to navigate your conscious journey with courage and kindness, and I’ll see you there for more transformative conversations. Bye.