Cultural Curriculum Chat with Jebeh Edmunds

Season 6 Episode #15: Breaking Down Barriers: A Step-by-Step Guide to Inclusive Team Building

• Jebeh Edmunds

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This episode provides a comprehensive guide to building inclusive teams, highlighting the significance of fostering relationships and overcoming barriers to inclusion. We discuss practical strategies for creating environments where everyone feels valued and empowered, emphasizing the journey towards lasting change.

• Emphasizing the importance of continuous efforts in team building 
• Addressing the common misconception that inclusion is a quick fix 
• Identifying barriers to inclusion, including lack of representation and resistance to change 
• Introducing a step-by-step guide for assessing culture and implementing core values 
• Stressing the need for open communication and recognition of diversity 
• Encouraging immediate actionable steps towards promoting inclusion 
• Recognizing the long-term commitment required for effective inclusion 
• Concluding with an emphasis on resilience and ongoing learning in fostering inclusive environments

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Speaker 0:

Welcome to the Cultural Curriculum Chat Podcast. I'm your host, jeba Edmonds, and today we are diving into a crucial topic for educators, leaders and anyone passionate about fostering equity in their spaces inclusive team building. In this episode, we will break down barriers to inclusion and provide you with a practical, step-by-step guide to building teams where everyone feels valued, respected and empowered. So why inclusive team building matters? You might be asking me. Okay, jeb, in 2025, why are we still talking about how to build effective, inclusive team building? And it's all about building those significant relationships, building it in our schools, our workplaces and our communities.

Speaker 0:

Inclusive team building goes way beyond the surface level activities. A lot of us educators only stop after the first six weeks. We feel like we've built a classroom community, but then things come up and stuff comes up that are out of our control. But then there's some hiccups in it with how do we respond to certain types of dialogue, how do we respond to certain types of behaviors and how do we proactively build that classroom community that goes beyond our first six weeks of instruction. Another thing I want us to think about as leaders in the workforce how do we continue to have these inclusive team building activities that is accommodating to our families of colleagues that have to work from home or have to pick up their kid from a last-minute soccer tournament out of town. So there's so many of these options that I want you to really dive into thinking about and going above and beyond what has been the typical way of community building. Okay, and with that being said, by going above and beyond your typical community building, you will improve collaboration. You will also improve innovation.

Speaker 0:

When more diverse people are in our workforce, they are feeling that they can create and bring things to the collective group without being shunned, dismissed or even ignored, and that also enhance our trust and communication. Once you get to know each other beyond the surface level, you can have those type of courageous conversations with each other, and that also enhances communication of understanding how our colleagues are as individuals. Maybe some things that we talk about with our Clifton strengths and what we still are working on as individuals will also enhance our communication. That also leads to better outcomes for working in the classroom settings. Understanding your students' strengths and what they need to work on improves their overall well-being, and I want you to think about a team member who may be struggling, about a team member who may be struggling, maybe they are struggling with public speaking, but they really have a good grasp on what that project you're working on as a team. Maybe you might want to step up and share what the collective group has created together.

Speaker 0:

Also, as an educator, a lot of our students have insecurities about reading out loud in the classroom. Maybe what we used to do in my class is phone a friend and if you remember that old show who Wants to Be a Millionaire, I would say okay, phone a friend who would want to read out loud for you. But then, once they do read out loud for you, you have to answer the first comprehension question out loud from the class. So that way they still have to pay attention and still share their voice collectively in the classroom.

Speaker 0:

Some common barriers to inclusion we all have to understand in this human experience, we all in our classroom settings Also understanding the lack of representation and leadership. A lot of people still feel that efforts of inclusion but it's not showing what inclusion looks like, as well as resistance to change. A lot of us feel like, when we do have those barriers in place, that we don't even want to get started. We get stuck in those barriers. But to assess the culture ahead of time, to say we know these barriers are going to be there. We also need to address those barriers, but it doesn't have an excuse to not get started.

Speaker 0:

I also want to share with you a step-by-step guide to inclusive team building and I want you to think about assessing your current culture. I have a inclusive workplace diagnostic that you can order on my website to get you started on assessing what it looks like for inclusivity and it talks about leadership, you as a staff and the neat thing is I can even walk you through as a directed service of how to interpret that inclusive workplace diagnostic and there'll be more information in the show notes of how to get started. So you need to assess the current culture. You need to also define your core values and your goals. As a classroom teacher, you have your own teacher philosophy, but does that align with your current classroom community that you have? That's another question. You can think about Fostering that open communication with our families, having those regular check-ins educators even sending a celebration email it doesn't always have to be negative communication with our families in your workforce.

Speaker 0:

Having those regular check-ins, those open town hall meetings that are not necessarily on the calendar will go a long way Providing your staff with the investment of inclusive workplaces, hiring practitioners like yours truly to get you started and having those facilitation in place of working to get that goal of inclusive team building, celebrating diversity and recognizing that there are cultural milestones that are not the majority culture milestones, that other contributions of diverse groups still exist, and to honor that and monitor and adapt to those changes as they come up. I want you to also recognize that there are lots of community spaces in organizations that have been doing things to monitor and adapt. For example, there are companies that have prayer rooms available for their Muslim employees, there are menus in school districts that are kosher and halal, adaptive to religious students and making sure that there are accommodations for all students that are going through their child nutrition in their school districts. There's so many different ways of how we can invite and include that could be very minimal and also having an investment to continue to do that work, and it all can be attainable no matter your budget.

Speaker 0:

I want you to identify one immediate action that you can take and promote inclusion with your team. It could be the examples that I have shared in this episode, or it could be something that you intrinsically want to try. Maybe there is a new book that is multilingual that you can share in your classroom tomorrow. Maybe there is a parent group that you want to invite into your classroom, that can come into your classroom in the next month that you can definitely try and include. Maybe there is a marketplace that is a diverse group that is willing to showcase their small business venture that your organization can partner with or sponsor to make sure that event is successful. There are so many to do, but I know you are committed to ongoing learning and reflection as you go.

Speaker 0:

I also want you to make sure, when you are trying something new, to know that this is a long-term effect. It's going to take time and there's going to be bumps on the road, and just trust in the fact that you are doing your best and you are getting started, and that's what I want you to continue to do. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode of the Cultural Curriculum Chat podcast and Mrs Edmond's Cultural Corner on my YouTube channel. So remember, by breaking down barriers and fostering inclusion, it isn't a one-time effort. It's an ongoing journey and I want you to implement these steps and you will not only strengthen your team or your classroom, but you'll also create lasting and meaningful change. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe and share it with others who are passionate about inclusion, and don't forget to download our free guide Top 10 Strategies to Promote Diversity, equity and Inclusion and Belonging in your Classroom for even more actionable insights. Until next time, stay inspired and keep building inclusive communities. Bye-bye now.