Severn News

Severn Reflects on Identity & Inclusion with Dr. Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee

9/28/2015

Experienced educator and diversity consultant Rosetta Eun Ryong Lee addressed Middle and Upper Schoolers around issues of bias recently. Dr. Lee worked with faculty and staff during Friday's professional development day to further the conversation of identity. She led the various groups in several activities intended to help us reflect on our own attitudes and bias around issues of socio-economic class, gender, sexuality, race, and religion.

"In the Middle School, the students embraced the activities, and it was clear that the students felt affirmed and some were especially courageous during the exercise," reflected Middle School Head Dan Keller.

She challenged the groups to think about how we learn about our various group identities like female, African American, Buddhist, homosexual, middle class, etc. From whom do we learn the meaning of these terms? What messages have we internalized about ourselves and others? What are the differences that result in one person having a healthy self identity and another person experiencing own-group shame and hatred? Learn how we can co-author the identity development of youth and each other to progress toward positive success for all.

"Rosetta was particularly keen and effective on conveying ways to be inclusive in our curriculum design," continued Keller.

Since 2004, Rosetta has been a diversity speaker and trainer on a variety of issues, including cross cultural communication, identity development, prejudice reduction and coalition building, gender and sexuality diversity, facilitation skills, bullying in schools, and gender bias in the classroom. Rosetta has presented at numerous conferences and nonprofit organizations such as the White Privilege Conference, Junior League, and City Year. She has also worked with over 100 K-12 public and independent schools throughout the country, as well as a number of colleges and universities. She has served several years on the faculty of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Diversity Leadership Institute, as well as NAIS' diversity think-tank cadre, Call to Action.

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