“Power and Empowerment: Honoring By Decision and Design” was the title of the CAST UDL session by Andratesha Fritzgerald. The session used Peardeck and started with a question: “If you could be on a reality TV show, which one would you choose and why?” Slides were shared at: https://bit.ly/fritz72722 Fritzgerald is the author of a best-selling book and an international speaker. They also started by thanking the captioners and inviting the audience to personalize their space: “take fifteen seconds to personalize the environment to be ready to focus…” I like this approach and could use it in courses! Fritzgerald spoke about honoring each learner to have the decision-making power to be free to focus. Andratesha Fritzgerald is the Founder of Building Blocks of Brilliance and the author of a CAST book. They began by thanking the kindergarten teacher that helped them on their journey. The goals they shared for the session were: define power and honor, evaluate power-filled choices and the implications of power in design, and co-create a community that uses power to honor.” Fritzgerald asked us to listen to three stories and think about: “Where is the power? Is there a power shift? Where is there honor?” In one story Fritzgerald said a memorable phrase: “her gift was welcome, but her presence was not.” They spoke about using powerful positions to change the brain. Fritzgerald defined stereotype threat and stated that power in action is awareness of voice and the value placed. Then, they gave five minutes to pause and think: “whose voice has your power dismissed? I know I have dismissed some when enthralled by a topic or because “we need to stick to time limits.” Fritzgerald spoke about recognizing and honoring:
Honor is empowering each member of the learning community daily in structures, supports and choices. Inviting members of the learning community into positions of power, authority and decision making – even if that means taking yourself out of power.
Andratesha Fritzgerald, UDL Symposium 2022
Some respectful practices that align with this practice are seating choices, camera options, participation, and extension activities. They also shared a “wheel of power and priviledge” in the form of a graphic by Sylvia Duckworth. Fritzgerald asked: are you listening safely by protecting yuor head, obeying traffic lights and laws, looking out for other listerners, and using your signals? Fritzgerals spoke about a culture that values honor instead of power. I thought it was really interesting that in a culture of power, Fritzgerald mentioned tha temotions are seen as destructive. They ended the presentation by narrating a video of an Olympic runner getting injured and being supported by others to continue. They mentioned the book they authored about antiracism that is now on my reading list!
