Drivers for Change – Engage in Ongoing Learning

Equity Framework > Drivers for Change > Engage in Ongoing Learning

It is important for organizations and individuals working to address equity issues to:

• reflect,
• identify gaps, and
• improve their own practices.

Equity-focused learning has the biggest impact when it is continuous and sustained. This highlights the importance of:

• integrating learning into communities of practice,
• in-service trainings,
• leadership programs,
• coaching and mentorship relationships,
• and on-going reflective practice.

An organizations’ practices and policies are all further supported by:

• deepening knowledge and understanding of historical systems of inequity;
• building vocabularies and awareness around identity, privilege, and structures of power;
• and learning about approaches that contribute to equity.

It is important to note that professional learning should happen alongside, not instead of, changing practices and doing the work itself.

Adapted from:

1. Racial Equity Tools – Organizational Capacity Building. Retrieved from
   https://www.racialequitytools.org/act/sustaining/organizational-capacity-building
2. Next Gen Professional Learning Project: Professional Learning Sequences Designing for Equity. Retrieved from
   https://www.nextgenlearning.org/equity-toolkit/professional-learning

Further Reading / Additional Resources:

What is organisational culture? What do we mean by culture of learning? COCo (the Centre for Community Organizations):
https://coco-net.org/organisational-culture/

Sample Tools:

Toronto For All is a public education initiative to generate dialogue among Toronto residents. The campaign supports building knowledge and skills to identify, question and challenge systemic barriers through a multi-staged conversational approach.

https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/get-involved/community/toronto-for-all/