By Dr. Kim Pinckney
The establishment of partnerships is crucial for the NJEA Consortium for several key reasons:
- Breadth and Depth of Expertise: The consortium’s goal of infusing historically marginalized identities into K-12 teaching and learning requires a wide range of knowledge and perspectives. Partnerships with “over 25 prestigious educational institutions and social justice advocacy organizations” provide this diverse expertise. Educational institutions contribute pedagogical knowledge and curriculum development skills, while social justice organizations offer critical insights into the experiences and needs of marginalized communities.
- Authenticity and Relevance: By collaborating with organizations rooted in social justice advocacy, the consortium ensures that the curriculum and professional development are authentic, relevant and accurately represent historically marginalized identities. This prevents a superficial or tokenistic approach to inclusion.
- Community Building and Engagement: The initiative “goes beyond curriculum; it is about building strong community relationships.” Partnerships are fundamental to this. By working with various organizations, the consortium can tap into existing community networks, build trust and foster a sense of shared ownership in the effort to make New Jersey’s diverse population see themselves in schools’ teachings.
- Resource Augmentation: Partnerships can bring in additional resources, including funding, materials, and human capital, which are essential for a large-scale, multi-year initiative like this grant.
- Sustained Impact: Collaborations with established institutions and organizations can help ensure the long-term sustainability and impact of the consortium’s work. These partnerships can create a lasting infrastructure for continued efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion within New Jersey’s education system.
In essence, these partnerships transform the consortium from a singular entity into a powerful, interconnected network, maximizing its capacity to achieve its ambitious goals of fostering understanding, action, and justice in K-12 education.
With that being said, we are excited to announce the following two partnerships which are now official.
Word Seed, Inc.
Word Seed, Inc.’s mission is to give voice and support to writers of every age and skill level within our diverse communities. We believe that literacy has the power to craft the trajectory of a person’s life. Our vision is to ensure that everyone has both the access and the tools to use words. We start with the seed which is basic literacy in very young children and continue our exploration into the many blooms and blossoms that language as an artistic expression of the mature writer. The NJEA Consortium is happy to continue partnering with Word Seed, Inc. as they not only contribute to our Content Scholar Talk series but will also grace the Consortium space on the NJEA Convention Hall Floor with poetry uplifting underrepresented voices. The NJEA Consortium is also ecstatic to be a partial supporter of the Paterson Poetry Festival, which is an annual celebration of words, writers, and poetry lovers. The festival was founded in 2018 and has been hosted ever since on the stairs of the Historic Passaic County Courthouse in downtown Paterson. Visit their website to learn more: https://www.wordseedinc.org/
Rethinking Schools
Rethinking Schools is a nonprofit publisher and advocacy organization dedicated to sustaining and strengthening public education through social justice teaching and education activism. Their magazines, books, and other resources promote equity and racial justice in the classroom. They encourage grassroots efforts in our schools and communities to enhance the learning and well-being of our children and to build a broad democratic movement for social and environmental justice. The NJEA is proud to continue partnering with Rethinking Schools as they contribute to our Content Scholar Talk series and provide several pivotal workshops at NJEA Convention. Visit their website to learn more: https://rethinkingschools.org/