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Transformative Social-Emotional Learning: An Action Research Study on Supporting
Parents in a Predominantly White Community to Productively Advocate for Diversity,
Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Through Transformative Social-Emotional Learning
by

Anna Gralnik

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

August 2022

© Copyright by Anna Gralnik 2022
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Anna Gralnik 2022 certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Julie Slayton
John Pascarella
Artineh Samkian, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2022
iv
Abstract
This action research study aimed to examine how I, as a parent leader, could support parent
learners in a predominately White community hold courageous conversations with their parent
peers about equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice through the lens of Transformative
Social-Emotional learning. I created and facilitated an eight-session, three-month mentoring
cycle to help the parent learners build relational trust, engage in critical reflection, and participate
in courageous conversations in a brave space. This study took place at Pennekamp Elementary, a
TK–5 public school in Manhattan Beach, California, that serves predominately White students.
The research question guiding this self-study action research was: As a parent leader, how do I
support parent learners to productively advocate for transformative social-emotional learning as
a conduit to conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice in a predominately
White community? My conceptual framework, grounded in transformative social-emotional
learning theories and my andragogical moves, informed the construction, facilitation, and
revision of the action steps utilized to mentor the parent learners. My findings highlighted a
transformation in the parent learners' understanding of brave space and the importance of
creating conditions of brave space when facilitating courageous conversations. In addition, my
findings show an emerging understanding of self-awareness and social awareness. Further, my
findings showcased my growth and development as an aspiring leader. At the end of the study,
based on the findings, I created guided slide decks for the participants to use within the context
of the Dragon Circle, an event they created to productively advocate for transformative social-
emotional learning.

v
Dedication
To my Papachka, you passed before you could see me achieve what we have been dreaming of. I
will carry your name and legacy. I felt you every step of the way. You were there in those
moments where I wanted to give up but did not because I could hear your voice telling me,
"нужно заканчивать."

To my Mamachka, you are the strongest person I know. I love you so much, and I could not have
gone through this without your unconditional love.

To my beautiful sister, Natalie, whose humor, kindness, and generosity provided relief from
stressful moments yet encouraged me to keep going in her funny Nata way.

To my children, Shylee and Ebelle, who sat through every lecture and Zoom call with me. This
achievement is as much yours as it is mine. I wanted you to be proud of your Mama, so I pushed
through. Thank you for always believing in me, even though on many occasions I did not believe
in myself.

vi
Acknowledgement
Dr. Samkian, I would like to thank you for reading my numerous revisions and helping
me make sense of the confusion. I am incredibly grateful for your invaluable advice, continuous
support, patience during my dissertation process, incredible kindness, and sincere and selfless
support. You are an inspiration and a model of strength and determination. You are one of the
most amazing people I know, and I am incredibly grateful and fortunate to have had you guide
me through this process. I am eternally grateful.
Many thanks to my committee members, Dr. Slayton and Dr. Pascarella. Dr. Slayton,
thank you for your support throughout this process. Your feedback helped me step out of my
comfort zone, and it led me to gradually understand that there was much more that I was capable
of. Dr. Pascarella, I appreciate your feedback and perspective on improving my dissertation.
Finally, this would not have been possible without my fantastic, brave, incredibly
passionate participants. You inspired me to dig deep, push beyond my comfort zone, and believe
in myself. I appreciate your vulnerability, openness to my topic, and genuine care and support.

vii
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ........................................................................................................................................v
Acknowledgement ......................................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables ....................................................................................................................................x
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi
Historically Entrenched Inequity .....................................................................................................6
Historically Entrenched Inequity in My Context ...........................................................................10
Situating Self in Relation to the Chosen Inequity ..........................................................................17
Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................................19
Transformative Social-Emotional Learning (TSEL) .............................................................. 23
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) ...............................................................................23
Transformative Social-Emotional Learning .......................................................................24
Parent Leader Actions ............................................................................................................. 28
Assessing Ways of Knowing ..............................................................................................29
Modeling ............................................................................................................................32
Critical (Self)Reflection .....................................................................................................33
Adaptive Leadership ..........................................................................................................35
Parent Leader and Learner Interaction .................................................................................... 37
Build Relational Trust ........................................................................................................37
Courageous Conversations in a Brave Space.....................................................................39
Critical Reflection ..............................................................................................................40
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 41

viii
Research Methods ..........................................................................................................................42
Participants and Setting(s) ...................................................................................................... 44
Participants .........................................................................................................................45
Setting(s) of Action(s) ........................................................................................................50
Actions .................................................................................................................................... 51
Data Collection and Instruments/Protocols ............................................................................ 55
Documents and Artifacts ....................................................................................................56
Observational Fieldnotes ...................................................................................................58
Data Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 59
Limitations and Delimitations................................................................................................. 62
Credibility and Trustworthiness .............................................................................................. 64
Ethics....................................................................................................................................... 65
Findings..........................................................................................................................................66
Part 1: Supporting Parent Learners ......................................................................................... 67
Finding 1: Creating Conditions for the Parent Learners to Make Meaning of Brave Space
............................................................................................................................................68
Parent Learner Growth in Understanding Their Role as Active Facilitators .....................80
Finding 2: Using Personal Experiences to Develop an Understanding of Transformative
Social-Emotional Learning ................................................................................................88
Part 2: My Growth and Development ....................................................................................118
Finding 3: Challenge in Navigating a Parent Leader Role as a Teacher in my Organization
.......................................................................................................................................... 118
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 129

ix
Afterword .....................................................................................................................................130
Introduction to Leading Adult Learners ................................................................................ 130
Future Practice ...................................................................................................................... 131
Continue Working With the Parent Community ..............................................................131
Cultivating Brave Space ..................................................................................................132
References ....................................................................................................................................134
Appendix A: Initial Conceptual Framework ................................................................................145
Appendix B: Initial Action Plan ...................................................................................................146
Appendix C: Parent Learner Definitions of Brave Space ............................................................155
Appendix D: I Am From ..............................................................................................................156
Appendix E: Code Book ..............................................................................................................157

x
List of Tables
Table 1: Manhattan Beach Racial Composition 10
Table 2: Ways of Knowing 31
Table 3: Revised Planned Action Cycle 1 53
Table 4: Revised Planned Action Cycle 2 54
Table 5: Revised Planned Action Cycle 3 55
Table 6: Modeling I Am From Poem Version A and B 111
Table 7: I Am From Participant Examples 113
Appendix B: Initial Action Plan 144
Table E1: Codes 155
Table E2: Brave and Safe Space 157
Table E3: Transformative Social-Emotional Learning 157
Table E4: Building Relational Trust 158
Table E5: Intersecting Identities 158
Table E6: Positionality 159
Table E7: Ways of Knowing 159
Table E8: Participant Reflection 160
Table E9: Parent Leader Reflection 161

xi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework 23
Appendix A: Initial Conceptual Framework 143
Appendix C: Parent Learner Definitions of Brave Space 153

1
Transformative Social-Emotional Learning: An Action Research Study on Supporting
Parents in a Predominantly White Community to Productively Advocate for Diversity,
Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Through Transformative Social-Emotional Learning
I am not an expert on race, religion, or other social characteristics that often prompt
social justice issues. However, I am a life-long learner of these social issues with a commitment
to continuously critically reflect on my assumptions and biases and to interrogate the privileges I
have as a White female educator. In doing so, I am dedicated to researching the self, exploring
the self in relation to others, and shifting from self to system (Milner, 2007) to use what I learn to
address social justice issues. As an educator, my commitment to students stems from my
experiences as a student who desperately tried to find and understand her identity, which had
implications for how I performed as a student. The first seven years of my schooling experience
were abroad under religious and political prejudice and discrimination against my faith, Judaism,
and then later, experiencing discrimination as an immigrant in Israel and the United States. These
experiences happened outside of my control and were the catalyst for perspective transformation.
They triggered thoughts and emotions that contributed to a long search of self during which I
constantly questioned how I am positioned and accepted in the world; it was my "disorienting
dilemma" (Merriam & Bierema, 2014, p. 130).
I was born in Russia when it was still considered the Soviet Union. There, I was
marginalized due to my religion. I am Jewish by birth, history, culture, and political ideology
(Zionism). My religious beliefs created a risk to my educational experiences. When my
elementary school (at that time, run according to Communist ideologies) discovered that my
family was leaving “Mother Russia” for a Zionist country (Israel), they forbade me to attend
school. I missed a year of instruction. How I knew reality from that moment was rooted deeply

2
in anti-Semitism, and for me, it manifested in the action of not allowing me to attend school.
Thus, the message was loud and clear: I did not belong in the school, in my class, and I felt like
an outsider in my own school community. My schooling experience was rooted in educators
exercising authoritative leadership (Slayton & Mathis, 2010) in relation to their students, not
once challenging or questioning the status quo. It was the norm to discriminate against Jewish
children and families. The word еврей (Jew) was not only a religious identification, but also an
identity marker that carried consequences. In a non-democratic educational system, it was the
norm to silence ethnic and political minorities and give power to those who were already
dominant.
Immigrating with my family to Israel as Soviets created additional, albeit different,
marginalization. This time, I was “not Jewish enough.” I was now an immigrant, and immigrants
were viewed as low class, people with funny accents, having a backward mentality, and job
stealers. I quickly learned to hide my Russian accent, I rarely spoke in class, and I refused to
speak Russian with my parents. My teachers made no attempts to get to know me or even inquire
about my wellbeing. My teachers’ positionality “as real Israelis” who held dominant status
created a bias for how they viewed me: Russian immigrant, language learner, slow reader,
unmotivated. My teachers embraced a deficit mindset instead of welcoming my culture and
experiences as an asset. The teachers did not adjust their teaching in ways that responded
effectively to my cultural learning and social needs (Khalifa, 2016), and they appeared
unconcerned that I had poor grades. They could not understand that some students were poorly
served, ignoring discrepant results in the school (Lindsey & Lindsey, 2016). After 10 years, my
parents felt the need to emigrate to the United States for a better life, creating an “immigrant part
deux” experience.

3
In my early teens, I continued to struggle with my identity. Immigrating to the United
States created additional identity confusion I did not consider before moving; for example,
classifying myself as White. Culture, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status continue to be
used as determinants of social status and are key defining aspects of identity in the United States
(Jagers et al., 2019). Until moving to the United States, I did not know what it meant to be White
or what the term White meant. In relation to others around me, I was always positioned as a
Russian Jew – that was all I knew about my race. I constantly searched for the box that classified
me as Russian or Jewish. I later discovered that all of that meant White. Previously, I did not
hold privilege because I was a Jew and because I was an immigrant; now, I hold privilege in the
United States because I am White. I did not initially know what any of that meant, because I still
believed I did not belong when I attended school. I clung to my positionality as a small
immigrant girl from Russia and Israel, and I remained silent. Once again, I experienced teachers
not creating a space for all students to feel welcomed. Popular children, athletes, and smart
children received all the praise and attention from the teacher. I was not one of those students;
thus, I did not feel a sense of belonging. Sense of belonging or connectedness represents a
fundamental need for relatedness with others (Jagers et al., 2019). I did not feel accepted and
included by the teachers. I lacked the feeling of school connectedness and emotional engagement
(Gillen-O’Neel & Fuligni, 2013). Similarly, my parents also felt disconnected from the school
community and were not labeled as “involved parents.” My parents’ main focus was to provide
food and shelter for the family, to work hard, and to not cause trouble. If I failed at school, it was
on the pretext that I did not try hard enough or lacked specific skills or that I was simply “not
good” at school. I developed a deficit mindset about myself as a student, which I continually
work on disrupting.

4
As an educator, in my own classroom, I aspire to create a caring, supportive learning
environment that includes relational trust and respect for and among students. Therefore,
promoting transformative social-emotional learning (TSEL) opportunities across all subjects is
vital. The social and emotional learning (SEL) framework fosters knowledge, skills, and attitudes
that establish equitable environments that advance student learning and development
(http://CASEL.org). Transformative SEL builds strong, respectful relationships founded on
appreciating similarities and differences in people and develops collaborative solutions to
community and social problems (Jagers et al., 2018). In addition to educating children,
partnering with parents in my classroom is essential as this creates a sense of belonging for them
within my classroom. My own parents could not talk to anyone or seek support from other
parents because, as a Jew, you carry a sense of fear you might be harmed physically or
emotionally. Due to a litany of innate faults, anti-Semites believe Jews are not entitled to the
same rights or considerations as other people, including self-determination (Kosmin & Keysar,
2015). As an educator, I have learned that my students’ parents are just as important to my
success as a teacher, and my ability to partner with them and make them feel included is critical.
In the current political context, in which emotions related to race and racism and other
social divisions are high, the importance of and need for TSEL is clear. In my current work
context, a predominantly White community, many community members and parents reject words
and concepts such as inclusion, equity, and diversity and pushback at educators’ attempts to
create safe, equitable classrooms for all students. This pushback reveals an underlying
discomfort and fear. How parents express their feelings and emotions can have a ripple effect on
their children, whether directly or indirectly, through pressures on the education system. As such,
with my school’s parent community, I aspire to become a parent leader and engage in a

5
partnership with them to explore how best to create a school community that is inclusive and
equitable, starting in my classroom, extending to my school site, and later to the school
community. If valued and incorporated, the knowledge families bring can have an instrumental
effect on how schools create an equitable learning environment (Williams & Jagers, 2022).
I will need to honor and extend my students’ families’ current worldviews and
educational understandings while simultaneously helping them develop the internal capacity to
discuss potentially sensitive topics such as race, identity, and social justice (Drago-Severson &
Blum-DeStefano, 2019). Using the lens of TSEL can empower families to play a critical role in
finding solutions for making schools safe and equitable for their children and diverse learners
(Williams & Jagers, 2022). When I was growing up, my own parents were not actively engaged
in or invited by my teachers to make school a more positive experience for me. At that time, too,
SEL was not considered a critical piece in the puzzle of learning. Therefore, as a parent leader, I
aim to build stronger partnerships between educators and parents to ensure that students and their
families do not feel excluded. To do this, I aim to promote TSEL as a conduit to justice-oriented
conversations.
Transformative SEL recognizes inequities that marginalize many people from various
walks of life. (TSEL) suggests that individuals should go beyond being prosocial to their
neighbor but participate in actions that attempt to resist, disrupt, and dismantle the
inequities perpetuated by the dominant culture that keeps their neighbor in an oppressed,
marginalized position. (Jagers et al., 2019, p. 2)
From this perspective, TSEL can serve as a channel to bring together the appropriate
stakeholders to improve the spaces in which youth and adults are developing and interacting, so
they all can achieve their fullest potential and thrive (Williams & Jagers, 2022).

6
My intersectional identity and experiences as a young girl looking for her place in the
world motivates me to create change in my organization and in my community. Upon reflection,
my experiences are similar to others who have been discriminated against because of their
religion, ethnicity, and race. I have also come to realize that I identify as a White female, and I
hold certain privileges because of that. It is very easy to conceal my identity as a Jew and stay in
my White space. Perhaps this was the case with my teachers, school site, and community
members; it was easier for them to remain in their privileged space and maintain their dominant
ideologies than to disrupt them. Maybe they were simply unaware of how empowering or
comforting TSEL could have been for students like me. “Since all individuals who live within a
racist system are enmeshed in its relations, this means that all are responsible for either
perpetuating or transforming the system” (Robin, 2011, p. 66).
In the next section, I elaborate on the historically entrenched inequities I address in this
study, examine how they are expressed in my context, and explain my role in relation to it.
Through this understanding, I examine the following research question: As a parent leader, how
do I support parent learners to productively advocate for transformative social-emotional
learning as a conduit to conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice in a
predominately White community?
Historically Entrenched Inequity
Schools are places where racial hierarchies are created and reproduced. The knowledge of
the upper- and middle classes is considered capital valuable to a hierarchical society. Suppose
one is not born into a family whose knowledge is already deemed valuable. In that case, one
could access the knowledge of the middle- and upper classes and, thus, the potential for social
mobility through formal schooling (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977, as cited in Yosso, 2005). Yosso

7
(2005) explains that the assumption that hierarchical society reproduces itself has often been
interpreted to explain why the academic and social outcomes of minoritized students are
significantly lower than the outcomes of Whites. The assumption follows that people of color
“lack” the social and cultural capital required for social mobility. As a result, schools most often
work from this assumption in structuring ways to help “disadvantaged” students whose race and
class background has left them lacking the necessary knowledge, social skills, abilities, and
cultural capital (Yosso, 2005). Similar to other mainstream U.S. cultural institutions, schools tend
to reproduce these social arrangements via a “one-sidedness” (Samad, 2009, p. 11) curricular
practice that allows Whites total dominance to access the curriculum. Despite conversations on
equity and equality, the policies in place continue to advance White students while holding back
other students based on their skin color and race. According to the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP), the reading score for California 4
th
grade Black students in 2019
was, on average, 26 points lower than that of White students. This performance gap was not
significantly different from that in 2000 (33 points). In 2019, Hispanic students had an average
score 25 points lower than that of White students. Again, this performance gap was not
significantly different from that in 2000 (27 points).
Efforts at advancing a more inclusive and equitable curriculum have resulted in what
Ladson-Billings (2006) explains as culture fetishism, which undermines education policy and,
thus, is colorblind. Colorblindness refers to the racism that shields White privilege and deploys
justifications for racial inequality that distance White people from blame or responsibility while
placing it solely on people of color (Bonilla-Silva, 2010). Despite a recent decrease in the
enrollment of White students in public schools, colorblind perspectives in the curriculum and
school policies continue to shape understandings of race and racism within educational contexts

8
(Knowles & Hawkman, 2020). Non-White students learn about the contributions of White male
mathematicians and scientists, read books by White authors, study American history through the
lens of the White Founding Fathers and White male entrepreneurs and White hero figures
(Ferlazo, 2019). This perspective contributes to a hegemonic understanding (Picower, 2009) that
reproduces White-dominant-narrative claims such as “I do not see color” and “my students are
all the same in my eyes.” In attempts to treat all students equally, teachers often fail to
acknowledge the Whiteness of their curriculum, pedagogy, and discourse. Bonilla-Silva (2010)
warns that colorblindness coopted the language of cultural responsiveness, equity, diversity, and
inclusion to support efforts that lead to more harm than good. Colorblindness prevents teachers
from seeing their complicity in the marginalization of students of color (Blaisdell, 2005). Whites’
explanations are, ultimately, justifications for the current racial situation as they see no reason for
any type of intervention to ameliorate the extent of racial inequality. However, Whites’
contemporary racial discourse makes them “look good” as they no longer sound “racist”
(Bonilla-Silva, 2015). Bonilla-Silva (2015) refers to this position as abstract liberalism:
“Abstract liberalism is the core frame of this ideology and incorporates the notion of liberalism
in an abstract and decontextualized manner. By employing this frame, Whites appear
‘reasonable’ and ‘moral’” (Bonilla-Silva, 2015, p. 1364) while opposing all forms of intervention
to deal with racial inequality. Therefore, the reproduction of a colorblind society continues to
marginalize, exclude, diminish, and dismiss students who do not look White. Without
recognizing that colorblindness is a myth and that U.S. institutions are created for, and thus, most
benefit Whites (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002), society risks perpetuating the stigma that non-Whites
are inadequate. In school contexts, this position leads to deficit ideologies (Milner, 2007) and the

9
failure to provide equitable opportunities for students to succeed, ultimately informing how
students access the curriculum and learn.
This ideology inadvertently creates a place for White students to understand, both
consciously and unconsciously, their dominant standing in society, reproducing a racist ideology
that remarginalizes those who are non-White. Racism that hides under the façade of
colorblindness inflicts harm on the marginalized and can induce acculturative stress, stereotype
threat, alienation, institutional mistrust, and disengagement, which undermine success in school
(Jagers et al., 2019). Culturally and linguistically diverse students encounter unwarranted low
expectations, experiences of cultural mismatch, discrimination, microaggressions, and implicit
biases from peers and adults (Allen et al., 2013), causing social alienation. Thus, it is necessary
to consider a form of SEL to transform individuals, interactions, and institutions in ways that
support optimal human development and function for young people and adults regardless of
circumstances or backgrounds (Jagers et al., 2018).
School belonging is particularly important for supporting developmental outcomes
(Jagers et al., 2019). Sense of belonging or connectedness represents a fundamental need for
relatedness with others (Baumeister & Leary, 1995) and is, thus, foundational to healthy human
functioning across developmental periods and contexts. School belonging is one of the more
important factors associated with students’ social and emotional wellbeing, academic self-
efficacy and motivation, and school satisfaction (Jagers et al., 2019, p. 171). As such, using
TSEL as a lever for equity is critical when cultivating identity, belonging, and curiosity among
young people and adults (Jagers et al., 2021). If an individual does not understand who they are
in the world, they cannot effectively manage themselves or their emotions, relate to others to

10
determine how they will be in relationships, nor make responsible decisions that benefit
themselves or the larger group (Williams & Jagers, 2022).
Jagers et al. (2019) explain, “Transformative SEL represents an as-yet underutilized
approach that SEL researchers and practitioners can use if they seek to effectively address issues
such as power, privilege, prejudice, discrimination, social justice, empowerment, and self-
determination” (p. 163). Transformative SEL needs to be part of an effort to address issues of
equity and excellence for diverse groups of youth learning in diverse settings (Williams &
Jagers, 2022).
Historically Entrenched Inequity in My Context
My school district, Manhattan Beach Unified (MBUSD), is located on the beautiful
coastline of Southern California. The average household income in Manhattan Beach is
$251,717, and the median rental cost in recent years was $2,628 per month. The most recent
American Community Survey (ACS) outlines the racial composition of Manhattan Beach as
displayed in Table 1.
Table 1
Manhattan Beach Racial Composition
White 78.21%
Asian 13.48%
Two or more races 5.57%
Other race 1.88%
Black or African American 0.54%
Native American 0.22%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 0.10%

11
Note. Source: Adapted from U.S. Census, 2019
Students attending MBUSD range from transitional kindergarten (TK) to Grade 12, and
the majority of the students are residents of Manhattan Beach. The district rarely grants permits
to students who live outside Manhattan Beach. As is true with any dominant ideology, the point
is to retain the ability to maintain control of commonly shared resources and to decide how such
resources are allocated (Brookfield & Hess, 2021). Racial inequity is reproduced by preserving
Whiteness and White racial identities while perpetuating highly racially segregated
neighborhoods (Lewis, 2001) and denying students who are nonaffluent, non-White residents a
high-quality education while ensuring that the structural dominance of White people is viewed as
normal and correct (Brookfield & Hess, 2021). Of the 6542 enrolled students, 61.2% were White
in the most recent district data. Of the 309 teachers, 78.6% were White (California Department
of Education, n.d.).
Working in a predominantly White affluent school district poses many challenges when
discussing students’ race, class, gender, cultures, and ethnicity. Manhattan Beach Unified is a
largely racially homogenous school district. Even if the community members commit themselves
to justice-oriented citizenship, peers and families express concern and encourage a resistant
response (Swalwell, 2013). In the context of more recent conversations about equity, justice, and
inclusion, many in predominantly White communities believe these topics threaten the structure
of White privilege in their school’s community, dismissing the conscious effort to transform and
affect change in the community. When people draw close to the pain of racism, the prospect of
unleashing strong emotions is enough to cause many to want to retreat from any type of
discussion (Brookfield & Hess, 2021). In a public comment submitted on June 2, 2021, for
example, a parent expressed the following:

12
The students should be taught respect and kindness, but the source of their identity
(addressed in the social justice standards adopted this past summer) is not the school’s
responsibility to teach. As for our family and others I know, our faith heavily shapes
identity, and we believe it is God-given as opposed to self-selected. I don’t expect the
school to teach my Christian faith, nor will I support the school teaching views that align
with critical race theory as the only way to view the world and race. (Public comment 1)
Given that White parents often make such comments, educators in predominantly White
or conservative communities are often fearful of parent pushback when addressing issues of race;
thus, concealing justice-oriented topics under multiculturalism, inclusion, love, and kindness. I
often hear my White colleagues and parents say, “I do not see race,” “I treat all my students the
same, “or “I love all children.” Although these statements have the appearance of being inclusive
and not racist, they send a message that there is an unwillingness to acknowledge that racism in
schooling exists (Swanson & Welton, 2019). In doing so, educators and community members
perpetuate a colorblind ideology. In a recent informal conversation with high school students,
they shared that some of their non-White friends feel isolated, wondering if they belong because
of their race, ethnicity, and/or gender identity. A biracial female student shared an experience she
had while visiting a recreation center in Manhattan Beach. She explained that Manhattan Beach
residents pay only two dollars to enter the recreation facilities. When she approached the cashier,
she was asked to pay 10 dollars: a non-resident fee. Puzzled, she told the cashier she was a
resident and should be charged the usual two-dollar fee. The student recounted how stunned the
cashier was that she was a Manhattan Beach resident, shockingly asking, “You live in Manhattan
Beach?” The female student shared that it was not the first time she had experienced this: “It
happens to many of the non-White students who live in Manhattan Beach.” She added, “and not

13
only in the community but also at school.” Much like my own experience, non-White students,
who are in the minority, often do not experience a sense of belonging in their own community.
Another incident in the Manhattan Beach community tells the story of Malissia Clinton, a
Manhattan Beach resident, who was on a business trip in 2015 when she received a disturbing
call from her husband, Ronald. Someone had thrown a burning car tire at their Manhattan Beach
house, igniting the front door. After getting their three children to safety, Ronald doused the
flames with a garden hose. The Clintons are African American. Manhattan Beach has virtually no
minority population, and it remained that way for a long, long time.
As a response to this shameless act, on April 5, 2017, the Board of Trustees adopted
Resolution 2017-14, designating MBUSD as an inclusive, safe, and welcoming district, ensuring
a protected space for all students to learn (mbusd.org). However, giving a directive by the district
to hang an inclusion poster in our classroom does not make us an inclusive community
combating social justice. Some community members often lack the competencies to address and
understand the needs of students and families from different racial backgrounds. For instance,
many community members have never attended schools with individuals of a different race or
lived in cross-racial neighborhoods. Thus, their understanding of racially diverse students may be
vague, meaning conversations about equity, justice, and inclusion appear secondary or
insignificant to them (Milner, 2007).
Acts of racism are not new to Manhattan Beach. An article titled A Black family got their
beach back — and inspired others to fight against land theft, spoke about an African American
couple named Charles and Willa Bruce who owned land a century ago. The couple built a
beachfront resort called Bruce’s Beach Lodge in 1912 and welcomed Black beachgoers.
According to Hajek et al. (2021), the Bruce’s were run out of Manhattan Beach and forced to

14
shut down their thriving resort. The city seized their property, and they lost their fortune. For
years, the land was owned by the county of Los Angeles until September 2021, when California
passed a law that allowed the property to be transferred back to the couple’s descendants. It has
taken nearly a century for the state of California to acknowledge this injustice. On September 30,
2021, a crowd gathered in Manhattan Beach to watch Governor Gavin Newsom sign SB 797 into
law. The bill returns Bruce’s Beach (now estimated to be worth around $75 million) to Willa and
Charles Bruce’s descendants (Meares, 2022).
In a recent school board workshop centered on diversity, equity, inclusion, and social
justice, alumni student survey results were shared, revealing that 20.42% of students felt
discrimination based on race, 23.19% felt discrimination based on gender, 11.53% felt
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, 5.69% felt discrimination based
on disability, 9.03% felt discrimination based on religion, and 30.14% did not personally
experience discrimination. An alum from the class of 2019 shared, “There is a culture of racism
and discrimination ingrained deep within the MBUSD. I never told anyone about the years of
racism and homophobia I dealt with because I knew nothing would ever actually be done about
it.” An alum from the class of 2014 shared, “It’s not just the students. I can recall multiple
instances of racism and harassment from students where teachers were silent witnesses—and in
some cases, even justified and encouraged this behavior.” As an organization, we must pause,
reflect, and interrogate how we allowed this to happen. What messages are being sent to our
students, staff, and community? Why is the community supporting this? Furthermore, although
the non-White population is relatively small compared with the White students in the
community, their experiences of discrimination also signal important messages to the majority
White students, who can use them to learn how to treat their peers. If the experiences of the non-

15
White student population go unrecognized, especially by their peer group, this contributes to the
maintenance and legitimation of Whiteness, which have multiple and varied implications for
students in both racially diverse and predominantly White school contexts (Castagno, 2008).
Caring and moral behavior must be modeled (Elias et al., 2006). For a student to achieve
social, emotional, and academic goals, the school, the parents, and the community must act
consonantly and collaborate to develop TSEL in the children. In such a culture, the classrooms,
schools, and communities are safe havens for children and engaging sources of partnership for
parents. As a parent leader, I advocate building relational trust and a partnership with parents in
the community to improve efforts to participate in courageous conversations through the lens of
TSEL. I argue that this approach enables authentic discourse among the parent community on
race, gender identity, and other social-justice domains. Recently, parents have communicated
wanting to address these issues with their own parent community, to work in partnership with the
district to bring about positive change. These parents want to ensure that all students in our
district feel welcomed and valued, feelings that are central to establishing students’ psychological
and academic wellbeing (Kumar et al., 2018).
In June 2021, at a monthly board meeting held at MBUSD, a parent shared the following
public comment:
As a parent of (2) 11-year-olds (Twins), I want to go on record saying I FIRMLY
SUPPORT CRT [critical race theory] being taught in classrooms in Manhattan beach. The
views expressed in an email from MBSTRONG21 that I received are NOT shared by
myself or my partner. The parent’s email below expresses a highly segregated view of
Manhattan Beach schools - FROM THE LETTER: “Parents left the school system due to
the bad decisions made by the Board this last year, and the Board compounds the problem

16
with another bad decision by bringing in more kids from outside Manhattan Beach!”
Ironically, it’s statements like the above that prove the reason we need CRT in schools.
I'm not sure why this parent is so fearful of “outsiders,” but that in itself is racist and
troubling. As Gay Men, we would be considered “outsiders.” With the support of the
school system, we have been welcomed into the community. I would HOPE that any
student who happens to live outside our “bubble” that can benefit from our amazing
education would also be welcomed and not vilified.
Such opposing views in the community create barriers to teaching and learning. Ideally,
the topic of race and racism can push White educators to examine their assumptions and biases
about minoritized individuals and the possible role they play in maintaining the structures of
racism (Robin, 2011). However, White educators in predominantly White or conservative
communities are often fearful of parent pushback when confronting issues of race. Therefore,
recognizing and understanding the tension that exists for people and schools regarding
hegemonic beliefs is essential to address (Williams & Jagers, 2022). The concept of TSEL can be
a means for parents to become educated on, explore, and prioritize ideas of equity in a less
triggering way. This approach can result in a partnership with teachers to advocate for and use a
social justice curriculum in their classroom, rather than defensively reacting to an equitable,
diverse, and inclusive curriculum. Promoting TSEL as a conduit to social justice conversations
can reflect the perspectives, cultures, and values of all students and families (Jagers et al., 2020).
Establishing supportive relationships with families means that students and parents are actively
engaged in collaboration with teachers and other district staff to prioritize social-justice curricula
through the lens of transformative SEL.

17
Situating Self in Relation to the Chosen Inequity
Since I have a strong passion for social justice, the school board members appointed me
to serve on an advisory committee that includes parents, both classified and certificated staff, and
administration for the MBUSD Equity, Diversity, Social Justice, and Inclusion (EDSJI)
Committee. I have been asked to create team-building activities for the start of each committee
meeting. My position on the EDSJI Committee enables me to model a caring, supportive,
learning environment through team-building activities by using the content of TSEL to drive
interactions. In this role, I can establish a partnership with parents who support equity, diversity,
and inclusion initiatives but who are experiencing pushback from more conservative parents who
prefer to maintain the status quo. During the summer of 2021, I was approached by a group of
parents to help them work on a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee at my school
site. The parents came to me because they wanted to be proactive with the district’s mission of
inclusion and culture of care. They came to me because of my leadership role in the district’s
EDSJI committee. We brainstormed ideas about creating a similar committee at the school site,
Pennekamp Elementary, and I offered TSEL as an option for engaging in this larger mission of
inclusion and culture of care. The parents were very excited about that idea and wanted my help
to plan meaningful sessions with their parent peers to illuminate issues of equity in the district.
Through my study, I aim to support the parent learners to become advocates of transformative
social-emotional learning in the parent community as a way to accomplish the district’s vision of
inclusion and a culture of care.
Institutional change requires layers of analysis, self-reflection, and transformation, as
well as courage and collaboration (Brookfield & Hess, 2021) that challenge us to look into our
current behaviors and critically reflect on where we were counterproductive when advocating for

18
equity in our school community. As a parent leader, I aim to support parents in a predominately
White community to be advocates of TSEL so the district and community members do not
continue to reproduce colorblind ideologies, inadvertently reproducing dominant-narrative
ideologies, discriminating against the non-White community members, and modeling this
discriminatory practice for the White students in the school’s care.
I hope to continue volunteering my time to support eager groups of parents and build
their capacity to have courageous conversations with their parent peers. Through the content of
TSEL, parents can engage in vigilant self-awareness (Simmons, 2019), in which constant self-
reflection enhances their ability to disrupt White privilege when they see or enact it.
Additionally, through the content of TSEL, parents can develop their capacity for social
awareness. By acknowledging the social construct of race and racism, including the ideology of
White supremacy, the competencies of TSEL can assist the parent ally group to work with their
parent peers to recognize the problem, helping to prevent harmful or ignorant public comments.
Regarding my personal journey as a student, the teaching of TSEL could have helped me
feel more like I belonged when I was growing up. Brown (2017) states that when people “fit in,”
as opposed to “belong,” they acclimate to the situation instead of standing for their authentic self.
With the teachings of TSEL, people can stand in their authentic self by truly looking within and
understanding their values, thoughts, and emotions to build the capacity to communicate clearly,
to seek support, and to develop healthy relationships. In doing so, people may feel more
respected and valued for who they are as individuals and experience a sense of belonging that is
foundational to learning success (Jagers et al., 2018). Therefore, I aim to establish supportive
relationships between the community and the school site by supporting parent learners in

19
building their capacities to examine prejudices and biases (self-awareness) and to recognize
strengths in others (social awareness).
Conceptual Framework
In this section, I present my conceptual framework. The conceptual framework informs
my research through “a system of concepts, assumptions, expectations, beliefs, and theories”
(Maxwell, 2013, p. 39) regarding how I will use the content of TSEL when facilitating
courageous conversations with parents about social justice in a predominantly White school
community.
To address the historically entrenched inequity discussed above, it is important for
predominantly White communities to come to terms with and then work to disrupt racist
practices. In recent months, community and global protests have set a tone of growing concern
over equity issues. Although there are many more significant systemically and culturally rooted
forces at work, TSEL is an essential tool for fostering attitudes and actions that enhance equity
for all. The work of addressing historically entrenched inequities cannot be done by any single
group in a community. Although educational institutions have an important role to play, parents
also play a critical role in developing their children’s transformative social-emotional
competence. Parents in my school community approached me to work with them in bringing
issues of equity to their parent peers. I contend that to do this, relationship-building between
parents must be considered the first important step because “building relationships sets the stage
for difficult conversations that are sure to follow” (Swanson & Welton, 2019, p. 753).
Although it would certainly be appropriate to focus on and use the language of
“antiracism” to address the historically entrenched inequity at my school site and the community
in which it is situated, I will use TSEL as the content through which relationship-building and

20
courageous conversations can be fostered for two reasons. First, SEL refers to the life skills that
support people in experiencing, managing, expressing emotions, making sound decisions, and
fostering interpersonal relationships (Simmons, 2019), creating an environment in which strong,
respectful, and lasting relationships are built. This approach helps facilitate a co-learning
environment that critically examines root causes of inequity and develops collaborative
outcomes that lead to personal and community wellbeing (http://CASEL.org). Second, given the
existing buy-in to implementing SEL at the district level and the current contentious and
politicized discussion of critical race theory (CRT) and antiracism at the national level, TSEL is a
more palatable way of approaching the inequities within our predominantly White school
community. This approach holds promise as a set of skills that can be leveraged to address
inequities and is less triggering. As Brookfield and Hess (2021) argue, to avoid contentious
interactions, depending on the context, using alternative terms to begin the work can be an
effective strategy. To make changes within my community, I contend that TSEL can move the
discussion in the same direction while also being nonthreatening to White community members.
This section presents the following: 1) An overview of my conceptual framework,
explaining how the work I will engage in will address the dominant ideologies that maintain the
structure of White privilege and perpetuate the colorblind perspective (Bonilla-Silva, 2010).
Dominant ideologies left unchecked hinder the process of engaging community members in race-
conscious and antiracist (Swanson & Welton, 2019) dialogue. 2) A visual representation of my
conceptual framework illustrates various concepts that inform my theory of change to
demonstrate how using TSEL in conversation with parents might more explicitly address issues
of equity. 3) A more detailed explanation of each concept in the figure, informed by the
literature, in addition to their relationship with each other. While engaging in cycles of action and

21
reflection throughout this action research project, I will construct new ideas about the
phenomena I am investigating, as suggested by Maxwell (2013). I will also construct new
meanings about how, through my work with parent learners using the content of TSEL, I can
support their work with their peer community; namely, other parents.
A conceptual framework lays out the key constructs and displays the theorized
relationships among them (Jabareen, 2009). In Figure 1, the key social-emotional competencies
of self-awareness and social awareness are presented. There is a focus on the TSEL
competencies most relevant to equity. Although these two do not form a comprehensive set of
SEL competencies, they will be utilized when attempting to productively advocate for diversity,
equity, inclusion, and social justice.
A focus on TSEL, rather than only SEL, is critical if I hope to address the entrenched
inequities discussed above. Traditional forms of SEL carry a colorblind tone as they are absent of
any sociopolitical context. As such, transformative SEL is offered as a necessary reframing and
extending of the concepts in SEL, especially in a White community in which “Whiteness can
potentially be a barrier to race-conscious school improvement as resisting racial dialogue and
maintaining race neutrality are overt tactics of resistance that derail any anti-racist effort”
(Swanson & Welton, 2019, p. 735).
Although there is variation in thought in my school community, it is not close to the
antiracism aspiration. Kendi (2019) defines an antiracist as "One who is supporting an antiracist
policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea” (p. 13). Many community members
strongly voice their opinions against the district’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Justice
Committee. In recent monthly board meetings, comments such as, “Please do not consider a
superintendent that endorses CRT-diversity-equity; you can’t teach kids that color is more

22
important than character. That is racism by definition” (http://mbusd.org) were voiced. As such, I
contend that courageous conversations about these concepts are critical to bringing about a
“disorienting dilemma” (Mezirow, 1978) for the parents in my White community, who often
wield the power of their voice in ways that dictate what the district does and supports in schools.
Therefore, this action research project focuses on supporting parent learners to become parent
advocates in the parent community to adopt TSEL in productive ways. Through critical
reflection, I will support parent learners to examine how they are marginalized in the community
and how they are reproducing the status quo or reproducers of marginalization.
In Figure 1, the four circles on the outer edge are the four TSEL competencies that will
serve as the content for our discussions. As stated above, these competencies are self-awareness,
social awareness. The concepts in red–critical self-reflection, modeling, assessing ways of
knowing, and adaptive leadership – are action steps I intend to take and participate in to resist,
disrupt, and dismantle the inequities perpetuated by the community while simultaneously
examining the biases and assumptions I hold about the community. I will embrace a stance of
vulnerability by acknowledging there were times when I have perpetuated colorblindness as I,
too, have made comments such as, “I do not see race” and “I treat all students equally.” The
actions in red are my individual actions, whereas the concepts in the inner circle of the figure
serve as the interactions between me and the parents participating in the study. In the next
section, I detail each concept summarized above, drawing on the literature to explain their
meaning and relationship to the larger conceptual framework.

23
Figure 1
Conceptual Framework

Transformative Social-Emotional Learning (TSEL)
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
Social and emotional learning commonly refers to a process through which children and
adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to understand and
manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and display empathy for others, establish
and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions (Weissberg et al., 2015).
When students develop social-emotional competencies, academic outcomes and behaviors
improve. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
(CASEL), SEL interventions that address the five core competencies increased students’
academic performance by 11 percentile points compared with students who did not participate in
Parent Leader
Parent Learner
Self Awareness
Social Awareness
* Build relational trust
* Engage in critical reflection
* Participate in courageous conversation in a
brave space
Parents are positioned to be advocates of
Transformative Social-Emotional learning in
the parent community as a way to
accomplish the district ’s vision of inclusion
and a culture of care
Parents critically reflect on their role in this
advocacy effort, how they are the
recipients and producers of
marginalization.
Modeling
Assessing Ways of Knowing
Adaptive Leadership
Behaviors
Critical
self-Reflection

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an SEL program. In addition, through ongoing collaboration with families and the community,
SEL implementation can foster youth voice, agency, and engagement, and is grounded in
authentic family and community partnerships (CASEL.org).
However, to develop students’ social-emotional competencies, parents, too, must engage
in SEL. The family is critical to the success of SEL among students because parents are their
children’s first teachers, and SEL begins at home (Elias et al., 2006). Parents need meaningful
chances to have a voice in the planning, decision-making, and implementation of SEL in schools.
These chances can be fostered by having regular opportunities for families to learn about SEL
and clearly defined roles for parents to be active collaborators and participants in SEL activities
(Elias et al., 2006) at home and in school.
Transformative Social-Emotional Learning
Drawing on the works of Brookfield and Hess (2021), Jagers et al. (2019), the CASEL,
Simmons (2019), and Weissberg et al. (2015), I understand that to engage in a parent
leader/learners’ partnership to productively advocate for equity, diversity, justice, and inclusion,
the importance of SEL being in service of equity (Jagers et al., 2019) must be illuminated.
Social-emotional learning advances educational equity and excellence through authentic school-
family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature
trusting and collaborative relationships (CASEL.org). Social-emotional learning can help address
various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to cocreate thriving schools and
contribute to safe, healthy, and just communities.
Educators often teach SEL without the larger sociopolitical context, which is fraught with
injustice and inequity and affects student lives (Simmons, 2019). Social emotional practices
rarely focus building awareness, consciousness, and actions that address the social conditions

25
that threaten social emotional health in the first place. In this way, hegemonic ideology is
dominant, rarely questioned, and normalized as ‘common sense’ (Camangian & Cariaga, 2021, p.
3). Teaching through the pretext of “kindness,” being “nice,” and being a “good” person often
encourages colorblindness (Swalwell, 2013) and leaves the status quo unchanged. Simmons
(2021) deems that traditional SEL forms absent of any sociopolitical context as “White
supremacy with a hug” (p. 31), which is why TSEL is included in the literature and in this
conceptual framework as a necessary reshaping and extending of SEL.
The five SEL competencies function as receptacles in which social constructs can be
placed. As I mentioned in earlier sections, of the five competencies, my focus for this action
research project is on two competencies of SEL – self-awareness and social awareness – because
they are most aligned to the goal of focusing on equity. Social justice advocates in communities
of privilege face a difficult challenge as they attempt to confront conventional forms of thinking
by engaging in justice-oriented conversations. There is evidence that such efforts are often met
with resistance and White fragility (DiAngelo, 2018), which can hinder truly achieving self- and
social awareness. However, while this point is certainly true in my own school community, there
are parents who value antiracist practices and who can be leveraged to support TSEL in our
district.
The working definition of TSEL is grounded in SEL competencies to analyze
sociopolitical forces critically to fight injustice. Jagers et al. (2019) define TSEL as an approach
whereby young people and adults build strong, respectful, and lasting relationships that facilitate
co-learning to examine root causes of inequity and to develop collaborative solutions that lead to
personal, community, and societal wellbeing. I will use TSEL to support my parent learners in
creating conditions in which people, families, and community members feel a sense of

26
belonging, respect, and safety. Although the traditional SEL approach, even when offered to all
students, has typically fostered competency skills that produce individuals who understand and
manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and display empathy for others, establish
positive relationships, and make responsible decisions (http://CASEL.org), it does not mitigate
the widespread prejudice, racism, and discrimination that exists in the United States today
(Williams & Jagers, 2022). A sustained and intentional focus on equity is necessary to move
from SEL to TSEL.
In the current political context, in which emotions are high, the importance of and need
for TSEL is clear. Many community members and parents reject words and concepts such as
CRT, antiracist, inclusion, equity, and diversity. This pushback reveals an underlying discomfort
and fear. How parents express their feelings and emotions can have a ripple effect on their
children, whether directly or indirectly, through pressures on the education system. Therefore,
using TSEL as a lever for equity is an opportunity to include parents in justice-oriented
conversations and support them in recognizing and challenging racism when they see it
happening. Transformative SEL can raise awareness of the power people have to shift the
narrative about inequities by humanizing the conversation (CASEL). In other words, recognizing
and labeling emotions during courageous conversations about race and racism (i.e., guilt, shame,
anger, frustration, anxiousness) can help support social justice and develop a sociopolitical
consciousness (Simmons, 2019). Given today’s social milieu, collaboration and communication
between home and school are critical to ensure that parents and teachers provide children with
common and mutually reinforcing messages about the importance of learning and prosocial,
responsible behavior (Weissberg et al., 2015) in ways that are not colorblind but are, ideally,
antiracist.

27
Given that a goal of the parents who approached me to support them in having
courageous conversations with their parent peers are to move away from a colorblind mindset to
one effectively address issues such as social justice, I will help parents create conditions that
support their parent peers in developing self-awareness and social awareness to reflect on and
address the impacts of racism and other forms of inequitable treatment. As illustrated in Figure 1,
these two competencies of TSEL will be the focus of the content I hope to engage parents in.
Self-Awareness. The CASEL’s framework for systemic SEL includes the competencies
of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible
decision-making. I draw on self-awareness and social awareness for this action research project
as these are most relevant to the goal of moving the community to discuss and address DEI
issues at the district.
When thinking about social justice, people often think about what causes they can
support to show they are creating change for others, and often, critically examining the self and
examining one’s own positionality is missed. I focus on the TSEL competency of self-awareness
because I believe it is the first step to equity and antiracist practice. By interrogating one’s own
positionality, people can unpack aspects of their identity to examine how they hold social
identities that are dominant and/or marginalized. People become self-aware as they recognize
other systems of oppression, becoming the catalyst for social change (Banks, 2019). Self-
awareness involves understanding one’s emotions, personal and social identities, goals, and
values, and it can further the understanding of others, even when the perspectives are different.
This aspect includes accurately assessing one’s strengths and limitations, having positive
mindsets, and furthering personal development to raise issues of equity. This position requires
the ability to recognize how thoughts, feelings, and actions are interconnected in and across

28
diverse contexts (Jagers et al., 2019). Parents with a strong sense of self-awareness are better
positioned to be antiracist because reflecting on potential biases can help reduce racial bias that
contributes to inequitable outcomes (Schlund et al., 2020).
Social Awareness. In addition to self-awareness, social awareness involves having the
critical historical grounding to take the perspectives of those with the same and different
backgrounds and cultures and to empathize appropriately and feel compassion (Jagers et al.,
2019). Parents holding a strong sense of social awareness are better positioned to be antiracist
because they can promote a more inclusive environment that affirms the strengths and
experiences of individuals in the community, including those who have been marginalized
(drc.casel.org), creating a sense of belonging. Jagers et al. (2019) claim that, “Belonging in a
democratic society means that members are more than just individuals; they also have collective
power and share a linked fate” (p. 171). Belonging implies not only recognition, but also full
involvement in meaning-making and the building of relationships and institutions (Jagers et al.,
2019). By developing their social awareness, parents are involved in understanding social norms
for constructive behavior in diverse interpersonal settings (Jagers et al., 2019), such as how
interact with their peers. They can model similar behaviors with other parent groups in the
community to advocate social justice.
Parent Leader Actions
In Figure 1, the actions I took as a parent leader in relation to the content of TSEL
competencies described above are listed in red font in the outer circle. This section explains each
action I took and discusses their importance to the work I did with the parent group.

29
Assessing Ways of Knowing
According to constructive-developmental theory, adults’ ways of knowing (i.e., ways of
seeing, understanding, and making sense of the world) reflect cumulative stages of growth in
cognitive, affective, interpersonal, and intrapersonal capacities (Drago-Severson & Blum-
DeStefano, 2017). Recognizing and understanding learners’ ways of knowing can facilitate safe,
brave, and collaborative spaces for sharing and exploring thoughts, feelings, truths, and stories to
create transformative change in teaching and learning, whether in adults or students (Drago-
Severson & Blum-DeStefano, 2019). The idea of assessing ways of knowing leads me to
understand how people understand themselves, their work (Drago-Severson & Blum-DeStefano,
2017), and how I am positioned to communicate and teach in ways that matter for social justice,
equity, and inclusion at my school site. Blending critical reflection and ways of knowing (Table
2) can help me better understand my learners’ strengths and support the developmental needs of
the parents. Knowing the needs of my adult learners can position me as a parent leader to
improve how I assess my approach to support the parents as learners. In this manner, I examined
who my parent learners are (i.e., intersectionality, positionality) using meetings, conversations,
and critical reflections. Once I know the parent learners' development toward justice or practices,
I can better help them gain their own social and self-awareness. Table 2 summarizes the typology
developed by Drago-Severson and Blum-DeStefano and guided my work when assessing
parents’ ways of knowing and orientation to social justice. I examined the instrumental,
socializing, self-authoring, and self-transforming ways of knowing to highlight the commitments
and capacities that exist in each to help provide appropriate support to the parent learners. Each
way of knowing has strengths and areas of growth as seen in Table 2. For example, parent
learners with any one of these ways of knowing can be vulnerable, compassionate, and caring

30
(Drago-Severson & Blum-DeStefano, 2017). However, based on their positionality, they will
express their experiences in different ways.

31
Table 2
Ways of Knowing
Instrumental knowers
(Concrete)
Adults with an instrumental way of knowing have a
concrete, right/wrong orientation to their leadership and the
world.
They tend to appreciate clear action steps, technical "to-dos,"
and informational supports.
Although leaders with an instrumental way of knowing can
be very committed to social justice as an ideal – and very
kind, caring, and intelligent – they have not yet developed
the capacity to take others' perspectives

Socializing knowers (Other-
focused)
Adults who make meaning with a socializing way of
knowing have developed the capacity to look beyond the
bounds of their own experiences and to take on others'
perspectives more fully.
They often bring strong relational qualities to their
leadership. However, because socializing knowers orient
strongly to valued others' and society's assessments of them,
taking a strong and principled stand (especially in relation to
ideas that may diverge from others') – and engaging in
conflict – remains a pain point and growing edge.

Self-authoring knowers
(Reflective)
The capacities associated with this stage of development –
including engaging in conflict without feeling torn apart,
thinking systemically, and enacting a clear vision – align
with many traditional understandings of effective leadership;
however, self-authoring leaders will likely have trouble
critiquing or looking beyond their personal philosophies and
ideologies.

Self-transforming knowers
(Interconnecting)
Self-transforming knowers have developed their own
philosophies and value systems; yet they continually seek to
open their thinking and identities to further reflection and
evolution because they recognize that no single person alone
can understand or impact the system in its entirety.
To grow themselves continually and effect change, self-
transforming knowers orient to interconnection,
collaboration, and mutuality as essential ingredients of
progress and transformation at both the individual and
systemic levels.

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Note. Adapted from "A developmental lens on social justice leadership: Exploring the connection
between meaning making and practice.," by Drago-Severson and Blum-DeStefano, 2019,
Journal of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, 3(1).
Modeling
Through modeling the use of TSEL competencies as a lever for social justice, as a parent
leader, I provided parent learners with specific demonstrations (Parkay et al., 2014), examples,
scenarios, and activities to help them learn about TSEL such that they can teach others the same.
For example, even though the parents know one another, I began our time together by engaging
in personal introductions (Brookfield & Hess, 2021). Engaging in personal introductions invited
parents to ponder and share their personal stories in ways they might not have previously. In this
manner, I created a space for parents to acknowledge the complexity of our work together as we
deepen our understanding of one another. I modeled, through critical reflection, how to achieve
self and social awareness as we begin the work to help build communities that foster courageous
conversations across differences. When parents do the work of becoming self and socially aware,
teachers in the community feel the community support instead of feeling resistance or pushback
when teachers confront injustice, hate, and inequity (Simmons, 2019). However, to engage in
courageous conversations, parent learners must have these conversations modeled. Brookfield
(2017) argues that teachers should initially model for learners whatever they want them to do. I
shared intimate stories that reveal my ongoing personal struggle as I engaged in equity work as a
White educator. By sharing these struggles, I expose my flaws rather than focusing on how much
I have learned, modeling a stance of vulnerability and welcoming courageous conversations to
take place.

33
Modeling is a powerful means of assisting performance for children and adults (Tharp &
Gallimore, 1989). Effective modeling can help motivate learners to attend to and learn from
activities (Schunk, 2012). Observing a model can strengthen or weaken inhibitions to perform
behaviors previously learned (Schunk, 2012). Watching others can form an idea of the
components of complex behavior and can begin to visualize how the pieces could be assembled
and sequenced in various other settings (Tharp & Gallimore, 1989). For example,
modeling making mistakes in front of my parent learners creates a trusting environment for
learning in which they see me embracing vulnerability and growing uncomfortable as I express
past mistakes. Conversations with my parent learners about past mistakes may enhance learning
and advance their commitment to antiracist practice (Smith, 2018). Throughout this process,
using self-disclosure can create an atmosphere of “trust, safety, learning, efficiency, productivity,
connection, empowerment, and community” (Smith, 2018, p. 275). I also invited parent learners
to observe how I engage in critical self-reflection by embracing a stance of vulnerability and
cultural humility. As I modeled, I understood that some parent learners needed more support
examining their own biases than others; thus, considering their zone of proximal development
(ZPD; Vygotsky, 1978) and their ways of knowing was essential.
Critical (Self)Reflection
Dewey (1933) was one of the early theorists who talked about the value of reflection in
education. He viewed reflection as a special form of problem-solving steeped in scaffolding
experiences and events that should be regarded as an active and deliberate cognitive process
(Howard, 2003). In this section, I focus on my own action and explain how I use critical self-
reflection to examine how my work with parent learners is informed by my positionality in
relation to theirs. According to Mezirow (1990), critical self-reflection is by far the most

34
significant technique for “reassessing the way we have posed problems and reassessing our own
orientation to perceiving, knowing, believing, feeling, and acting” (p. 13).
Critical reflection raises one’s chances of taking informed actions based on assumptions
that have been carefully and critically investigated (Brookfield, 2015). However, when not
critical, reflection focuses solely on the details of process and leaves unquestioned the power
dynamics to make a set of practices work more smoothly (Brookfield, 2015). Therefore,
beginning with reflection on prior experiences and assumptions is key (Fani & Ghamei, 2011).
I intended to use critical self-reflection to examine my assumptions and biases about the
parents and the community, to inform my andragogical moves, to examine my dual role as a
teacher and a parent leader, and critically self-reflect on how my parent learners view me. Do
they see me as a source of information? Or as a source of leadership? Critical self-reflection
ensures that I provide content information about TSEL and support parent learners to be
productive with their parent peers. Furthermore, critically reflecting on our intersecting identities
makes me realize that we are all from marginalized groups (I will speak to that in the methods
section). That had implications between my parent learners, their White peers, and me as I
supported this group of parent learners to influence their White parent peers in productively
advocating for TSEL in the community. Reflecting on our intersectionality reveals that although
we are marginalized, we are also in positions of privilege.
Moreover, I recognize that I am a teacher researching my organization and doing this
voluntarily. I also understand that it is a contentious issue, as I have stated above. Acting in a
dual role of an educator and a researcher complicates and contributes to knowledge production
(Roth et al., 2004) both in the school site setting and in my study. As an insider researcher, I have
valuable knowledge about my organization's cultures, politics, and informal structures (Coghlan,

35
2019). I am aware that I am perceived as a member of the community whom parents have
approached to assist them with their work because of the work that I am involved in on a district
level through the EDSJI committee. I am also mindful that some teacher colleagues and parents
of students in my own classroom might not feel comfortable with engaging their students in
justice-oriented topics; thus, using transformative social-emotional competencies and the
language of self-awareness and social awareness, can bring the district's aims of inclusion and a
culture of care into the classroom in a less threatening way. Therefore, I engaged in critical self-
reflection through journaling as I reviewed and analyzed my fieldnotes to uncovered and
interrogated any hidden thoughts and potential biases that hindered fully working with parent
learners.
Adaptive Leadership
Although I am not in a positional leadership role with the parent learners, using some
adaptive leadership behaviors is important if I am to support them in the practice of mobilizing
their parent peers to address difficult challenges (Northouse, 2019). The action steps I engaged in
with the parent learners encouraged them to explore their values and address and resolve changes
central to their lives (Northouse, 2019). The interactions between the parent learners and me
required that I engage in certain leader behaviors when helping parents confront complex,
adaptive challenges (Northouse, 2019). Of the six leader behaviors (get on the balcony, identify
the adaptive challenge, regulate distress, maintain discipline attention, give the work back to the
people, and protect leadership voices from below), the most appropriate for my self-study action
research were “get on the balcony,” and “regulate distress” (Northouse, 2019). "Getting on the
balcony" is a metaphor for "stepping out of the fray and finding perspective in the midst of a
challenging situation" (Northouse, 2019, p. 262). Being an insider provided me access to the

36
drama (Coughlan, 2019) that unfolded between the PTA and the parent community and the
associated power dynamics. When my parent learners began expressing interest in creating a DEI
group at our school site, they were met with tremendous pushback. They were accused of going
“rogue” and having their own agenda. As I supported the parent learners, it is essential that I
understood the different players that were on the dance floor, and because the parent leaners were
being labeled "rogue" by parent peers, it increased the chances of TSEL not being supported by
the parent community because of how the parent learners were being viewed. As I got on the
balcony, I needed to take a step back from this challenging situation to understand the bigger
picture of the interpersonal dynamics (Northouse, 2019) occurring among the parent learners and
the PTA. As I observed the bigger picture, I stayed engaged with my participants with this
challenge and offered strategies that they could use with their parent peers. As such, I moved
back and forth as a participant and an observer.
As I moved back and forth as a participant and observer and saw the pieces that unfolded
between the parent learners and their parent peers, I sensed certain levels of distress; thus,
regulating emotion was an appropriate leader behavior. I intended to create a holding space (i.e.,
courageous conversations in a brave space discussed in the next section) during our weekly
meetings to establish an atmosphere where my participants could tackle complex issues. As we
defined terms such as self-awareness and social awareness, we created a shared language to
articulate and express our thoughts, opinions, and feelings in a supportive environment.
Establishing this environment allowed a therapeutic setting that used effective communication
and empathy to provide the participants a sense of safety and protection (Northouse, 2019).
As a parent leader, creating a holding environment to regulate emotions permitted me to
get a dialogue started to allow “some of the pressure from the issue to escape” (Northouse, 2019,

37
p. 266). Beginning talking to each other, defining issues, and clarifying competing interests and
needs provided the space to build relational trust and enact ideas.
Parent Leader and Learner Interaction
In Figure 1, the interactions between me as a parent leader and the parent learners are
represented by the concepts in the inner circle. This section explains each interaction and
discusses their importance to the work I intend to do with the parent learner group.
Build Relational Trust
Evidence suggests that relational trust between school-relevant pairings (e.g., parent
community and teachers) is needed to help negotiate the myriad challenges in schools, especially
regarding justice-oriented topics (Leis et al., 2017). In this study, I searched for how I could build
space for relational trust between me and parents, between parents themselves, and ultimately (as
a long-term goal outside the scope of this study), between parents and school/district staff. I
define relational trust as being anchored in interpersonal relationships developed with time to
create space and conditions to address inequities by embracing a stance of vulnerability through
empathy, honesty, fairness, and continuous critical self-reflection.
Building relational trust displays curiosity about learners’ experiences, and it is the
starting point for building understanding toward and awareness of one another. Learning about
and from each other cultivates a co-learning atmosphere built on trust and respect. It also creates
a sense of interest in others, as well as the challenges to others’ points of view (Cranton, 2016).
In this space, there is the willingness to admit that knowledge and experience are limited and
incomplete and that others can teach us something (Cranton, 2016). At the same time, a space
built on trust allows the displaying of gratitude and appreciation, raising trust and bringing
people closer together (Cranton, 2016). Through these exchanges, learners’ words, actions, and

38
ways of relating with one another display their intentions and commitments (Groves et al., 2016).
Engaging in continuous critical reflection and in courageous conversation (discussed below)
creates conditions that promote relational trust among parent leader/parent learners, and these are
key mechanisms for creating partnerships that involve collective change. It demonstrates ways of
relating that are inclusive, caring, and empathetic, creating a communicative space that instills a
sense of belonging (Groves et al., 2016). As I build relational trust with the parents, this helps the
parent learners think through how they might change their individual actions to help their parent
peers engage in collective change (Brookfield & Hess, 2021).
As a parent leader, I created conditions for building relational trust during our weekly
meetings through social exchanges. Through these repeated exchanges, participants’ words,
actions, and ways of relating with one another displayed their expectations, obligations,
intentions, and commitments (Groves et al., 2016). In addition, I demonstrated empathy and
respect. As we build space for brave conversation (discussed in more detail below), I provided
opportunities for parent learners to listen to one another, consider alternative points of view, and
offer an intellectual challenge (Groves et al., 2016) to extend the understanding of self and
others. For learning to occur, we differentiated between a brave space and a safe space to
establish a relationship in which we felt supported when sharing ideas and then taking the next
steps to discuss more complex topics while continuously engaging in that support.
Demonstrating mutual respect and empathetic understanding during our discussion displayed a
mutual recognition of self and others as learners. In addition, I provided opportunities for
participants to listen to one another and consider alternative points of view, approaches, and
solutions. Furthermore, as I led the parent learners through different discussion topics, I

39
emphasized that we were on a journey together, learning alongside one another working toward a
common goal.
Courageous Conversations in a Brave Space
Building relational trust sets the stage for courageous conversations. As I aspired to build
relational trust with the parent learner group, I was mindful to stay away from race-neutral
conversations and rise to the challenges of genuine dialogue on equity and social-justice issues
(Arao & Clemens, 2013). Part of supporting the parent learners to productively advocate for
diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice was tense and emotionally fraught. Facilitating
courageous conversations required both me and the parent learners to be exposed to expressions
of raw emotion (Brookfield & Hess, 2021). Racial dialogue can generate deep emotions that we
have all learned to bury (Singleton & Hays, 2008), from guilt and shame to anger and despair
(Swanson & Welton, 2019). In this context, a brave space for courageous conversations is
needed because “learning involves not merely a risk, but the pain of giving up a former condition
in favor of a new way of seeing things” (Arao & Clemens, 2013, p. 141). As a parent leader, I
know that opening up to these conversations is frightening; therefore, defining brave spaces with
the parent learners and setting ground rules for our dialogue (Arao & Clemens, 2013) treated
conversations about equity and social justice as valuable to our collaborative work. Given that
the parent learners faced similar fears as they began conversations with other parents in the
community, our efforts to build a brave space modeled how they (the parent learners) can do the
same with other parents in the community. Therefore, I define courageous conversations as a
deeper dialogue about race and racism that requires us to be open and honest about our
thoughts, feelings, and opinions as we embrace discomfort and abandon old views. Singleton and
Hays (2008) posit that courageous conversation is a strategy for breaking down racial tensions

40
and raising racism as a topic of discussion that allows those who possess knowledge on
particular topics to have the opportunity to share it, and those who do not have the knowledge to
learn and grow from the experience.
Critical Reflection
In the section entitled Critical (Self)Reflection, I outlined the actions I took individually
to self-reflect critically. In this section, I focus on how I created the opportunity for the parent
learners to reflect critically.
Becoming critically aware of one’s own presuppositions involves challenging established
patterns of expectation, meaning the perspectives with which one has made sense of one’s
encounters with the world, others, and oneself (Mezirow, 1990). Critical reflection requires that
parent learners engage in the difficult work of relinquishing various privileges so that those who
are participating in the community space can unpack tensions, learn from dialogue, and
reimagine a future that is inclusive across varying ethnic and social groups (Camangian &
Cariaga, 2021). Supporting parents in deep self-awareness of their own positionality can allow
them to reflect critically as they uncover biases, assumptions, and beliefs about themselves and
individuals who are culturally, ethnically, and linguistically different (Howard, 2003). Providing
many opportunities to reflect critically throughout this process is key to building the compassion
necessary for the self and, more important, understanding the severity of racism (Swanson &
Welton, 2019). For example, moving the parent learners beyond self-centeredness (Simmons,
2021), challenging them to reflect on why this work matters to them. Are they doing this work
because they think about what is good for their own child? Or what is good for all children? The
assumptions people accept unquestioningly as commonsense are sometimes the same ones
constructed by a dominant group or class to keep people servile and marginalized (Brookfield,

41
2017). This point is especially important in a context such as mine: a predominantly White
community that has operated in and normalized dominant narratives. As people become aware of
the pervasiveness of power, they begin to notice the oppressive dimensions to practices they had
thought were neutral or even benevolent (Brookfield, 2017). Engaging parent learners in critical
reflection strongly influence building relational trust and allow for courageous conversations as
we unpack our positionality and intersectionality while embracing discomfort. This engagement
encourages us to think about race through reflection (Milner, 2003). When critical reflection
occurs, the parent learners can begin to reflect authentically on past experiences (Milner, 2003)
beyond “the bubble” (the walls of the community) and start charting the context of TSEL work to
take a grassroots, social-justice approach to encourage other community members to support
equitable practices that are student centered and community centered (Simmons, 2021). TSEL is
collective work and “there is no self-care without collective care” (Simmons, 2021, p. 34). I
argue that the content of TSEL, coupled with critical reflection, encouraged, influenced, and
transformed parents by increasing their self-awareness and social awareness. In this action
research study, through the modeling of my own critical self-reflection, I worked with parent
learners to help them critically reflect to interrogate their own assumptions to ultimately be
positioned to support other parents in doing the same.
Conclusion
My conceptual framework builds upon the literature of TSEL, adaptive leadership
behaviors, andragogical moves/practices, adult learners’ ways of knowing, critical reflection, and
building relational trust to ensure courageous conversations with others. These concepts build
strong, respectful, and lasting relationships that facilitate co-learning to examine inequities and
develop collaborative solutions that lead to personal and community wellbeing. I illustrated that

42
to move to an inclusive space as a community, uncovering biases and assumptions through
critical reflection and cultivating knowledge of and developing competencies in TSEL, in parents
first and then in their children, is necessary. This process requires parents to be self-aware and
socially aware. I suggest that TSEL can be a connecting tool between parent learners, community
members, teachers, and students to help engage in courageous conversations across differences
of viewpoints; thus, slowly moving addressing issues such as power, privilege, prejudice, social
justice, and self-determination (Jagers et al., 2019).
My conceptual framework provides an overview of my theory of change and the actions I
believe are important to encourage parent learners to work with other parents in their community.
The framework demonstrates the relationship I built with a group of parent learners who wished
to lead other parents by mobilizing their peers as they provided them with support and guidance
when focusing on equity issues. I contend that when parents work together and engage in
courageous conversations in a brave space through the content of TSEL, they feel less threatened
by social justice practices. In the long term, a “buffer zone” can be created for teachers to
advocate social justice in their classrooms with their students without the fear of pushback from
the community. Although I realize this work is a continuous process and will not provide
immediate solutions, this conceptual framework provides a specific commitment to achieving
equity through a partnership between school staff and parents.
Research Methods
This section describes how I engaged in “organistic-oriented” (Coughlan, 2019) action
research, in which I inquired into my assumptions and ways of thinking by engaging in a self-
study of myself in action. I used a qualitative approach to conduct this study. The purpose of this
study was to examine how I, as a parent leader, promoted TSEL as a conduit to justice-oriented

43
conversations in a predominantly White community. Therefore, qualitatively examining my
process for supporting the parents was appropriate (Maxwell, 2013). As explained in my
conceptual framework, for the entire school community to move toward equitable practices, it
must confront dominant ideologies, which are often reinforced by White parents. Thus, this
action research project focused on supporting parent learners who wished to work with their
parent peers to engage in courageous conversations about equity, justice, diversity, and inclusion
in the community. Although districts such as MBUSD often uphold the status quo through the
perpetuation of dominant ideologies, schools can become places of discovery that produce
change (Bartolomé, 2008). Therefore, a qualitative self-study action research was appropriate
because it brought together action and reflection, theory and practice while cocreating
knowledge with, not about, people (Coughlan, 2019).
As parent learners began to recognize the reproduction of dominant ideology coming
from the parent community, I contended that they sought to increase their knowledge and unearth
their own views, experiences, and assumptions through critical reflection and transformative
SEL content. I assessed their ways of knowing, facilitated courageous conversations through
activities and discussions using the content of TSEL competencies, and engaged in critical self-
reflection throughout the process. As I engaged in andragogical moves and adaptive leadership
to lead change within the parent community, I modeled a high level of vulnerability as I created
space and participated in “getting on the balcony” and giving the work back to the people
(Northouse, 2019). I systematically examined my role in supporting the parent learners through
meetings and conversations with them, as well as the critical reflections I helped facilitate and
generate. Through a collaborative and reciprocal relationship with parents, this qualitative self-
study action research sought to answer the following question: As a parent leader, how do I

44
support parent learners to productively advocate for transformative social-emotional learning as
a conduit to conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion in a predominately White
community?
At this juncture, as a parent leader, I wanted to bring together a small, select group of
parent learners to engage in, learn about, and later support transformative SEL practices among
their parent peer group. I believed these parent learners were open to holding courageous
conversations as they unearthed their own assumptions, biases, and privilege and were, thus, best
positioned to engage in this work with me. These were the parents who contacted me for help in
working with their parent peers. I hoped that through my study, the parent learners could acquire
strategies that support courageous conversations with their parent peers, ultimately helping
teachers feel supported when engaging in diversity, equity and inclusion work in their classroom,
instead of feeling pushback from the parent community. For my self-study, I engaged in a careful
and detailed investigation of my position in relation to the parent learners and how I worked to
support them to use TSEL in their own interactions with other parents. The purpose was to model
how to do the same with their children and to create spaces for teachers in my district to use as a
teaching tool for equity.
Participants and Setting(s)
My dissertation research was conducted at my school site, Pennekamp Elementary,
during the fall 2021 semester. The most appropriate approach to accomplish my dissertation goal
was to engage in purposeful sampling as this was a self-study action research project that
necessitates a focused inquiry into my practice at my school site. Purposeful sampling was the
most appropriate approach because I was trying to understand a specific case in depth. According
to Merriam and Tisdell (2015), purposeful sampling is when the researcher wants to discover,

45
understand, and gain insight into a specific phenomenon, and therefore, selects a sample from
which the most can be learned. I was trying to understand how I, as a parent leader, could use the
teaching of TSEL as a conduit to social justice issues at my school site. Selecting myself and the
parents in my school’s community, I sought to understand my actions as a parent leader at my
school site and how I could enact change in this context.
Participants
In my study, I engaged with a group of parents who wanted to examine and discuss
equity issues in our school community. The parent learners were Pennekamp parents, two of
whom were parents of former students in my class, and the other four were parents of students in
my current class. Of the six parents, Lori and Julie initiated the idea. They contacted me over the
summer of 2021 for support regarding creating a DEI parent group at Pennekamp. In order to
preserve their confidentiality, I have provided pseudonyms and limited information about their
personal, social identities
Lori is a female-identifying heterosexual, cisgender White parent. In an informal
conversation with Lori, she shared that she thinks a lot about the concept of belonging, and she
loves the idea of creating learning opportunities and spaces that foster a sense of community for
those who have experienced hardships. Lori also finds time to participate in training workshops
such as Facing History and Ourselves. Regarding her ways of knowing, anecdotally, Lori can be
described as socializing. Drago-Severson and Blum-DeStefano (2019) describe socializing
knowers as adults with the capacity to look beyond the bounds of their own experiences and to
take on others’ perspectives more fully; however, engaging in conflict remains “a pain point and
growing edge” (p. 6). One way I have witnessed her socializing type is how she considers other
people’s opinions and will sometimes step back from sharing her own opinions to avoid starting

46
a conflict. Lori will sometimes say, “My opinion can be easily swayed.” My interactions with
Lori focused on her strength as someone who can understand and consider others. Giving Lori
the opportunity through courageous conversations in a brave space coupled with critical
reflection, I hoped to support her to work with others by looking beyond her own expertise and
working with others toward a collective goal.
Julie is a female-identifying Asian American of Korean descent. She is actively involved
in my school site, whether volunteering in the classroom, the library, or helping the PTA with
school functions. Julie is a parent of a former student in my class. Her daughter was a 5
th
grade
student during the 2019–2020 school year. I have developed a close relationship with Julie over
the years, and she has always supported me as an educator. Julie has shared that she has felt
marginalized all her life and thought of changing her name on many occasions. Due to her
experiences, she was eager to begin a conversation with other community members to create a
more inclusive environment at Pennekamp. As I mentioned in my context section above, I was
appointed by district leadership to be a leading member of the EDSJI Committee. This move
prompted Julie to ask for my perspective about an idea she wanted to propose to the PTA
regarding DEI at our school site. In the current political context, in which emotions are high,
there is a certain “energy,” according to Julie, coming from the Pennekamp parent community to
speak about and debate CRT. Julie would like our school's PTA to engage in and support equity
initiatives. Anecdotally, Julie can be described as self-authoring. She has grown an internal
capacity to prioritize and integrate competing values and think systemically about considerable
organizational challenges (Drago-Severson & Blum-DeStefano, 2019). One way I have
witnessed her self-authoring style is how she wants to adopt an approach to gather parents with
similar views as hers to engage and support DEI initiatives at Pennekamp. As I interacted with

47
Julie through courageous conversations and critical reflection, I aimed to provide strategies
through the content of TSEL to open an empathetic engagement with parent peers whose ideas
were different, so as to position her better to lead them to engage in issues of DEI.
Tammi is a female-identifying Latina of Mexican descent. She is actively involved at my
school site and has a strong presence at school board meetings. Tammi often speaks at board
meetings, showing her support for EDSJI and board members’ efforts to promote justice-oriented
initiatives at the district level. Tammi is also a parent of former students in my class. Both of
Tammi’s children attended my class, and I have developed a close relationship with her over the
years. Tammi approached me in the spring 2021 to help mentor her son by putting together a
town hall event for equity and inclusion. Tammi’s son experienced racism in the district during
his middle school years, where students accused him of being a terrorist. He has been asked on
numerous occasions whether he was a member of ISIS. His experience prompted Tammi’s
activism, and she has been active and vocal about inequities perpetuating in the district, and she
often encouraged her children to speak at board meetings. Anecdotally, Tammi can be identified
as self-authoring. She welcomes the opportunity to express her values and beliefs. One way I
have witnessed this is through her continued involvement during board meetings, public
comment sessions, and written and live comments. For example, on August 18, 2021, in a board
meeting, Tammi shared the following:
I am a parent of MBUSD. My three students attend Pennekamp, MBMS and MCHS. I
fully support the EDSJI efforts in our district. Our commitment to EDSJI efforts has a
direct impact on the entire MBUSD community - students, faculty, staff, administration,
parents and beyond. It already exists in the classroom, and outside of the classroom. It
already exists in social and emotional learning, social studies, history, English and Health

48
education classes. It is in our community and outside of our community. The EDSJI
committee is discovering ways we at MBUSD can do more and do better. Because of its
overarching nature, our efforts are monumental. These efforts are significant, complex,
overwhelming, and controversial. Let us not forget there are four components: Equity,
Social Justice, Diversity and Inclusion, all of which have their own potential impact
As I interacted with Tammi through courageous conversations and critical reflection, I
aimed to build relational trust through the content of TSEL to open an empathetic engagement
with parent peers whose ideas differ from hers to position her better for success when advocating
issues of DEI.
Debbie is a female-identifying Asian American of Thai descent. Debbie has been
impacted by the recent Asian American hate crimes in the United States. She addresses inequities
at every board meeting and is often a solid opposing voice to the dominant hegemonic ideologies
shared at board meetings by other parents. During the August 4th board meeting public
comment, Debbi shared the following:
Having just read the public comments submitted to the MBUSD School Board ahead of
the Aug 4 Board meeting, I’m shocked to see the blatant disinformation campaign being
waged in our community and it worries me. I see there is a standard agenda item to
approve the adoption and purchase of new 8th grade social studies textbooks to align with
CA Common Core standards (textbooks which are used widely nationwide). To insinuate
that MBUSD is trying to indoctrinate our kids with “CRT” shows what this movement
really is ... censorship. Specifically, a censorship on the full history of our wonderful
nation. In order to ensure that our children, our future generation of leaders do better, we
need to teach them our true history, the true experiences of all people who have built and

49
who are building this country, both the good and the bad. I believe it is important for the
broader MB community to see this “anti-CRT propaganda” for what it really is and
recognize this censorship campaign.
So now for the facts: The McGraw Hill curriculum being considered is state
approved and used nationwide. Also, this is a textbook review process that MBUSD
began five years ago. To insinuate that our school district is trying to indoctrinate our kids
with the latest “CRT boogeyman” is reprehensible. To insinuate that MBUSD is trying to
hide or scrub the upcoming CLEAR report is disingenuous. My understanding is that the
Board has not even yet received the report. To the esteemed School Board members, I
recommend that you make clear what your plans are regarding how you plan to share and
discuss this CLEAR report with the broader school community before any decisions are
made. Unfortunately, what we are seeing in our community is that in the absence of
information, you get dirt.
Debbie is unafraid to take chances and hold uncomfortable conversations with those who
share opposing views. She reaches out to those who hold different views and extends an
invitation for further discourse. In my view, Debbie is a self-transforming knower because she
seeks input and is willing to listen to others to understand their perspectives better. One way I
have witnessed her self-transforming ways of knowing is through her attempt to bridge the gap
between the different perspectives about CRT in the community by inviting opposing members
to meet in person for a discussion. However, Debbie is very action oriented and is ready to
engage with urgency, which can hinder her ability to meet others in their slow pace of change
(Drago-Severson & Blum-DeStefano, 2017). As I interacted with Debbie, I encouraged learning
more about the self and explore our identities to help deepen the understanding of how self-

50
awareness can help contribute to change. This focus helped Debbie grow the capacity to
recognize and be patient with slow-paced change.
After hearing about the parents' work, as mentioned above, additional participants
decided to join this parent group. Because I had not worked with them before beginning the
study, I did not have enough information to assess their ways of knowing. The following is a
brief summary of who they are. Nancy is a female-identifying Latina from El Salvador. She is
actively involved at my school site, volunteering for various school events. Nancy is also a
parent in my class. Dee is a female-identifying Asian American of Chinese descent and a parent
in my class.
These six parent learners were the core participants of my self-study action research.
Collecting data from them allowed me to obtain perspectives regarding how I supported them in
understanding TSEL and learned how to use it in future courageous conversations. The content
of TSEL served as a guide to help parent learners hold courageous conversations with their
parent peers and to grow both as individuals and as community members who support one
another in understanding social justice issues in a predominantly White space.
Setting(s) of Action(s)
Before I begin my study, I notified my site principal and explained the purpose of my
study. Over the summer of 2021, the principal at my school site changed. Although this change
did not affect my study directly, given the work was with parents actively hoping to engage in
this work with me, I needed to inform my new principal of the intentions for my study. The
COVID-19 pandemic has affected our action setting. Initially, I intended to hold our weekly
meetings after instructional time within my school site; however, due to the uncertainties of

51
COVID variants, I held weekly group meetings with parent learners via Zoom after school. This
change helped the parent learners attend most, if not all, the meetings.
Actions
The parent community was familiar with traditional forms of SEL; however, for the
parent learners to be advocates of TSEL, they needed to be clear about using TSEL to critique
the inequities in the district and look at the structures that were in place that continued to
perpetuate a colorblind narrative. As a parent leader, it was my responsibility to make sure that
the parent learners understood the different TSEL competencies so that they could then
productively advocate for them to their parent peers.
My work with my parent learners was founded in reflections as action (Strong et al.,
2017) to help inform further steps. At our weekly gatherings, the purpose was to invite the parent
learners to learn about TSEL competencies, build relational trust, process their experiences and
share their stories in courageous conversations, and to reflect critically. Through this partnership,
I hoped to improve my professional practice as a leader of other adults. In my conceptual
framework, I explained that relationship-building must be considered the first important step
toward courageous conversations as it sets the stage for difficult conversations to occur. The
ideal state, as outlined in my conceptual framework, was to promote the teaching of TSEL as a
tool for equity. To do this, a series of action steps were implemented over three cycles. Each
cycle took place over three group meetings. Each meeting focused on a specific topic. The first
cycle introduced the concept of brave and safe space. This cycle aimed to build relational trust as
we (the participants) reflected on our positionality and intersectionality. The second cycle
introduced self-awareness. In this cycle, we reflected on one’s heritage and acknowledge cultural
differences. In addition, this cycle helped develop social awareness by understanding the

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perspectives of and empathizing with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures,
and contexts. The third cycle served as a working session with parents to help them plan a parent
workshop in which they incorporated the concepts and actions steps we engaged in as a model
for the work they did with other parent peers in the community.
Through each cycle, the practice of critical (self) reflection allowed me to evaluate my
andragogical practices and my ability to enact the change I desired through the two selected
TSEL competencies of self-awareness and social awareness. The goal was to help parent
learners unpack their identity and positionality and to help them build the two competencies.
Undertaking the action steps helped the parent learners see more deeply into themselves and their
peer group and helped them to understand, more empathetically, the different perspectives and
ongoing resistance in the community to DEI discussion. Although the parents in this study were
already committed to issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion, there was always more to learn
about the self. As Janet Mock writes,
I believe that telling our stories, first to ourselves and then to one another and the world,
is a revolutionary act. It is an act that can be met with hostility, exclusion, and violence. It
can also lead to love, understanding, transcendence, and community. (Mock, 2014, p.
225)
Engaging in the action steps provided a model for the parent learners as they took similar
insights to their parent peer group meetings and used the information from our meetings to
support the work they would engage in with other parents in the community.
Table 3 lists the revised action plan that occurred during each weekly meeting. (The
initial action plan can be seen in Appendix B).

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Table 3
Revised Planned Action Cycle 1
Cycle 1 Meeting
Topic
Outcome Action Steps Data Collection
Develop and
increase the
understanding of
courageous
conversation in a
brave space
Build relational
trust through a
brave space
Setting the Stage for Courageous
Conversations
Create conditions for a co-
learning environment
Meaning making: What is brave
space? What are courageous
conversations?
Introduce definitions of space and
brave space (Arao & Clemens,
2013) and courageous
conversations (CF version)
build shared agreement

Fieldnotes
Personal critical
(self)reflection

Develop and
increase the
understanding of
courageous
conversation in a
brave space

Engage in a more
critical analysis of
brave space
Review brave space readings
Participate in a group discussion
Create brave space definition
Fieldnotes
Personal critical
(self)reflection
Definition
examples
(Appendix C)
Develop and
increase the
understanding of
courageous
conversation in a
brave space
Co-construct
shared agreement
for facilitation of
courageous
conversation in a
brave space
Differentiate between the
description of brave space and
safe space
Develop and increase the
understanding of courageous
conversation in a brave space
Build shared agreements for
group work
Discuss the purpose of creating a
brave space with your work and
DEI efforts with your parent
peers

Fieldnotes
Personal critical
self-reflection
Parents reflection
Out of the field
Fieldnotes
Analytical memos
Personal critical
self-reflection
Parent Critical
reflections

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Table 4
Revised Planned Action Cycle 2
Cycle 2 Meeting
Topic
Outcome Action Steps Data Collection
Self-Awareness

Facilitate
reflection of one’s
own heritage and
acknowledge
cultural
differences

Review shared agreements
Reflect on the activities we have
done thus far (can any of these
activities align with the ”Dragon
Circle?”

Emphasize the importance of
TSEL competencies as an integral
part of equitable education and
community partnership

Fieldnotes
Personal critical
self-reflection
Parents reflection

Self-Awareness
Develop an
understanding of
the importance of
self-awareness as a
lever for equity
Differentiate between
Transformative Social-Emotional
Learning and traditional Social-
Emotional Learning
Participate in Circle of Object
activity
Reflective writing

Fieldnotes
Personal critical
self-reflection
Parents reflection

Social
Awareness
Engage in a more
critical analysis of
power and
privilege from the
plural standpoints
of intersectionality

Discuss traditional forms of
social-emotional learning
Discuss transformative SEL as a
lever for equity
Participate in the “I Am From”
poem (Appendix D)
Fieldnotes
Personal critical
self-reflection
Parents reflection
Out of the field
Fieldnotes
Analytical memos
Personal critical
self-reflection
Parent Critical
reflections

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Table 5
Revised Planned Action Cycle 3
Cycle 3
Meeting Topic
Outcomes Actions Steps Data Collection
Social
Awareness for
DEI
Develop an
understanding of
the importance of
social awareness
Emphasize the importance of
TSEL competencies as an integral
part of equitable education and
community partnership
Develop an understanding of the
importance of social awareness as
a lever for equity

Introduce “Guest House Poem”
by Rumi and discuss objectives
and go over guided questions
prompts
Fieldnotes
Personal critical
self-reflection

Working session

Build a practice
plan
Review all concepts learned and
action steps taken

Brave space/courageous
conversations
Self- awareness
Social Awareness
Planning Dragon Circle

Fieldnotes
Personal critical
self-reflection
Out of the field
Analytic memos
Personal critical
self- reflection

Data Collection and Instruments/Protocols
As mentioned above, this self-study action research project used a qualitative approach.
Since I focused on my personal and professional transformation (Herr & Anderson, 2015) to
improve my professional practice (Coghlan, 2019), I functioned as the primary data collection
and analysis instrument. I collected data through critical self-reflections as I examined my
assumptions in action and what I learned about myself as a leader and adult educator (Coghlan,
2019) through an iterative process of plan-act-observe-reflect (Herr & Anderson, 2015). In

56
addition to my critical self-reflection, my intention was for the parent learners to write critical
reflection; however, I fell short of accomplishing it, and I provided question prompts for them to
respond to in-lieu of writing critical reflections I collected two writing samples per parent.
Furthermore, I employed triangulation (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015) by collecting observational
field note data from meetings with parent learners, as well as instructional artifacts to guide our
parent meetings. Together, these sources illustrated my progress toward my ideal state of creating
conditions for the parent learners to work together and engage in courageous conversations about
diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice through the content of TSEL to position them better
to do the same with their peers.
Documents and Artifacts
I generated the documents and artifacts used as data sources for the self-study action
research, rather than using any existing documents or artifacts. As Coghlan (2019) suggests, I am
not simply a participant who does research; instead, as a practitioner in the setting, I generated
actionable knowledge. Thus, I generated instructional artifacts for the parent meetings, such as
meeting presentation plans, agendas, and question prompts to guide reflections. The instructional
materials provided context for my work and served as data to be analyzed closely. Documents
such as my own critical self-reflection and the critical reflections of the parent learners were also
generated for the purposes of this study.

57
Critical Self-Reflection. In my conceptual framework, I contended that I would write
critical reflections after each session; however, my reflections mainly were comparative and
descriptive (Jay & Johnson, 2002) I wrote two critical self-reflections and five self-reflections
over the three-month period dedicated to this action research. My reflections were written after
every group meeting and helped me examine my assumptions as I made discoveries that were
unfamiliar to me. By self-reflecting on my positionality and how it shaped my progress as a
leader, I was better positioned to understand and support my parent learners’ ways of knowing as
I planned and modified the action steps for my study.
As I engaged in self-reflection, I was beginning to understand that no matter how much I
thought I knew about the parent learners and my school community, I did not fully understand
their perspectives because of my personal limitations. Throughout my study, I used, but I was not
limited to, question prompts to assist in critically reflecting on specific pieces of practice (Fook,
2015; Brookfield, 2016). There was no prescribed or formulaic way to undertake critical
reflection, and its flexibility potentially enabled its maximum effectiveness (Fook, 2015). Some
of the prompts that guided my critical reflections included the following: (1) At what moment in
the parent meeting did I consider or not consider my learners’ perspective? (2) As a White female
educator, how am I holding back sharing my perspective with my parent learners, and what
emotions am I experiencing? In addition to the question prompts, I also took notes during the
meeting and referenced them when writing my critical self-reflection.

58
Parent Critical Reflection. I asked the parent learners to engage in critical reflections
based on questions exploring the social-emotional competencies of self-awareness and social
awareness through an equity lens. I asked them to reflect on their existing views, assumptions,
and perspectives to reexamine the perspectives on the intersection between themselves (self-
awareness) and others (social awareness) and collected two reflections from each. Some of the
questions I used to prompt a critical reflection were adapted from Jagers et al. (2018) and
Brookfield and Hess (2021): (1) Tell me about a time when your identities (race/ethnicity, social
status, or gender) were made obvious or important to you? (2) In what ways does your identity
inform who you are as a community member? (3) How is developing a brave space to increase
courageous conversations aligned with our work and DEI efforts at Pennekamp? (4) When
thinking further about our community, how do you see the Circle of Artifact activity being a
bridge to authentic dialogue, perhaps even an eye-opening experience for participants who have
not faced prejudice or discrimination?
Observational Fieldnotes
In addition to critical reflections written by myself and the parent learners, I also wrote
observational fieldnotes of the meetings I held with parent learners. I used a combination of
descriptive and reflective notetaking (Emerson et al., 2011). I used my notes and observer
comments (OCs) as tools during my meetings with parent learners. These were written during
each meeting as snapshots of the interactions and behaviors that took place. The jottings reflected
what was taking place during my meetings with the parent learners and described what I was
seeing (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). For example, during our group meetings, I noted behaviors,
body language, interactions, and conversations. After the meetings, the jottings and OCs were
developed into fieldnotes. Since the parent meetings were conducted via Zoom, I sought

59
approval from the parent learners to record our meetings. Video recordings were used for data
collection to capture our action plans and conversations. I used the recording to observe
behaviors such as facial expressions and communication patterns (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015) that
went beyond my jottings. Capturing data mechanically helped increase the credibility of the
study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). I re-watched the recordings and wrote fieldnotes, being sure to
add in the jottings and OCs written during the meetings. As I read the evidence gathered, I
worked to understand parent learners’ multiple perspectives and obtained insights into how my
andragogical practice informed my interactions with my parent learners and my ability to support
and guide parents when focusing on equity issues. Specifically, I examined how the parents
discussed the content we were covering and how they intended to support their parent peers.
Data Analysis
Data analysis aims to make sense of the data (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). As I reviewed
the purpose of my study, I reread the data collected and commented on them, including the
memo writing. Merriam and Tisdell (2015) recommended engaging in this process of in-the-field
analysis because the data can be unfocused and overwhelming regarding the volume of materials
that need to be processed without ongoing analysis. Therefore, the analysis began as soon as
critical reflections and meeting transcripts/observational fieldnotes were produced. During this
in-the-field analysis stage, I wrote memos to document my feelings, emotional reactions, and
ideas about the emerging data, as suggested by Bogdan and Biklen (2007). As stated previously, I
engaged in a self-study action research in which I aimed to improve my professional leadership
practice through critical self-reflection, examining my assumptions in action, and learning about
myself as events unfolded (Coghlan, 2019) through the interactions between me and the parent
learners. Examining the actions in the inner circle of my conceptual framework (building

60
relational trust, participating in courageous conversations in a brave space, and critical
reflection), the interactions with parent learners serves as evidence to obtain an understanding of
whether and how I supported parents, as well as evidence of whether I recognized improvement
in my andragogical practice.
My dissertation was oriented toward a self-study action research and was cyclical in
nature (Herr & Anderson, 2015), in which I engaged to improve my practice. Engaging through
an ongoing cycle of plan-act-observe-reflect informed my actions as I moved through each phase
of the action research (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). The entire actions part of the study took place
during the fall 2021 semester, with each cycle lasting about three weeks. Each phase was guided
by TSEL content, parent leader and parent learner interactions, and my actions steps (outer and
inner circle of my conceptual framework and the actions in red, both of which are detailed in the
Actions section above).
During the in-the-field analysis, I used analytic tools such as questioning ,drawing on
personal experiences, and looking at emotions (Corbin & Strauss, 2008) to make sense of my
data before returning to the field for the next cycle. Asking questions was helpful at every stage
of my analysis. It helped me get past the initial block of not knowing where to start. Having a
range of possible answers helps us to take the role of the other so that we can better understand
the problem from the participant's perspective (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). In addition, I used
guiding questions to guide my participants' critical reflections, and they helped me as I gathered
those documents. Within the self-action research study, I shared similar learning experiences
with my participants and similar life experiences. Corbin and Strauss (2008) suggested that some
aspects of our experience may be similar to our participants. Then, it makes sense to draw upon
those experiences to understand what our participants are describing. Further, it was important

61
not to overlook expressed emotions and feelings when doing analysis. Corbin and Strauss (2018)
suggested that emotions are part of the context and often follow and are associated with action or
inaction, helping to gain insight and make meaning of the data. Each datum helped me obtain
insights into the actions taken and to make any necessary modifications to achieve my intended
outcomes. This approach highlighted how I came to make the necessary modifications. For
example, after each phase, I examined the observational fieldnotes to construct meaning in each
category mentioned above. As I analyzed group meeting recordings, I considered how the
discourse changed over time with the parent learners to see if I was cultivating a brave space to
engage in courageous conversations. Further analyzing group meetings indicated whether the
andragogical moves I used, such as modeling and clarifying the focus, created space for the
parent learners to engage in critical reflection and build relational trust. This analysis informed
my progression to the next phase.
Since I conducted a self-study action research, I created a code book (Appendix E) with a
predefined set of priori codes guided by my conceptual framework. The code book allowed me
to track how I used the codes and made sense of the data. Once the action research was
completed, I used deductive and inductive coding. Thus, using a hybrid approach as data
emerged.
My research question was about my actions to support my parent learners in productively
advocating for TSEL; thus, I was interested in adaptive leadership, andragogical moves, and
TSEL. As I began my self-study action research, I had a set of priori codes. Defining them was
critical because it allowed me to carefully review my data to determine what was of interest to
my specific research questions and topic. Data reduction often occurs in tandem with data
reorganization, in which data are grouped and categorized (or coded) according to specific

62
features, commonalities, differences, or other aspects of the data (Ravitch & Carl, 2021). For
example, one of the broader codes for my andragogical moves was to clarify the focus (Fink,
2013). On a broader scale clarifying the focus was intended to help participants see and
understand the central focus; however, when I coded inductively, I was able to look at clarifying
the focus from a different direction and developed more specific codes about clarifying the focus
about specific topics such as: soft words, TSEL vs. SEL, brave space vs. safe space. I included
my definition for each and its typicality in my data corpus. I used the typicality to lead me into
the themes for my findings section.
As I continued to analyze the data, it proceeded in the direction of a deductive approach
to support assertions that reflected my conceptual framework and helped answer my research
question.
Limitations and Delimitations
This self-study action research was subject to several limitations and delimitations. One
limitation was that I could not guarantee that my participants would be honest with me as they
engaged in this process. Since most of the participants resided in an affluent White community
and were, therefore, subject to biases and may have had a reason to be selective about what they
shared, this limited honest, courageous, and authentic reflective practice and conversations that
genuinely needed to occur. In addition, because the primary data collection relied on critical
reflection, the need to be “politically correct” or maintain racial sensitivities may have hindered
addressing honest and truthful reflection. The participants may be less honest about their beliefs
to maintain racial comfort that is rooted in an identity of being good people (DiAngelo, 2018).
Another limitation was my role as a teacher in the district conducting research with
parents, meaning there was an indirect power dynamic. Given the affluent White community, the

63
parents have always had a strong stance about what is being implemented in our schools and
often strongly express pushback when their beliefs were challenged. It is perceived that parents
hold more power than the educators at the district because, on many occasions, teachers have
said something like, “The parent will have a fit” or “The parents will never let that happen.”
Therefore, although I was leading the parent learners in this set of meetings, the power dynamics
that existed in the district informed our interactions and whether they were willing to learn from
me.
In addition, I assumed a role (parent leader) that I usually did not hold as and my normal
role was to engage with young children. Teaching adults was new to me and required me to step
out of my comfort zone. I was a novice researcher, and I was unfamiliar with the practice of
research that could affect the quality of the data and, thus, the findings.
One delimitation of this self-study action research was that the study focuses on a small
sample of six parent learners from one school site. In addition, I only spent about three months in
the field, and the literature I consulted had researchers spend up to one year in the field. This was
a limitation because it affected the depth of the data I collected, and I could not fully address the
components in my conceptual framework. Finally, I included parents interested in understanding
their identity, yet those who were not ready to begin this process were not approached to
participate. As such, I purposefully delimited the group of parent learners (participants) to a
group of willing and committed parents. This choice did not enable an understanding of how I
supported parents not in this eager group, nor did it reveal how I worked with others, such as
teacher colleagues.

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Credibility and Trustworthiness
To increase and maintain the credibility and trustworthiness of this study, I used several
strategies outlined by Merriam and Tisdell (2015). I relied heavily on critical self-reflection to
ensure that my personal critical reflections demonstrated the deeper meaning of what was
happening regarding my interactions with my parent learners and that these reflections provided
alternative perspectives and interpretations. Since I was the primary instrument, I examined my
own assumptions and biases as they related to others, so it was unrealistic that I entirely
eliminated them. Engaging in a reflexive process (Atkins & Duckworth, 2019) while
incorporating some of Fook (2015) and Brookfield’s (2016) reflective question prompts,
specifically those concerning the self and relations of the self to others, allowed me to be
transparent about how my assumptions shaped the way I reported findings. As I navigated the
research process, I needed to consider that I may have been perceived in a certain way by those I
interacted with and that their responses may have shaped my findings. In other words, being
positioned as a parent leader influenced the conversations and how I read and made meaning of
the data. However, since the parent learners contacted me for support, being positioned as an
educator familiar with the parents, their children, and the community may have been perceived
as a benefit and helped the participants feel comfortable enough to share honest thoughts and
beliefs. The process of critical reflection helped me expose my biases and address my
subjectivity by using multiple lenses: parent learner, personal, and literature (Brookfield, 2017).
To ensure the validity of critical reflections, member checks (Maxwell, 2013) was
utilized with all the parent learners as I made sense of the findings to ensure that I was
systematically soliciting feedback from the parents with whom I engaged in this action research.
Creating connectedness between me (researcher) and the parents (participants) cultivated a sense

65
of uncovering and discovering the multiple realities and experiences (Tillman, 2002) of
participants. In addition, Dr. Samkian, my dissertation chair, served as a consistent peer reviewer
to help me review my action steps to ensure that I was making progress toward the intended
outcomes. Furthermore, I triangulated my data by comparing meeting transcripts with
observational fieldnotes and critical reflections. Maxwell (2013) states that triangulation involves
using different methods as a check on one another, seeing if methods with different strengths and
limitations can support a single conclusion. For example, comparing meeting transcripts revealed
the parent learners’ perspectives and interactions with one another, whereas critical reflections
revealed ideas, beliefs, and assumptions that may not have been brought up or discussed because
of a reluctancy to share during group meeting discussion.
Ethics
Since my action research was built on a voluntary partnership with the parent learners,
we engaged in a partnership as we interacted through the action steps. As I engaged in my own
professional practice in relation to others in my work community, I needed to pay extra attention
to the relationships I built with my participants and made sure that I did not cause them any
harm. One way to decrease harm was to obtain approval through and follow the guidelines of
USC’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB’s role is to prevent abusive behaviors,
violations, and lawsuits against the university (Coghlan, 2019), but also serve as a set of
guidelines to help me engage in ethical practice.
I obtained informed consent from the parent learners to record our meeting interactions
and obtained permission to gather critical reflection samples and take pictures of artifacts.
Informed consent is an important ethical practice (Lochmiller & Lester, 2017). My process of
obtaining consent advised parent learners about their rights as research participants. I explained

66
that their participation was entirely voluntary, and they were free to withdraw from the study
without penalty. When reflecting on my action steps, I anticipated challenges when asking the
participants to reflect on their biases, potentially causing discomfort because of their views,
beliefs, and past experiences. Some participants may believe that they are being put on the spot
when asked to reflect on their own biases. This issue may cause defensiveness and anger from
the participants because they may assume that they are part of the problem. Given the sensitive
nature of this study, it was critical that the parent learners understand their rights and willingly
participate.
To ensure I properly represented my participants’ perspectives and behaviors, as well as
noting how I supported them, member checks safeguarded the appropriate interpretation of the
data (as noted in the credibility and trustworthiness section) and helped the participants review
the findings before I disseminated them publicly. When collecting the participants’ critical
reflections, to ensure confidentiality, I removed identifying information, such as name, and
assigned pseudonyms to all participants. Other identifying information was also deleted to
decrease the chances that the specific parents were identified upon dissemination of the final
report. The data I collected was stored in a password-protected cloud drive organized according
to pseudonyms and meeting phase dates.
Findings
This section presents my findings to the following research question: As a parent leader,
how do I support parent learners to productively advocate for transformative social-emotional
learning as a conduit to conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice in a
predominately White community? The data used to inform the findings include group session
transcripts/observations, participant critical reflections, and my critical self-reflections and

67
reflections as a leader. This section will be divided into two parts: 1) How I supported my parent
learners in their development and what was accomplished, and 2) my growth and development as
a leader of adults. The first finding in Part 1 will speak to creating conditions for the parent
learners to make meaning about the difference between being a brave person versus creating
conditions for a brave space. The second finding in the first part will speak to using personal
stories to develop an understanding of transformative social-emotional learning, focusing mainly
on understanding the TSEL competencies of self-awareness and social awareness. The second
part of the findings section will speak to my growth and learning process throughout the self-
study action research study, particularly navigating my dual roles as a teacher/researcher and
parent leader.
Part 1: Supporting Parent Learners
In my conceptual framework, I stated that building relational trust sets the stage for
courageous conversations, both when the parent learners and I would be working together as
well as when they would need to work with their parent peers. I created and facilitated eight
small group mentoring sessions with parent participants anchored in fostering interpersonal
relationships and trust throughout my study. The weekly small group sessions focused on
communicative learning (Cranton, 2016), utilizing social exchange and collaboratively working
in a group to embrace a stance of vulnerability to share experiences and construct a new
understanding (Cranton, 2016) of brave space and transformative social-emotional learning
(TSEL). I contended in my conceptual framework that for parents to productively advocate for
TSEL among their parent peers, they would first need to know about and be able to cultivate a
brave space with each other, and would need to understand the tenets of TSEL. These mentoring
sessions aimed to serve as a model and to guide the parent learners towards disrupting “safe, in

68
the bubble” conversations with their parent community. The hope was that I would support the
parents as they planned to establish conditions for brave conversations within their parent
community to productively advocate for TSEL, which I theorized would subsequently open
doors to hold courageous conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice
district-wide. Before starting the self-study action research, I had crafted a plan for each session
to focus on TSEL competencies. In the next sections, I will discuss how I supported the parent
learners to more deeply understand, first, brave space and, second, TSEL.
Finding 1: Creating Conditions for the Parent Learners to Make Meaning of Brave Space
I contended that in order to have and model courageous conversations, it was important
for the group to differentiate between safe and brave space and to work towards cultivating a
brave space. If the parent learners aimed to productively advocate for TSEL with their parent
peers to build and establish a culture of care at the school as reflected in the district mission, they
needed to understand this distinction before creating a brave space for their peers. When I
launched into the mentoring sessions with my parent learners, I had planned on only spending
one session on brave spaces; however, I did not expect the concept of brave space to be one that
the parents needed more support and in understanding. The parent learners were grappling with
the idea of brave space for the subsequent three sessions. During these sessions, they offered
their interpretations of brave space which showed a misunderstanding of both the concept itself
and the role of the facilitator. Meeting my learners where they were in their development was
crucial if I wanted to support them in productively advocating for TSEL with their parent peers.
They needed to understand the importance and the power behind establishing conditions for a
brave space to cultivate courageous conversations when it was time for them to apply the
concept in their own work.

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Giving More Time for Brave Space. Arao and Clemens (2013) explain, “we need to
emphasize the need for courage rather than the illusion of safety” (p. 143), and conditions to
create space to reinforce bravery are needed, especially when discussing topics such as equity. I
observed the group grappling with the concept of brave space because the parents felt that the
community was not ready to get into a brave space. As I learned more about my parent learners,
their aims, and reflected on our sessions and interactions, I modified my plans to fit the needs of
my learners, and I strived to meet them where they were in their development. For example, my
reflections and in-the-field analysis revealed that the topic of brave space was not comfortable
for all my learners; thus, meeting my learners where they were developmentally drove my
subsequent actions. In this section, I will explain how I realized that I needed to slow down. In
the next section, I present how I did that. The following excerpt from my reflection shows how I
utilized my personal experience of grappling with the concept of brave space in my own course
work to empathize with the parent learners and provide additional support to better understand
how to establish conditions for brave space.
When speaking about safe and brave spaces, both Julie and Lori did not feel like they
were ready to jump into a brave space and that a safe space was a good starting point. I
was trying to explain to them that a safe space cannot be guaranteed, but as a group, we
can establish and create conditions that would cultivate and facilitate a brave space.
Within our conversations, I shared my own fears of being in a brave space and how I,
myself, do not feel comfortable sometimes sharing ideas because I am afraid of the
response that I might get back. We looked at how when we could develop a brave space
where we are not only sharing information but are also receiving some criticism.

70
In this reflection, I noted that Julie and Lori believed a “safe space was a good place to
start”. My reflection demonstrates that seeing that my parent learners were grappling with the
concept of brave space and wanted instead to stay with a safe space, I slowed the plans I had for
future sessions. My job was to find a balance between the two, what my learners were
comfortable with, while at the same time pushing them to recognize the limitations and possible
harm of a safe space. The following excerpt from my reflection demonstrates why I chose to
spend the subsequent few sessions on brave space instead of moving on after one session of
talking about it.
I spent so much time in my session teasing the concept of brave space because this
concept is disorienting for my participants. I see them going in and out of understanding
brave space. At one point, Julie said, “brave space is somewhat of a ‘paradox.’ She said
that “space reinforces that bravery.” I got excited because it demonstrated that she was
beginning to understand that it was the space that created that bravery. However, at the
same time, Debbie is still using the concept of brave as a personality trait. She keeps
referring to herself as being brave and other people being brave when they attend the
justice-oriented events that she organizes in the community.
In this reflection, I was beginning to see how the parent learners were defining brave
space as a personality trait, when my goal was to help them see how they could create conditions
to help their parent peers be brave. Gradually, learning how to take advantage of the present
moment, I decided that the best way to support the parent learners where they were at this
juncture was to spend the next few session unpacking brave space so I could help them both
understand what it means and see why we needed to replace a safe space with a brave space.

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Engaging in an ongoing cycle of plan-act-observe-reflect informed my actions. As I
moved through each session of the action research, I modified and spent more time on concepts,
specifically brave space (Arao & Clemens, 2013. On several occasions, they would say, “tell us
what to do,” and I had to be very mindful of when I filled their vessel with concrete models and
strategies (Drago-Severson & Blum-DeStefano, 2017), versus when I stepped back and gave the
work back to them to have them understand what they needed to do as leaders of their peers.
Despite adaptive leadership theorists saying that I have to give the work back, I realized I needed
to slow down and help them grapple with the concept of brave space first. Heifetz et al. (2009)
suggest that to build the team’s capacity, team members need to be pushed beyond their comfort
zone. Northouse (2018) says that even though it makes people feel secure to have leaders tell
them what to do, leaders need to learn ways to curtail their influence and shift problem solving
back to the people involved. But before I could give the work back, I observed them grappling
with the concept of how to cultivate courageous conversations through brave space, so I knew
some direct instruction was in order. They had a different understanding of the meaning of the
word brave in the context of space and their role within that space as facilitators of courageous
conversations. Therefore, slowing down and revising my sessions and andragogical moves based
on where my parent learners were in their development was crucial if I wanted to continue to
move on to the other phases of the self-study action cycle.

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Unpacking Brave Space. Since I anticipated having courageous conversations with my
parent learners, setting the stage for was vital, which included building and cultivating a brave
space so that they could turn around and do the same with their parent peers. To do that, the
parent learners needed to understand the difference between safe and brave space so that the
conditions and agreements they were going to co-construct would be conducive to learning. I
first needed to become aware of the parent learners’ prior experiences, knowledge, and beliefs if
I wanted to support their development. Wergin (2020) drawing on Kegan (2002) argued that
development is the expanding ability to make meaning of experience; thus, how people interpret
a situation or event depends on their developmental level. As such, I first asked the parent
learners to share their own meaning of brave and safe space. In her definition, Nancy referred to
brave space as “raising a good human being,” and Tammi said, “a brave space is when you listen
and learn from everyone.” These early definitions of brave space demonstrated a lack of initial
understanding. The definitions did not exhibit courageous conversations needed for a genuine
dialogue on diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice issues, which are vital when
prioritizing TSEL. It was vital for the parent learners to understand that a courageous
conversation requires that we grow accustomed to the discomfort of abandoning old habits
(Singleton & Hays, 2008), encouraging others to self-examine their identities and personal
histories. When my parent learners shared their definitions of safe and brave spaces, I noticed
that the majority of the parent learners were more comfortable with the idea of a safe space
rather than a brave one. For example, Lori shared the following.
I want to stress that we should come with a framework in mind, but we have to work to
figure out where our community’s priorities, interests, and comforts are. I envision a
series of ice-breaker-type questions to help everyone get to know each other and assess

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the parents’ level of openness/vulnerability. That is the starting point of this work. We
need to meet our community where they are, not where we want them to be or where we
think they should be. We want to get to a point where we talk about EDSJI, but our initial
focus should be on connection and belonging. We need to assess where we are on the
continuum and be mindful that we don’t skip over safe space to get to brave.
In this reflection, Lori argued that they needed to assess the parent peers’ “level of
openness/vulnerability” to then decide what the “community’s priorities, interests, and comforts
are.” Lori believed that neutral, low stakes conversations prompted by “a series of ice-breaker-
type questions” were better suited, as a “starting point.” Ice breaker type questions tend to be
surface level questions intended to begin conversations, and while she started with “we should
come with a framework in mind,” she was really making the argument that “we need to meet our
community where they are, not where we want them to be or where we think they should be.”
While Wergin (2020), drawing on a constructivist developmental theory would argue that adult
learners need to be met where they are developmentally, Lori seemed to suggest she did not want
to move to replacing a safe space with a brave space, as suggested by Arao and Clemens (2013).
Lori’s statement helps illustrate that she saw brave space as the last stage when she said “we
don’t skip over safe space to get to brave.” In other words, she saw brave space and safe space as
two locations on a continuum. She continued,
Interestingly, if I had heard when we came up with Dragon Circle and if you had said
brave space to me at that time, I would have been like yes, let's do brave space, but given
kind of what I've learned in the community in the past couple months experience with
PTA, I'm not entirely confident about creating a brave space without first creating a safe
space, because I kind of view this as like a continuum… I'm just thinking about parents

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that I know, and a lot of them are just still coming out of a pandemic, where they are, just
like in recovery mode a little bit, and some people might not be able to get to brave, but
they really love safe for a while, you know, like why not talk about soccer and kids’
activities for a while, just to build the community back up.
As demonstrated in the above example, Lori discussed neutral conversations that build
community as a prerequisite to brave space. In my conceptual framework, I argued that
courageous conversations necessitate a deeper dialogue that requires us to be open and honest
about our thoughts, feelings, and opinions as we embrace discomfort and abandon old views.
Lori’s comment “I'm not entirely confident about creating a brave space without first creating a
safe space” showed that she was much more comfortable staying with safe space than having
courageous conversations with their parent peers. For example, Lori’s question “why not talk
about soccer and kids’ activities for a while?” points to her belief that non-sensitive topics
characterize a safe space, and that it is necessary to stay in this space before moving on to brave
space. Unlike Arao and Clemens’ (2013) argument that we need to substitute a safe space with a
brave space, three of the six parent learners in my study didn’t think they could move through the
continuum quickly. In addition, Lori’s comment that “some people might not be able to get to
brave” pointed to her belief that getting to brave space is highly dependent on the particular
people that will participate in the Dragon Circle, and not the conditions that she, as a facilitator,
will need to establish. In other words, Lori was putting the onus on the individual participants to
be brave rather than the facilitator to create and cultivate a brave space.
Debbie also shared how she was grappling with the “sensitive topics” within her own
friendship groups that Lori spoke about. She shared the following, “I am struggling with my
friend (“bubble friends”) group’s lack of interest in equity issue conversations, and the sole focus

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of our conversations is about the soccer field and parent parties.” Here, Debbie’s use of the word
“struggling” demonstrates that unlike Lori, she would prefer to move into “equity issue
conversations” rather than “the sole focus” being on “soccer field and parent parties.” Debbie’s
statement about her friend group mirrors Lori’s understanding of where the parent community is
situated concerning brave space. What’s different about the tone is that while Lori suggests that
they should meet their parent peers where they are, Debbie was frustrated with not being able to
engage in courageous conversations with her friend group. But like Lori, Debbie’s comment
showed that she did not see herself as having any power to create conditions that would allow
her friend group to step into conversations about equity. By saying “my friend group’s lack of
interest,” Debbie was placing the failure to reach a brave space on the friends themselves.
In addition, Debbie also viewed brave space as an action or a personality trait rather than
a condition created for others to engage in courageous conversations. Courageous Conversation
engages those who won’t talk, sustains the conversation when it gets uncomfortable or diverted,
and deepens the conversation to the point where authentic understanding and meaningful actions
can occur by introducing a new set of agreements that defy and perhaps even contradict the
tightly held cultural norms relating to race talk (Singleton, 2018; Singleton & Hays, 2008). This
idea that a brave space is an action or a personality trait on the part of the participants was
repeated by three of the six parents. For example, when defining brave space, Debbie said, “I am
being brave when I go out to dinner with my ‘bubble friends’ and bring up controversial topics. I
don’t understand why they prefer to talk about ‘soccer field’ topics.” In this example, Debbie
described herself as brave. Her comment also demonstrated that she did not understand that to
have courageous conversations, conditions for such conversations need to be established. She
didn’t mention the conditions, but just that she was “being brave.” Courageous conversation

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requires that participants be honest about their thoughts, feelings, and opinions (Singleton, 2018).
In addition, the discussion leader (in this case, Debbie) must help participants (her “bubble
friends”) open up and share their perspectives regardless of how unusual or unpopular they fear
those views might be (Singleton & Hays, 2008).
The conversation about the difference between safe and brave space required the parent
learners to consider the conditions needed for conversations that could create discomfort. In
other words, I had to help them first see a brave space as something that was created and
cultivated, and thus in their scope of influence as parent leaders. To help them see this as a
central focus of brave space, I offered the following perspective during one of our sessions:
Brave space requires a person to get vulnerable, right? We are scared to be vulnerable, so
we don’t engage. It’s exposing yourself to the judgments and thoughts of other people. So
the concept of brave spaces is fundamental. It’s challenging to do because the conditions
to have a brave space need to be established. They help chart the course for brave
conversations to happen.
Here, I mentioned the need on the part of the person to be vulnerable, but I followed it up
with “it’s challenging to do because the conditions to have a brave space need to be established.”
Singleton and Hays (2008) suggest that to prepare for courageous conversations, developing
proficiency in applying guidelines and introducing a new set of agreements can assist learners
open up these conversations when it appears that certain things are much better left unsaid. The
perspective I shared prompted a brief conversation between the parent learners and me. Although
we had participated in only two sessions at this point, I noticed Lori grappling the most with the
idea of brave space, because she kept insisting, as with the example provided above, that we
needed to be in a safe space first before we jump to brave space. She truly wanted to understand

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the distinction between safe and brave space, which led her to ask the following clarifying
questions. The following vignette is an excerpt of our discussion.
Lori: Is the brave space for the individual or the brave space for the group?
Me: Brave space is an environment where somebody who gets vulnerable can
potentially create discomfort in someone else. If there are set conditions, norms, and
agreements for us to have a brave conversation, if those conditions are not in place, then
it is not a brave space.
L: What if no conditions are set in place? Is that a brave space? Or is the person
having to be brave to speak because you could be heckled in public?
Me: In my course work, I read an article by Arao and Clemens and the literature
argues that brave spaces can only be established, and you can name it a brave space if
there are conditions to make it a brave space.
L: Work needs to be established upfront to create a brave space.
Tammi: In Debbie’s case of having soccer tournament conversations and going
out to dinner with ‘bubble friends,’ there are no conditions, so Debbie is being brave not
in a brave space jumping in and like bringing up a topic.
This example demonstrates Lori’s emerging understanding of brave space supported by
my clarification and Tammi’s application to an example. Tammi understood that although
controversial topics are being brought up by a person who feels brave to discuss them, the
conditions and parameters for those conversations were not established for the group, thus falling
short of being a “brave space.” While Tammi did not go this far in her explanation, my hope was
for the parent learners to see that the absence of intentionally creating a brave space potentially
hindered Debbie’s ability to have a productive, courageous conversation with her “bubble

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friends.” As a parent leader, I employed communicative learning (Cranton, 2016) when I
responded to the needs of the learners and fostered a meaningful group discussion. Cranton
(2016) suggests that communicative learning takes place when people are working
collaboratively in groups to share and interpret their experiences and construct new
understandings. I helped my parent learners explore new perspectives by drawing on my
coursework at USC to clarify the meaning of brave space. I said “In my course work, I read an
article by Arao and Clemens and the literature argues that brave spaces can only be established,
and you can name it a brave space if there are conditions to make it a brave space.” Drawing on
the literature increased parent learners’ awareness of brave space. This is evidenced by Lori’s
subsequent comment, “Work needs to be established up front to create a brave space.” Tammi
was then able to distinguish between being brave and a brave space when she shared, “going out
to dinner with ‘bubble friends,’ there are no conditions, so Debbie is being brave not in a brave
space jumping in and like bringing up a topic.”
I emphasized that to hold productive, courageous conversations with other parent peers
through the Dragon Circle, the parent learners needed to understand that it was their
responsibility to establish those conditions as leaders in that space. How we set up the terms for
discussing justice-oriented issues shapes our perception and response to these issues (Singleton
& Hays, 2008). In the example I present below, I clarified the focus on the importance of
creating conditions for a brave space.
Brave space requires a person to get vulnerable, right? We are scared to be vulnerable, so
we don't engage right. It's exposing yourself to the judgments and thoughts of other
people. So the concept of brave spaces is fundamental. It is challenging because the
conditions to have a brave space need to be established; they help chart the course for

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brave conversations to happen. Brave spaces can only be established, and you can call it
brave space if there are conditions to make it a brave space.
After I made this comment, Julie replied by saying “space reinforces bravery.” Drawing
on what I shared with the parent learners, Julie’s subsequent comment demonstrated her
understanding that the bravery of a person was partially dependent on the kind of space that was
created for that bravery to manifest itself. For example, I said “brave space requires a person to
get vulnerable, right?” and then later added “It is challenging because the conditions to have a
brave space need to be established; they help chart the course for brave conversations to
happen.” By connecting a person’s actions (“a person to get vulnerable”) with the conditions that
“chart the course” for this vulnerability (“the conditions to have a brave space need to be
established”), I was demonstrating how the two different ways of defining brave space were both
intertwined and also different.
In sum, in order to create conditions for the parent learners to make meaning of the
concept of brave space, I realized I needed to spend more time on unpacking brave space.
Referring the parent learners to the definition led the group to differentiate between the concept
of brave space and safe space and helped them reach a more critically informed understanding
(Brookfield & Preskill, 2005). After our second session, three of the six parent learners were
beginning to understand the concept of brave space more deeply. For instance, in her earlier
reflections Nancy described a brave space as one where there is “no judgment.” Having a deeper
understanding of Arao and Clemens’ (2013) definition, Nancy shifted her understanding when
she wrote the following reflection, “respectful conflict and disagreement can lead to
understanding different points of view.” Arao and Clemens (2013) argued that in a brave space,
“learning involves not merely a risk, but the pain of giving up a former condition in favor of a

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new way of seeing things” (p. 141). By saying that “disagreements can lead to understanding
different points of view,” Nancy demonstrated an understanding of brave space. Another shift
can be seen in Tammi’s earlier reflections. Tammi understood brave space as a personality trait
when she wrote, “you have to be brave to speak up,” alluding to the point that brave people
speak up while those not brave do not. Emphasizing the importance of establishing conditions
for a brave space during our sessions, in her reflection, after our second session, she noted that a
“brave space is a curious space,” demonstrating a shift to it being about the space. As such,
spending an extra two sessions on unpacking the concept of brave space was valuable because it
brought about a new understanding of the concept among my parent participants.
Parent Learner Growth in Understanding Their Role as Active Facilitators
My role in supporting the parents to develop conditions for brave space was to scaffold
their learning and clarify what it looks like to cultivate a brave space. Arao and Clemens (2013)
argue that the process of actualizing brave space continues appropriately with establishing
ground rules. They explained that establishing ground rules is vital to move from a “polite space
to a provocative space” (Arao & Clemens, 2013, p. 135).
The issue of how to create a brave space was handled through the discussion of shared
agreements for group dialogue as suggested by Arao and Clemens (2013). While shared
agreements are not the only thing that make a brave space, they are a starting place. In one
instance, I said, For the Dragon Circle space to reinforce bravery, we need to co-create shared
agreements to set the tone for the courageous conversations.
By making this comment, I wanted to illuminate that a brave space is founded in shared
agreements or as Arao and Clemens (2013) suggested, ground rules. Given that the goal of this
action research was to support parents to productively advocate for TSEL, in my initial

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conceptual framework, I contended that shared agreements would be needed to facilitate the
conditions for the participants to develop TSEL competencies. When shared agreements are co-
constructed, it creates an opportunity for a collective approach, for how we want to be in
relationship with one another and our commitment to supporting each other. Arao and Clemens
(2013) cite Freire (1970) and hooks (1994) to argue that a “collective approach, wherein all
participants have the opportunity to shape the group norms and expectations, is more consistent
with the overall goal of social justice education than one in which the facilitators dictate the
terms of learning” (p. 143). By saying “we need to co-construct shared agreements,” I was
highlighting the need for this “collective approach.”
Utilizing reflective questioning (Fink, 2013), I asked the parent learners to respond to the
following: If our goal is to ultimately move to a brave space, what are some valuable ground
rules that can help us get there? To this, Tammi replied,
In a productive brave space, you need to be prepared to be challenged in these situations
where we're going to gather and do parent education or have these open dialogues and
ground rules. Knowing and preparing yourself to be challenged is a good thing; it is so
you're going to expect that uncomfortableness, so you set that up in the beginning.
This example demonstrates Tammi’s understanding that a brave space includes being
“challenged” in an “open dialogue.” She said we need to anticipate and “expect that
uncomfortableness.” Additionally, Tammi’s comment demonstrated her understanding that she
has an important role as a Dragon Circle facilitator. When she said “so you set that up in the
beginning,” she was explaining how the facilitator sets the conditions for open dialogue to take
place in anticipation of “uncomfortableness.” This demonstrates Tammi’s understanding of the
need to set agreements at the outset.

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Throughout this discussion, per Arao and Clemens (2013), my role was to keep
emphasizing that to hold productive, courageous conversations with other parent peers through
the Dragon Circle, the parent learners needed to understand that it is their responsibility to
establish those conditions as leaders in that space. In session three of the first cycle, I shared the
following during our group discussion.
Brave space is an environment where somebody who gets vulnerable can potentially
create discomfort in someone else. If we do not have set conditions, norms, and
agreements to have a brave conversation, I cannot be a participant in these conversations.
I’m not even going to engage, right, but if, as a facilitator of the Dragon Circle, you
create shared agreements that I, as a participant, know that I can speak my truth, then I
will.
When I shared, “If we do not have set conditions, norms, and agreements to have a brave
conversation, I cannot be a participant in these conversations,” it demonstrated how I clarified
the focus on moving to a brave space and discussing the importance of the facilitator working to
set ground rules to ensure participation on the part of learners, as suggested by (Arao & Clemens,
2013). I treated brave conversations as valuable for building community, especially when, as
facilitators, we want participants to embrace vulnerability either through sharing experiences or
when experiencing discomfort due to potential opposing viewpoints. I continued to emphasize
that "as a facilitator of the Dragon Circle, you create shared agreements that I, as a participant,
know that I can speak my truth." Shared agreements create a condition whereby different views
are expected and honed with a group commitment to understand different perspectives and to
work cooperatively toward a common goal (Arao & Clemens, 2013).

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However, just telling them we needed to create agreements was insufficient. I needed to
put some scaffolds in place to help my parent learners co-create shared agreements to maximize
a brave space. I leveraged my role as a teacher, and I brought up an example of me as a
classroom teacher and the agreements that I put into place at the start of the year to have brave
conversations with my students. Parents’ prior experiences and observations of their child’s
development in my class (since four of the six parents have children in my class) provided a
model for the importance and relevancy of shared agreements and thus was a leveraged as a
scaffold when discussing shared agreements. Tharp and Gallimore (1989) suggest that the critical
form of assisting learners is through dialogue, sharing ideas and knowledge in conversation. I
talked about accountable talk and specific language that I used with the students to build
relational trust among us. I shared the following:
Let’s take, for example, my classroom. To establish relational trust among the students, I
create learning conditions on day one that I keep revisiting on a constant level.
Establishing learning conditions allows me to facilitate a culture of care because the
agreements cultivate collaboration, problem solving, discussion, and critical thinking.
The expectations are set for the student to engage with me and one another. We have set
parameters that we call accountable talk: I agree with, I disagree with because, I
respectfully disagree with because, I see your point, however.
As stated in my conceptual framework, I provided parent learners with specific
demonstrations (Parkay et al., 2014) from my classroom. Drawing on my classroom experience
helped position me to assist the parent learners in understanding and gaining insight when
pondering shared agreements in the space of the Dragon Circle. I gave them a concrete example
from my classroom where I, as a facilitator, intentionally created shared agreements to cultivate a

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space that affirms my students and aims to “establish relational trust among students.” Thus,
modeling similar behaviors I wanted them to imitate (Tharp & Gallimore, 1989) while working
with their parent peers. By saying “the agreements cultivate collaboration, problem solving,
discussion and critical thinking,” I was demonstrating the importance, to me, of my students
working cooperatively, even if they don’t always agree with each other. I said, “we have set
parameters that we call accountable talk,” and then gave examples of phrases we use in my class
to engage with each other’s ideas. I reiterated that we revisit the agreements continuously.
Additionally, I also explained that the first conversation would not be perfect, and maybe not
even the second conversation. I wanted to show that this work is ongoing and isn’t easily
“reached.” I shared,
It is a process that takes time, but as long as the conditions for learning and conversations
are created, we can slowly begin the dialogue and move it out of the safe space. But it is
critical that we establish shared agreement that will guide us as we facilitate courageous
conversations.
By making this comment, I wanted to illuminate that co-constructing shared agreements
are a reflective process that should not be rushed if the aim is to facilitate courageous
conversation. By saying, “it is a process that takes time,” I emphasized the importance of
creating conditions for bravery to help parents better understand—and rise to—the challenges of
conversations with their parent peers.
As our session progressed, I saw growth in my parent learners’ understanding of and buy
in for the concept of brave space. They were grappling less with the concept of brave space.
They began to understand that it was their responsibility to establish conditions for their parent
peers if they wanted to facilitate courageous conversations with them. Although in some of our

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sessions, the term brave was substituted with the term safe, even then, when parent learners used
the term safe, I saw evidence demonstrating their understanding that it was a brave space. For
example, Debbie said,
Maybe the Dragon Circle could be one experiment where we could create a space safe
enough for the white majority here to just say what they’re not comfortable with, ask the
dumb questions, say the wrong things, and know that it's okay. Right? Because we know
that you genuinely want to make progress here.
Even though Debbie used the word safe, saying “just say what they’re not comfortable
with” is more in line with the definition of a brave space. Additionally, Debbie’s response points
to a shift in the way the concept was perceived: from an individual trait or action to one that is
created and cultivated by the facilitator. By saying “we could create a safe space,” Debbie
showed that she was really talking about an understanding that as leaders, it is their responsibility
to create that space, not just assume that parents will need to come to the Dragon Circles being
brave, saying “what they’re not comfortable with, ask the dumb questions” etc. However, while
Debbie's comment is better than holding neutral conversations about soccer and kids' activities, it
does not show an understanding that if the parent peers “make mistakes,” someone might (and
should) call them out on it. By saying “… say the wrong things, and know that it’s OK,” Debbie
demonstrated a partial understanding of Arao and Clemens’ definition of brave space, because
she failed to see that this person’s mistake might harm another participant in that space, and the
person who harmed, even by mistake, needs to be held accountable.
In the following example, Lori’s response also pointed to a shift from initially advocating
for neutral conversations about school to embracing vulnerability and pursuing the more difficult

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conversations. As she said, this difficult work requires a more profound sense of commitment
and purpose:
I was going to say that in relation to that, what the digging deep work requires is a level
of vulnerability that is a real decision and commitment, and it doesn’t oftentimes work in
anything fast-paced. And so it sort of requires depth, time within a meeting, time between
meetings, all of that kind of thing. And so, it’s such a level of commitment. I think that’s
also part of why it’s very difficult.
In this statement, Lori argued that vulnerability is an important element in a brave space
and that to create conditions for people to be vulnerable, it takes time and commitment. She said
“it sort of requires depth, time within a meeting, time between meetings.” When Lori said, “ and
to create conditions for people to be vulnerable,” it showed an emerging understanding of the
need for the facilitator to do something such as create shared agreements. At the beginning of the
action research, Lori alluded to wanting to go with the flow of her parent peers who may want to
stay in a safe space for a while. Her comment above in session three of phase one was a shift in
recognizing that even though it is difficult and it takes time, it is important for facilitators to
move their learners to a brave space by establishing the necessary conditions even if they do not
want to go there. Lori began to realize that a brave space is a “catalyst for learning” (Brookfield
& Hess, 2021, p. 132), and should not be avoided just because the learners resist it.
In Nancy's example, she also demonstrated growth in her understanding of the role of the
facilitator in creating a brave space when she made the following analogy:
TSEL is a brave space, and SEL is a safe space. I'm like, oh my God, that’s so true
because if we just create a safe space and don't challenge the participants, then, therefore,

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we’re in the same boat. Those who are oppressed continue to be oppressed, and those in
power continue to be in power.
When Nancy said, “TSEL is a brave space, and SEL is a safe space,” it showed an
understanding of what Arao and Clemens (2013) call “controversy with civility” (p. 144). When
she said, “if we just create a safe space and don't challenge the participants,” it demonstrated that
by saying, “create,” she understood her responsibility as a parent leader to create conditions for
courageous conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice. Although she did
not mention the use of shared agreements specifically, her comment points to a growth in her
understanding that the facilitator must do something to “challenge the participants” to avoid
“those who are oppressed to continue to be oppressed and those in power continue to be in
power.”
As I argued in my conceptual framework, I needed to support my parent learners to
understand how to establish and cultivate a brave space in order to build relational trust among
our group and then later with their parent peers. I argued that it was only through this relational
trust that the parents would be able to productively advocate for TSEL in our predominantly
White community. While I anticipated needing a session to discuss the difference between a safe
and brave space, I realized my parent learners needed more time to make meaning of this
concept. Meeting my learners where they were in the process was crucial. They needed first to
understand the concept of brave space and also the importance of co-constructing agreements to
allow for brave space before they acted as facilitators of the Dragon Circle. I saw this as an
opportunity for deep learning when I noticed their discomfort around the need for and process to
develop a brave space. According to Wergin (2020), deep learning requires active, mindful
agency of the sort that not only reacts to but also seeks out new ways of being – ways that

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encourage us to step out of our comfort zones just far enough to allow our innate curiosity to take
over. By not settling for a safe space, as some of my parent learners wanted to do, and
emphasizing the need to create the conditions for facilitating courageous conversations in a brave
space, my hope was that the parent learners could be positioned to develop Dragon Circle’s
expectations for a brave space. By providing the definition from Arao and Clemens, examples
from my own classroom, and emphasizing the importance of creating conditions to facilitate
courageous conversations in a brave space, I scaffolded the parents’ deeper understanding of
brave space and their role in cultivating it. The parent learners, then took the opportunity to
shape the group norms and expectations to align with the characteristics of brave space as
defined by Arao and Clemens (2013).
Finding 2: Using Personal Experiences to Develop an Understanding of Transformative
Social-Emotional Learning
Another way I supported the parent learners was to help them gain an understanding of
TSEL by fostering a productive community space to share personal stories and experiences
through which they could understand self and social awareness, two of the TSEL competencies I
had included in my conceptual framework.
I knew I needed to make the concept of TSEL relevant and applicable. So, I had the
parent learners bring in their experiences through which we could discuss how TSEL can be
helpful in addressing what they were experiencing as a group of parent leaders at the school site.
To productively move through our sessions, I kept the focus of our sessions on TSEL
competencies (self-awareness and social awareness), the working definition of TSEL (mentioned
in my conceptual framework), and action learning and collaborative inquiry (Cranton, 2016),
which involved working on a project (Dragon Circle) in a group where they were asked to

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consistently reflect and answer questions of importance to them. Dewey (1900) argued that
learning and knowledge construction are facilitated through interaction with the authentic
environment and are best when it comes from genuine interests and concerns (Parkay et al.,
2014). Instead of just teaching my parent learners what TSEL is so that they could teach it to
their peers, I leveraged their interactions with their parent peers and school administrators, which
have been fraught with tension, and focused on how the dialogue involves cooperatively working
on a shared goal. Thus, in the sections below, I will demonstrate how I leveraged the parents’
interactions with others to demonstrate how self-awareness and social awareness were essential
TSEL characteristics to address tensions they were experiencing as they attempted to lead in the
district.

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Interrogating “Soft” Language to Move from SEL to TSEL. As stated in my
conceptual framework, TSEL is offered as a necessary reframing and extending of the concepts
in SEL, especially in a White community. Focusing on TSEL, rather than only SEL, was critical
if I hoped to support the parent learners’ in-depth understanding of the “T” (Transformative) in
TSEL. During the course of my study, I was made aware of information from meetings and
agenda notes that involved conflict between the parent learners' work and others at the school. At
that time, the site principal asked the parent learners to take charge of DEI efforts at the school
site, and they crafted a mission statement that would ground their purpose. I was mentoring the
parent learners as part of my study, and they asked me to review their mission statement. I
perceived crafting the mission statement as an entry point for the parent learners to show that
their work is ongoing and to support them in productively advocating for diversity, equity,
inclusion, and social justice through the concept of TSEL. The following vignette demonstrates
how I leveraged the act of developing a mission statement to facilitate an understanding that
TSEL is consistent with interrogating “soft” colorblind language, as it features a system critique
and is motivated by courageous conversations through an equity lens (Jagers et al., 2018).
Tammi: This is our mission statement: To support Pennekamp in nurturing a culture of
care to advance MBUSD's goals of (i) maximizing academic success for all
students and (ii) growing our sense of belonging through equity, diversity, social
justice, and inclusion. We endeavor to celebrate our community's differences
through personalized learning, social-emotional enrichment, and community
building, embrace our shared experiences, and empower students to succeed in a
dynamic and complex global society…The social-emotional piece in our mission
statement aligns with the district’s mission, and we decided to go with the social-

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emotional enrichment when considering our mission. Other schools in the district
use the term culture of care under the umbrella of SEL, which is a big deal.
Me: I am cautious with how I interpret SEL from how maybe the district sees SEL
because it became something like a mantra, be kind, be nice, be inclusive.
However, in actuality, SEL is a lever for equity because if I'm looking at the
competencies of TSEL, they build self-awareness by interrogating my own
positionality, my own identity, and looking at social awareness as to how I can
hold compassion towards people and towards those who are different from me
and how I am using empathy skills and if I have growth mindset through it, so
SEL is getting such a hit and miss right now because we sometimes throw SEL
just to say hey, we're going to be friendly and kind. We’re going to teach
everybody how to be nice to one another. So I thought that the mission statement
was a great start, and I did appreciate the social-emotional enrichment piece, but
the part that I am pushing back on is the neutral tone.
Julie: It’s a good point because I think what we were trying to do is that the phrasing of
belonging, which is how we wanted to kind of encapsulate, you know, inclusion. I
think we’re trying to do too much in that little phrase right there, where we’re
trying to talk about belonging. In some ways, it can kind of hit a nerve, I think, for
people who would read it seriously and then say that, but it’s specifically through
not just like SEL, but just kind of like something fuzzy. I get your point about
how if equity, diversity, and social justice somehow gets lost in the fuzziness of
words like belonging? Uhm, I can see how we need to like go back and think

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about that because we need to be specific about them in terms of how they’re
going to hit people in our community in different ways.
In this discussion, Tammi shared that using the term “social-emotional enrichment” in
their mission statement aligned with the district's goal of culture of care. I questioned their use of
these words, because it was unclear how it was productive to DEI efforts. I said, “I am cautious
with how I interpret SEL from how maybe the district sees SEL because it became something
like a mantra, be kind, be nice, be inclusive.” By saying “it became something like a mantra,” I
was trying to show that the words have lost meaning and simply being kind or nice will not allow
for productive disruption. As this excerpt showcased, I pushed back on “soft” terms by clarifying
the purpose of transformative social-emotional learning by saying “SEL is a lever for equity.”
Williams and Jagers (2022) argue that efforts to advance SEL as a lever for equity and excellence
require adopting targeted universalism that promotes power, privilege, and self-determination as
components to intrapersonal, interpersonal, and institutional competence development (e.g.,
knowledge, beliefs, skills, and behaviors) of diverse young people and adults. I continued to
remind them that the TSEL competencies of self-awareness involved understanding one’s
personal and social identities when I said, “TSEL builds self-awareness by interrogating my own
positionality, my own identity.” I then connected to the competency of social awareness when I
said it is about “how I can hold compassion towards people and towards those who are different
from me.” Connecting to these important TSEL competencies and pushing back on soft language
was my way of positioning the parents to ponder the mission statement’s purpose and by
extension, their mission as a group. Evidence of the parents thinking about what I said can be
seen in Julie’s response when she acknowledged that the phrasing in the mission statements
needs to be intentional for TSEL. She said, “I get your point about how if equity, diversity, and

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social justice somehow gets lost in the fuzziness of words like belonging.” She recognized that
the word “belonging” could be perceived as neutral and “soft,” thus resulting in “equity,
diversity, and social justice somehow [getting] lost in the fuzziness.”
I emphasized the importance of language in this session when I reminded parents to be
mindful of their words as they co-constructed the mission statement to center it around TSEL.
During this session, I continued to build on where Julie left off to ground the parent learners’
understanding of TSEL. The examples below demonstrate my continuous effort in keeping the
focus on language that is reflective of TSEL, one that pushed beyond a neutral tone of just being
“friendly and kind.”
I fear that social-emotional enrichments send a message that it is not for everyone. As
teachers, we use the word enrichment when we speak about extracurricular activities or
activities that students complete once they are finished with their current assignment. We
don't want to message that social-emotional enrichment is an option.
Advancing SEL in service of equity requires a rigorous commitment to ongoing
continuous improvement and implementation (Schlund et al., 2020). During this session, it was
vital to slow down and remind them of the objective of TSEL (“we don’t want to message that
social-emotional enrichment is an option”) so we did not risk fluffing it. I attempted to remind
the parent learners that using the phrase “social-emotional enrichment” does not mitigate the
widespread assumptions and biases that were taking place in the district. Using words such as
social-emotional and buzz words such as enrichment synonymously diminishes the value of
social-emotional, alluding that it is an add-on by saying “enrichment” and not a continuous
requirement. I asked the parent learners to reflect on the following question as we continued to
clarify the purpose of TSEL for the work they will engage in with their parent peers. I asked,

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looking at the definition again, might you notice aspects of TSEL that you can include in the
mission statement? The following vignette demonstrates our discussion in response to the above
question.
Lori: I saw traditional SEL being a little bit more individual or one-on-one relationship-
oriented, whereas transformative SEL was more of a system change, systemic
reflection
Tammi: If we’re going to learn together, we’re going to do some co-learning, we’re going
to get to the bottom, we’re going to work together that’s, and we’re going to make
our society better, and you know, so it’s just kind of like, it’s just like a level
deeper.
Julie: When people just want to be stuck in a particular, you know, safe space, “social-
emotional enrichment,” the group here is trying to create ideas or co-start
bouncing ideas and have a different understanding.
In this vignette, Lori’s strong, poignant analogy, “SEL being a little bit more individual or
one-on-one relationship-oriented, whereas transformative SEL was more of a system change,
systemic reflection” suggests that she recognized that the language of TSEL better articulates
critical examination of our society. Transforming the language of SEL to reflect TSEL provides
the knowledge and attitude required for critical examination and collaborative action to address
the root causes of inequities (Jagers et al., 2018). In addition, Julie and Tammi focused on the
language of “co-learning together,” and “make our society better,” which are both reflected in the
definition of TSEL. If one of the mission statement goals was to “celebrate our community’s
differences, engage in community building, and embrace our shared experiences,” the language
of the mission statement must be motivated by social justice in ways that traditional forms of

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SEL are not (Camangian & Cariaga, 2021). By engaging in this dialogue around the mission
statement and their own personal experiences of co constructing this statement, it allowed the
parents to understand that they needed to go deeper than just “SEL enrichment” if they aimed to
productively advocate for TSEL as a conduit to conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion,
and social justice with their parent peers. They needed their mission to go beyond individual
kindness but one that brought about “system change, systemic reflection.” The parent learners
continued to engage in co-constructing the mission statement with school leadership after our
sessions were completed for this action research. While I was included in several email threads
regarding the revisions the parents have not yet shared a more recent statement of the mission
statement. Their work is ongoing and as such, I am not able to share if and how their statement
changed as a result of these conversations.
In this section, I demonstrated how leveraging something the parents were already
working on, their group’s mission statement, I was able to use their personal experiences to
develop an understanding, and thus articulation, of TSEL. Namely, I supported them in seeing
how their mission statement was neutral in tone and could be more intentional in its focus on
diversity, equity and inclusion, and social justice.

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Supporting Parent Learners to See How They Can Build Their and Their Parent
Peers’ Self-Awareness. Parent learners’ reflections at the start of this action research revealed a
lack of and a craving for organic social connection with their peers. For the parent learners to
understand how they can use TSEL to build social connections through the Dragon Circle and
build self-awareness through personal experiences, I leveraged this craving for social connection
by introducing the activity, Circle of Objects (Brookfield & Hess, 2021; Brookfield & Preskill,
2005). I explained that the Circle of Object (COO) dialogue is when participants talk about an
object they brought with them that reflects something about their identity or ancestry. These
artifacts represent some aspect(s) of their culture or class, where they are from, or their identity.
Identity is of particular interest as it is reflective of self-awareness. Williams and Jagers (2022)
argue that if individuals do not understand who they are in the world, they cannot effectively
manage themselves or their emotions, relate to others to determine how they will be in
relationships or make responsible decisions that benefit themselves or the larger group. Keeping
our focus on TSEL, the COO activity was intended to support the parent learners in their
understanding and development of self-awareness which I speak to in this section, and social
awareness which I will speak to in the next section.
I shared that this activity could help them smooth over the interactional difficulties and
challenges they have had with other parents in the community, and explained that this activity
was highly revealing because they might hear people share their hopes and dreams,
disappointments, and possibly traumatic experiences. To model how the COO activity was
instrumental in developing the competency of self-awareness, I shared my object and personal
experience with them. Here is a selection of what I shared.

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When I was in college, I had a Palestinian roommate, which was ironic enough, and we
both had these (Hamza’s, I held up my object) on our wall. So I, a Jew and a Palestinian
shared a dorm room, a tiny dorm room, having similar artifacts on our wall for literally
the same reason. This past year was challenging because I was called an oppressor and
aggressor of Palestinians, and I never understood that. When thinking of my roommate,
we had similar beliefs and had the same kind of superstitions. We carried the Hamza to
protect us from evil. What was very difficult last year was that when fighting broke out in
Israel, many Jews where I grew up were attacked because of their Jewish identity because
of the politics in Israel. It was uneasy, and I was uncomfortable holding a conversation
with people around me without it getting heated and political. I looked at my object as a
symbol of my identity and one that I continually grapple with.
In this example, through my object, I modeled how I revealed that I struggled with my
Jewish identity by saying, “I continually grapple with” it. I embraced a stance of vulnerability by
mentioning that “I could not hold conversations with people” because I was uncomfortable about
the conversations turning “heated and political.” As stated in my conceptual framework, effective
modeling can help motivate learners to attend to and learn from activities (Schunk, 2012). When
modeling, I was intentional about interrogating my positionality, particularly how I grappled with
my identity after being called “an oppressor and aggressor.” Jagers et al. (2019) argue that when
we reflect on our existing views, assumptions, and perspectives, we employ the competencies of
self-awareness. I reminded my parent learners that they would need to model self-disclosure
(Brookfield & Preskill, 2005) to set guidelines for engaging in this activity as parent leaders.
As Tharp and Gallimore (1989) posit, watching others can form an idea of the
components of complex behavior and can begin to visualize how the pieces could be assembled

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and sequenced in various other settings. I emphasized that the COO activity can help the parent
peers participating in the Dragon Circle learn about their own identities and deepen their self-
awareness. As I step back and critically reflect on that uncomfortableness, I can see why people
called me an aggressor and oppressor, even though they mistook an individual with a system.
To come to an understanding of self-awareness necessitates relational trust to engage in
courageous conversations. The competency of self-awareness asks to interrogate individual
identity by recognizing that “I am a White person in an affluent community,” or “I am a minority
in an affluent White community, and I have all these privileges.” I asked my parent learners to
reflect on how the COO would play out in the Dragon Circle; how their identity informed who
they were as parents in the community. In the following example, Nancy shared her object
during our session and revealed a personal story about her and her family. As she shared her
object, she cried, which demonstrated that she was sharing something personal and that she was
being vulnerable.
It’s a clay arch I purchased in Isla Vasco in El Salvador, and I acquired this when I went
back to El Salvador. I had recently graduated from college; I was probably one or two
years out of college, and it was the first time I went back after I came to the US, so it’s
really meaningful to me because I came to the US when I was six like on my immigration
journey. I didn’t go back until, I guess, I was an adult.
As this example shows, Nancy shared a glimpse of her immigration story by saying, “I
was six on my immigration journey,” and saying “it was the first time I went back after I came to
the US.” Her tears and her comment “so it’s really meaningful to me” revealed the object’s
importance to her because she purchased it as an adult as she traveled back to her homeland. In
my conceptual framework, I defined relational trust as being anchored in interpersonal

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relationships developed with time to create space and conditions to address inequities by
embracing a stance of vulnerability through empathy, honesty, fairness, and continuous critical
self-reflection. The space created for the COO was instrumental in building relational trust. The
other group participants became empathetic to Nancy's experience, providing her a space to
embrace vulnerability.
Nancy continued to express emotion about her object and demonstrate trust in us when
she shared the following.
I went back with my mom and my dad. I graduated, and I actually paid for the trip; I got
my first job out of college, and I saved enough money. By then, I had legal paperwork
because I came to the US illegally, and this clay arch is, you know, I look at it, I actually
have not thought it was so important until now. Oh my God, I literally got this in the
country where I was born.
This powerful and emotional example demonstrates how the COO activity encouraged
her to share her personal story vulnerably when she spoke about “coming to the US illegally.” In
addition, her example revealed her goals and values when she shared that she had worked hard
and “saved enough money” to go back where she “was born.” The clay arch was not just an
artifact from a geographic location, it represented the place of her birth, the place she felt longing
for and couldn’t return to until many years after leaving. As she continued to share a story about
her object, she came to new realizations:
It was an amazing trip. I feel like this is where I’m from, and like honestly, this arch
brings back all these memories, I feel like you know what do you said, an artifact I’m like
I have little trinkets they don’t really mean anything, but it’s the memories that they

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invoke. If you look at my house, I don’t have anything that will tell you I’m from El
Salvador except this beautiful thing.
Nancy demonstrated how the COO activity helped her share personal feelings and
thoughts about her identity when she said, “I don’t have anything that will tell you I’m for El
Salvador except this beautiful thing.” The COO activity was instrumental in developing the
competency of self-awareness because she said, “I actually have not thought it was so important
until now,” meaning, that if it had not been for the COO activity, she would not have recognized
her emotions and thoughts and what this object represents about herself. Through questioning
and modeling, two means of assisted performance (Tharp & Gallimore, 1989), and hearing
participant input, the COO encouraged the parent learners to understand their emotions, personal
and social identities, goals, and values.
Reexamining our perspectives on the intersections between our sense of self and how
society may view us and those around us through personal reflection is fundamental when
deepening the understanding of self-awareness (Jagers et al., 2019). If we were going to embrace
vulnerability and cultivate a social connection, we need to understand how our identity informed
us as members of the community and how we interact with others. Three of the six participants
acknowledged their intersecting identities in their reflection after participating in the COO
activity. For example, in her reflection, Nancy shared her response to the following guiding
question How does my identity inform who I am as a parent in the community? After sharing her
clay arch that was produced in Isla Vasco in El Salvador, she said,
My identity is multifaceted. I am a woman, mother, parent, wife, daughter, immigrant,
Latina, college graduate, multilingual, social worker, avid reader, lover of nature and
animals, vegetarian, someone who has experienced racism, sexism, someone who wants

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to see everyone thrive and be happy and consciously work to make the world a better
place. I am a lifelong learner and someone who enjoys helping others.
In her reflection, Nancy demonstrated self-awareness because she saw herself as
“multifaceted.” She recognized her intersecting identity of “woman, mother, parent, immigrant,
Latina, multilingual...” In addition, she shared that she is someone who has “experienced racism,
sexism,” which is relevant to self-awareness in TSEL. Jagers et al. (2019) argue that one’s sense
of racial/ethnic centrality and private regard for their group are most relevant to self-awareness.
Modeling uses behavior imitation to explicitly guide independent performance (Tharp &
Gallimore, 1989). Modeling how to talk about an object that is significant to my identity helped
position the parent learners to practice sharing a part of their identity and to think ahead to doing
the work their parent peers. When responding to the other reflection question, when thinking
further about our community, how do you see the Circle of Objects activity being a bridge to
authentic dialogue, perhaps even an eye-opening experience for participants who have not faced
prejudice or discrimination? Nancy shared,
I see the Circle [of] Objects being a bridge to authentic dialogue because the artifact is
something meaningful and important to that individual. One may learn about their beliefs,
family history, and potential struggles, which creates an environment for understanding,
strengthening relationships, vulnerability, and empathy if those participating are open to
such an experience and parameters are set in place to allow for this. It can be an eye-
opening experience for participants who have not faced prejudice or discrimination as
long as they are open to learning.
Nancy felt that the COO was an appropriate activity to use in the Dragon Circle because
it could serve as “a bridge to authentic dialogue.” Given the group’s desire to create a space

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where parents can engage in challenging issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion and social
justice, having “authentic dialogue” is an important goal. The COO activity helped in seeing how
she, as a collaborator of the Dragon Circle, can help her parent peers gain self-awareness when
she said, “it can be an eye-opening experience for participants who have not faced prejudice or
discrimination.” Here, she was alluding to the possibility that the COO could prompt critical self-
analysis amongst her parent peers. Critical self-analysis (Jagers et al., 2019) has to occur for self-
awareness to be transformative.
In this section, I demonstrated how using the COO activity modeled for parent learners
one approach to using personal experiences to move toward an in-depth understanding of self-
awareness, one of the key competencies within TSEL. In addition to doing the activity with the
parents, I also asked them to think about how it could be useful in their work with their parent
peers, thus positioning them to model the same activity with others. In the next section, I will
speak about how I used the COO activity to model an understanding of social awareness.
Supporting Parent Learners to See How They Can Build Their and Their Parent
Peers’ Social Awareness. Social awareness involves having the critical historical grounding to
take the perspective of those with the same and different backgrounds and cultures, and
appropriately empathize and feel compassion (Jagers et al., 2019). We can see emerging evidence
of that in the previous section in Nancy’s reflection when she said, “one may learn about beliefs,
family history and potential struggles which creates an environment for understanding and
strengthening relationships.” Nancy saw that the COO activity can help her parent peers gain
social awareness.
Through our discussion of how these activities could be used to learn from and about
others, parent learners gained a deeper understanding of the competency of social awareness. In

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one example, Lori helped propel us into a discussion that ultimately allowed for a deeper
understanding of social awareness. She was responding to the question: when thinking further
about our community, how do you see the Circle of Object activity being a bridge to authentic
dialogue, perhaps even an eye-opening experience for participants who have not faced prejudice
or discrimination? Lori said, “I am concerned about those who have lived in America for
generations; they might not have a profound story.” Lori’s reflection pointed to the
“normalization” of White American identity, implying that if one is “American,” their story is
not as deep or “profound” as that of marginalized people. Since she was a socializing knower, I
could see her considering all the possible participants of the Dragon Circle. She did not want to
make anyone feel excluded or “bad” if they did not have a profound story to share. Engaging in
communicative learning, I facilitated a discussion on our previously held views about what
constitutes a profound story. The following excerpt from our session transcript follows our
discussion on this topic.
Debbie: But do Americans who have been here for generations not have a family history?
I think they still do, and maybe it’d be good to have an example of that.
Me: And we want to pay attention to our thoughts. Are we making assumptions about
others?
Debbie: At the end of the day, I think it’s more about the story shared behind the
artifact/heirloom/object and building a connection through that story. Your story
doesn’t have to be profound, but it just gives insight into who you are.
Me: It doesn’t matter what story we share or somebody might share. The person who
is sharing is still getting vulnerable; it doesn’t matter what story they’re telling;
they’re still being open to sharing something for the first time with people that

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they don’t know really well or people that they know well but they’ve never told
the story.
Social awareness involves taking the perspectives of those of different backgrounds and
cultures and empathizing and feeling compassion (Schlund et al., 2020). As previously stated,
Lori’s reflection shows that she was trying to be socially aware by empathizing with her parent
peers, but doing it in a way that revealed her assumptions about them. As such, she was not
“fully” taking their perspectives. As demonstrated in the vignette presented above, Debbie
respectfully pushed back on her assumption when she said, “Your story doesn’t have to be
profound, but it just gives insight into whom you are.” A missed opportunity in the above
vignette was that, I, as a parent leader, did not push the concept of “profound” or what it means
to be “American.” A more in depth understanding of social awareness might have been evident if
our discussion more explicitly challenged the assumptions being communicated in this
interaction.
The parent learners were asked to submit their reflections regarding the COO activity.
Four of the six parent learners submitted reflections. The following is an excerpt from Debbie’s
reflection that demonstrates her understanding of social awareness:
I believe change starts by being able to put yourself in other people’s shoes. That’s the
power of storytelling, and the Circle of Object leverages that. Even if the audience can’t
personally relate, they will see the speaker (a person who just is a school acquaintance). It
allows connections to be built by “peeling back the layers of the onion” and can spark
more dialogue beyond this activity... The tension I feel as a Thai-American. I have been
very aware of, not just that I’m Asian but that type of Asian that I am the Southeast Asian,
the dirty jungle Asian or the poor Asian or whatever it is, right, not the high-class Asians,

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right. I want my kids to have all American experiences, but I don’t want them to lose their
Thai culture and heritage. I know you can do both, but I have not done it as well as I’d
liked. I place a lot of guilt on myself for not being able to speak Thai fluently. I felt I have
already lost a major connection to my culture. However, it does not feel like enough to
me. So much of what I do in this community is about highlighting and celebrating
diversity. I don’t want us to become a melting pot (it reminds me of how you mix all the
paint colors together and get a mucky brown).
This reflection helps illustrate how the COO activity created a space for critical analysis
to take place revealing social awareness when Debbie spoke about “being able to put yourself in
other people's shoes” to build connections “by peeling back the layers of the onion” to spark
more dialogue. According to Debbie, the COO allows for an evolving understanding of culture,
race, and ethnicity and how it impacts one’s own status within society (Jagers et al., 2019).
Debbie’s example of “being aware of what type of Asian” she is provided us with insight into her
personal struggle of her ethnicity in the context of a society that creates and maintains
hierarchies. By calling herself the “dirty jungle Asian… not the high-class Asians,” she was
referring to the way the United States has categorized and seen Asians, and she alluded to how
that affected her not wanting to keep her Thai heritage and language. In her reflection, Debbie
said she had “been very aware of” the distinctions among Asians and then said she wants her
kids “to have all American experiences,” alluding to similar desires she had when she became
aware of her Thai ethnicity as “not the high-class Asians.” At the same time, Debbie also wanted
her children not to “lose their Thai culture and heritage” and she said “I know you can do both,
but I have not done it as well as I’d like.” This demonstrated a sense of guilt she felt for not
preserving her Thai heritage, while simultaneously recognizing that the reason she did not was

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because of external pressures in American society, which telegraph to kids whose ethnicity and
language is valued and whose is not. The parent learners developed an understanding of the
COO, an activity that helped them grasp how they can use the activity to engage in courageous
conversations with their parent peers that promote social awareness.

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Linking Self-Awareness and Social Awareness. I pursued a self-study action research
with the parent learners to support them in productively advocating for TSEL, emphasizing
diversity, equity and inclusion, and social justice. I used the TSEL competencies of self-
awareness and social awareness to support parent learners to see how they could build theirs and
their parent peers’ self and social awareness. In my initial conceptual framework, I contended
that before they engage with their parent peers and teach them the importance of TSEL, they first
needed to understand the key tenets of TSEL. I wanted the parent learners to focus on self and
social awareness because those are two important TSEL competencies, and I believed that
understanding these two tenets, it would facilitate the process of putting the transformative (T) in
TSEL. Identity is mostly connected to the competency of self-awareness and social awareness.
Culture, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, and gender continue to be used as determinants of
social status and thus are key defining aspects of identity in the United States and across the
globe (Jagers et al., 2019). As a group of parents committed to diversity, equity and inclusion,
and social justice in a predominantly White community, the parent learners held intersectional
identities. They came to this work in part because in some ways, while privileged to live in this
community, they were also marginalized. Talking about intersecting identities, I hoped to
introduce this critical element and to demonstrate how self and social awareness are intrinsically
intertwined.
Drawing upon my experience in the classroom, I shared a story about an activity I
engaged in with my students this year (four of the six parent learners have a child in my class). I
wanted to highlight this activity for the parent learners and show them why it was essential to
hold diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice conversations with the parent community
through the lens of TSEL. I shared that I had my students engage in an identity iceberg activity

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and discuss identities visible on the surface and identities below the surface. The majority of the
students identified themselves as White. Even the non-White students said, “I am White with tan
skin,” and my Asian students said they were White. As an insider researcher, I leveraged my role
as a teacher. I told the parents that students were identifying themselves as White so that they had
a sense of how colorblind our community was. To continue our discussion, I asked the following
open-ended question: How do you feel about what I just shared? The following is an excerpt
from our session transcript.
Debbie: There are many in the community that would say, I’m so proud that my kid
doesn’t see race, doesn’t categorize kids by race, doesn’t make judgments from
someone based on their skin color. I totally get where they’re coming from. It’s
like, you know, we teach about judging people by the content of their character,
right. And it takes an extended conversation. You have to talk to parents about,
well, let’s think about what we are missing when we don’t acknowledge, you
know, like someone’s ethnicity.
Dee: I am wondering about those parents who haven’t had a lot of experience talking
about these things or haven’t had a lot of opportunities to discuss ethnic or racial
or just any type of diverse identity and will very much probably carry the
conversation will be loaded with a lot of privileged pieces in it, and then you have
another person or people across the circle, who is speaking, like you, are a very
candidly about their experience being on the other side of privilege.
Debbie’s initial reaction demonstrated her awareness that the community is colorblind
when they are “proud that my kid doesn’t see race.” She knew that while well intentioned, this
was actually more harmful. She said “let’s think about what we are missing when we don’t

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acknowledge, you know, like someone’s ethnicity.” When Dee said, “I am wondering about those
parents who haven’t had a lot of experience talking about these things or haven’t had a lot of
opportunities to discuss ethnic or racial or just any type of diverse identity,” it demonstrated a
focus on the need for identity development in the community. In my conceptual framework, I
contended that social-justice advocates in communities of privilege face a difficult challenge as
they attempt to confront conventional forms of thinking by engaging in justice-oriented
conversations. Evidence shows that such efforts are often met with resistance and White fragility
(DiAngelo, 2019, hindering self-and social awareness. We can see this in Dee’s comment when
she said, “the conversation will be loaded with a lot of privileged pieces in it.” However, if
individuals do not understand who they are in the world, they cannot effectively manage
themselves or their emotions, relate to others to determine how they will be in relationships, or
make responsible decisions that benefit themselves or the larger group (Williams & Jagers,
2022). And as demonstrated by the students in my class, when the parents “haven’t had a lot of
experience talking about these things or haven’t had a lot of opportunities to discuss ethnic or
racial or just any type of diverse identity,” their kids won’t either.
Leading the effort to productively advocate for TSEL, it was vital for the parent learners
to link self-awareness and social awareness to support a predominantly White parent audience.
The following excerpt from our session transcripts presents what I said to my parent learners.
We’re grappling with our dual role because, in one sense, we are in this community right,
and this community is affluent, and predominantly White. We are part of this community,
but at the same time, we’re also Latina, Asian American, Mexican American, immigrant,
Jew. We are an ethnic minorities. I am playing that part where I pass as White. However, I
hide that I am marginalized based of my religion; I’m an immigrant, speak multiple

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languages, and have an accent, but I pass as White. I am enjoying every single privilege
that comes with passing White. I also enjoy and embrace every privilege I have in
working in Manhattan beach. As a teacher, I have all the resources that I want. I have all
the parent volunteers I want and Ski Week. I have all the holidays; I am not jumping right
now to quit my job to go work someplace else. I recognize that I carry that with me, and I
want us to ponder that. Thinking about our, I will use Debbie’s word, “bubble friends,”
you know we are part of that “bubble,” we are part of the soccer club, and this type of
club and that type of club, so we live, these dual identities of being privileged (“bubble
life”) and marginalized.
As mentioned in the above section, to come to an in-depth understanding of self-
awareness necessitates relational trust to interrogate individual identity by recognizing that “I am
a White person in an affluent community.” Although I did not solicit feedback from the parents
regarding what I had shared during this session, a missed opportunity to engage in
communicative learning, I continued to bring up this topic of dual identity during the self-study
action research (I speak about this in part 2). In an informal conversation with Lori, she shared
the following:
There are aspects of my identity that are more salient than others. It is a snapshot of
where I am at a particular time. In the context of our community here, I feel like it’s
obvious that I am someone slightly different than the mainstream, but it’s hard to figure
out how I’m different.
As this example suggests, Lori recognized that she has intersectional identities, not all of
which show up all the time. This is evidenced by her comment, “aspects of my identity that are
more salient than others.” Recognizing her intersectional identities points to her understanding of

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self-awareness because she spoke of her different personal and social identities. Additionally, she
demonstrated an emerging understanding of social awareness by recognizing how her identities
fit into the community in which she resides. She alluded to her passing as White when she said,
“I am someone slightly different than the mainstream, but it's hard to figure out how I’m
different.” At the same time, she acknowledged her marginalization by saying, “different than the
mainstream.” When she used the word “mainstream,” Lori was referring to the White privileged
community in which she resides. Lori demonstrated both self and social awareness by
recognizing that she has intersectional identities that have different implications in “the context
of our community here.” Self-awareness in this example is represented by Lori’s understanding
of her sense of ethnicity, while social awareness is represented by her acknowledging the
perceptions of how others regard her ethnic group (Jagers et al., 2019), and how she fits into “the
mainstream.” In an increasing multicultural context, there is a need to illuminate how
membership in multiple social groups intersects and shapes experience (Jagers et al., 2019).
The above vignette demonstrated Lori’s understanding of intersectional identities as she
analyzed her own identity in relation to the community within which she was situated. The next
section will speak to how I guided parent learners in understanding critical self and social
awareness which are essential for developing an in-depth understanding of TSEL. To do this, we
examined our intersecting identities of being both marginalized and privileged, employing the I
Am From poem (Klein, 2019).

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Exploring Intersecting Identities. The I Am From poem was used as a means to
cultivate self and social awareness on the part of my parent learners. I introduced the I Am From
poem and shared the structured sentence stems for the poem. If the parent learners were going to
develop an in-depth understanding of TSEL through personal experiences, I wanted to model and
share some of my personal experiences of examining my identity through self-awareness and
social awareness. The I Am From poem allows participants to come to the sharing of their
identities in varied ways, and as Klein’s (2019) instructions highlight, the intention is not to
expose, but to allow for participants to share only the parts they feel comfortable sharing. Having
participated in the I Am From poem on multiple occasions during my course work at USC; I
shared with the parents that sharing personal experiences is varied and that some may be fine
sharing more than others. Drawing on my personal experience with the I Am From poem, I
modeled two versions of the I Am From. The excerpt below explains the reason why I chose the
model two versions.
Our goal is to move away from the soccer conversation with our parent peers. With the
aid of the sentence stems, the I Am From poem can assist with pushing through the
surface-level conversations (soccer conversations) that are currently taking place to more
courageous conversations that would develop and grow an in-depth understanding of self-
awareness and social awareness. I understand that some of your parent peers are not fully
ready to engage in “deep conversations” about their identity because, as we mentioned
earlier, there is a sense of White fragility in the community. However, I believe that the
poem can help you facilitate a more profound conversation about self-and social
awareness by letting your parent peers know that they come to share their identities in
varied ways.

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The excerpt above shows my explanation for why the I Am From poem is an excellent
tool and why I chose to model two versions of the I Am From poem. Although version A may be
similar to what the parent learners and their peers might write, I continued to model TSEL by
further examining my identity, which is also a point of vulnerability. Embracing a stance of
vulnerability generates critical self-reflection (Brookfield & Hess, 2021), thus pivotal for TSEL.
With version B, I examined my identity through self-definition and belonging (Jagers et al.,
2019), which are directly related to self-awareness and social awareness.
I instructed the parent learners to ponder how they could frame this activity around the
Dragon Circle. Table 6 shows the two versions I modeled for the parents.
Table 6
Modeling I Am From Poem Version A and B
Version A Version B
I am from love, laugher, and light. I am
from dreamers and realist who carried
both Eastern and Western ideologies. I
am from languages, cultures, religion,
and traditions that changed with time,
yet maintained the familiar warmth of
Simya, which means family in Russian. I
am from a kind and gentle soul that let
me be, let me explore what I wanted to
be. I am a female, an educator, a single
mom of two, a lifelong learner, an
immigrant, a Jew I am from Moldova,
Russia and Israel, yet I mostly feel like I
am from France. I am from travel,
journey to find my special place, to
grapple with my identity in peace and
grace.
I am from the product of holocaust survivors and a
revolutionary solider. I am from Capitalism and
Communism. I am from Moldova, Russia and Israel. My
mom would say, I am from the former Soviet Union. I am
from an occupied territory. I am from a journey across
various lands searching for a place to belong, a place to
feel free. I am a female, an educator, a single mom of
two, a lifelong learner, an immigrant, a Jew. I am from
nowhere and somewhere. I am from privilege and
marginalization. On one hand I am from a race that
allows me to be in a place of privilege, yet it carries
historical remnants of oppression, and on the other hand I
am from pain, trauma, and the oppressed. Grappling with
my identity has been ongoing, a never-ending journey.

Vygotsky (1978) argued that the zone of proximal development (ZPD) represents the
amount of learning possible by a learner given the proper guidance or collaboration with more

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capable or knowledgeable peers. Modeling provides clear examples of what brave space
behaviors look like, but also it earned me the right to ask my parent learners to begin this
challenging work (Brookfield, 2017). Providing two versions of the I Am From poem allowed
me to provide support, and guide the parent learners through various stages of skill acquisition
(Schunk, 2012). By modeling both versions, I helped the parents conceptualize the utility of the
poem for their session in the Dragon Circle, showing that their parent peers could decide how
vulnerable to be in their responses. Earlier conversations revealed that the community might not
be ready for courageous conversation; thus, version A modeled how the parent learners can move
beyond the soccer surface-level conversation by doing an activity that asked parents to think
about their identities, but in ways that did not necessitate too much vulnerability. In version A, I
illuminated how I self-identify when I spoke about being an “immigrant, Jew, Russian.” which is
also a point of vulnerability because I shared something personal. However, I did not dive deeper
into my identity and how it has made me feel like I did in version B. In version B, I shared that I
am from an “occupied territory,” setting the stage to speak about how I grapple with belonging
when I shared that “I am from a journey across various lands searching for a place to belong.” In
addition, I illustrated a turning point in my life when I shared my realization of carrying privilege
in the United States as a White person when I said, “on the one hand, I am from a race that
allows me to be in a place of privilege.” I could not ask the parent learners to share their
experiences without first sharing some of my own in ways that were humble, honest, and deeply
conscious (Brookfield & Hess, 2021) of race and role duality, which are pivotal to TSEL. I gave
the parent learners ten minutes to construct their poems. They turned their cameras off and
engaged in the task. After ten minutes, the parent learners shared their poems. Table 7 presents
examples from our I Am From poem session transcript.

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Table 7
I Am From Participant Examples
Debbie
I am from Thai immigrants who believed in the American dream.
I am from two conflicting upbringings. Work hard, keep your head down and good things
will come and the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
I am from a workplace culture that taught me how to shape conflicts and differences into
valuable solutions.
Nancy
I am from El Salvador, a place my parents and sisters and I had to flee because of the war.
I am from a mother who had three daughters and taught them all to be strong.
I am from poverty and privilege, who had to work as a child to help her parents have food on
the table and now can afford to buy plastic free groceries.
I am from a mixture of people, Spaniards, I am a wife and a mother too.
I am from a family who preach religion as a way to create gender roles, who fought against it
and believes you can have any religion as long as it doesn’t hurt others.
I am from a view that everyone should have the right to happiness, while protecting and
respecting others.
I am from a family that taught me family is the most important thing.
I am from El Salvador but love all countries and people.
Lori
I am from an ancient land that is lost. I speak a language that is dying. I carry a collective
trauma that asks me to never forget.
I am from a culture that feels like a blessing for seven days and a burden on others.
And on the days of blessing, I am reminded that we are intellectuals and middle end builders
and storytellers and contributors to this world, even when we are forgotten.
I am from an identity that seeks to prove its worthiness to the world and asks to be heard.
And I choose when I engage and disengage with that identity and that active choice weighs
heavy.
I fight quietly but I don't give up.
I raised my children to be self-aware, so they may care for themselves and for others for
I see myself in every human being on this planet and I seek to connect and hear the voice of
others.
I am the product of love, perseverance, sorrow and joy. I create a future all the while
carrying a complex inheritance.
Julie
I am from a land of tenuous attachment that hangs by a thread, but rift into by Western
forces.
I am from Asia, but have no single origin of parents who wandered and returned then left, all
together.
I am from Han Korea’s national historical collective suffering.
I am an aspirational effort, as I was trained, but only aspirational always effort never quite
getting there.
I am from a questioning philosophy a philosopher my dad.
I am from Christ, or so I thought until Americans told me he is of intolerance.
I am from progress, but sometime’ it's so hard to see.
I am from the grace of others and their forgiveness, I am all too women and ’that’s what I
pass on to my daughters,
I am from, words, words are the world, words are power.
I am from intellect, mind always over matter
I am of precision, but finding lack clarity, but to empathic to new and nuance idealism, but
veering to cynicism, but I hope and I hope, and I hope towards precision clarity and idealism.

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Looking through the lens of transformative social-emotional learning with self-awareness
and social awareness competencies as our goal, the I Am From poem activity gave the parent
learners the ability to acknowledge their intersecting identities. Other cultural orientations or
values provide an alternative sense of self/other and are an important asset to some ethnic and
racial groups (Jagers et al., 2019). For example, when Nancy spoke about being from “privilege
and poverty,” she integrated personal and social identities (a descriptor of self-awareness) to
speak to her position of privilege or lack thereof. Evidence of the parent recognizing the
importance of social awareness can be seen when Lori spoke about seeking “to connect and hear
the voice of others” and teaching her children to “be self-aware, so they may care for themselves
and others,” build their capacity to better understand, validate and affirm those who are different
from them.
Modeling self-disclosure (Brookfield & Hess, 2021) for the I Am From activity, I thought
about the stories I wanted to tell ahead of time. I pushed myself to model my ongoing personal
struggle and the authentic vulnerability that came from sharing my deep thoughts and feelings
about my identity. I wanted to model for the parent learners how employing the competencies of
TSEL self-awareness and social awareness can assist with the Dragon Circle as they work
towards building relational trust that encouraged the parents in the community to move beyond
“bubble” conversations. In cycle three of our final session, the parent learners discussed how
they can use the I Am From poem in the Dragon Circle with their parent peers to encourage
deeper conversations. Below is an excerpt from our session transcript.
Tammi: I think that the I Am From is interesting and exciting to think about. I think this is

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an amazing exercise, and I think if we read our example like Ms. Gralnik did,
intentionally showing our different identities would let everyone know that this is
our direction.
Lori: I felt like this exercise could be done at the beginning session of a Dragon Circle
and then at the very end to see everyone’s growth...After our last week’s session,
Nancy and I talked about the I Am From poem and how the poem we wrote last
week would be very different this week.
As this example suggests, both Tammi and Lori agreed that the I Am From poem could
be a powerful activity to use with their parent peers to encourage the parents in the community to
move beyond “bubble” conversations. For instance, Tammi acknowledged the importance of
intentionally modeling different identities to set the tone that the Dragon Circle is where deeper
conversations occur, saying, “showing our identities would let everyone know that this is our
direction.” As Klein (2019) also says, when the facilitator shares “several different ‘I am from…’
responds to model the activity” it helps “set expectations for the quality of responses” (p. 92). In
addition, Lori acknowledged the utility of the I Am From poem by saying,” I felt this exercise
could be done at the beginning sessions of Dragon Circle and then at the end to see everyone’s
growth.” The I Am From poem asked the parent learners to reflect on the complex nature of their
identities and where various identities are rooted (Klein, 2019). In addition, it provided a tool to
foster self and social awareness with their parent peers in the space of the Dragon Circle.
The I Am From poem provided an opportunity for the parents to recognize their
intersectional identities. The parent learners saw value in this activity to help them introduce self
and social awareness to their parent peers. Facilitating the I Am From poem in the Dragon Circle
can help the parent learners and their peers build the capacities and practices to feel compassion

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for others, to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from
diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts, which are essential if they are to productively
advocate for TSEL in our community.
Part 2: My Growth and Development
The sessions with my parent learners and the action research process unearthed areas of
growth needed for my leadership practice. In my conceptual framework, I spoke about my dual
role as a teacher and a parent leader. The continuous challenge with my role as a teacher/parent
leader led me to experience personal insecurities and created missed opportunities for me to
address and push back on ideas that were instrumental to supporting the parent learners gain an
in-depth understanding of TSEL. Being a novice researcher conducting a self-study action
research in my organization while simultaneously attempting to support parents to productively
advocate for TSEL among their parent community was challenging and contributed to missed
opportunities. Through analysis of my personal self-reflections, I will discuss the challenge
between my established role as a teacher while taking on the position of parent leader in two
parts: 1) how attempting to preserve parent/teacher relationships caused hesitancy to push back
on the parent learners; and 2) how my hesitancy to push back and take opportunities to correct
parent learners demonstrated insecurities about my expertise as a parent leader.
Finding 3: Challenge in Navigating a Parent Leader Role as a Teacher in my Organization
Ultimately, the specific challenges I experienced in navigating a parent leader role as a
teacher in my organization resulted in places of growth for me as a leader of other adults. On the
one hand, familiarizing myself with the parents’ various personalities, perspectives, and
dynamics helped create a collaborative effort and facilitate discussion. However, most of the
parent learners were parents of students in my classroom, and positionally, I did not occupy a

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space as their leader, which compromised my ability to push back and constrained possibilities
for an in-depth understanding of TSEL.
Attempting to Preserve Parent/Teacher Relationships Caused Hesitancy to Push
Back on the Parent Learners. Managing the two roles of parent leader and teacher made it
challenging for me throughout my self-study action research to voice some of my thoughts for
fear of hurting my parent learners’ feelings and causing them harm. As a teacher, having positive
relationships with the parent community is key to my success. I was not ready to potentially have
or create issues between a parent in my class and me. For example, after finishing our first
session in cycle one, the following self-reflection entry demonstrates my challenge in navigating
a parent leader role as a teacher in my organization, leading to a missed opportunity.
I am thinking a lot about Debbie’s words yesterday about her friends. She kept using the
term “my bubble friends.” The more I think about it, the more I understand that we
benefit from “the bubble,” even Debbie. We are all “bubble people.” She even said that
some of her family members are not there when she organizes her events because they are
attending “bubble things,” like soccer practice and different sports. It sounds like she is
not understanding yet that she is also benefiting from being in the bubble. I wanted to
mention that we benefit from being in the “bubble,” and I’m having difficulty bringing
that up because I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. I don’t actually know how
Debbie and the others will take it. I am not skilled enough yet to pushback on some of our
conversations and be their child’s teacher.
This reflection speaks to my heightened sensitivity about my relationship with Debbie
because I identity first as her child’s teacher. However, I am positioned to take the role of a
parent leader. I did not want my pushing back to result in a negative parent/teacher relationship.

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By saying “I wanted to mention that we benefit from being in the “bubble,” and “I’m having
difficulty bringing that up because I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings,” I demonstrated fear
of pushing back on this parent when I said, “hurt her “feelings.” Later in the reflection, I said “I
am not skilled enough yet to pushback on some of our conversations and be their child’s
teacher…” This comment shows me blaming my novice status as a parent leader (“not skilled
enough”), to be further discussed below, coupled with my dual role as the parents’ child’s teacher
(“and be their child’s teacher”). As such, this reflection demonstrates a missed opportunity
because I ultimately did not push back on Debbie.
In the same session the conversation turned to the racial make-up of the community,
particularly in Debbie’s comment about her “bubble friends.” I chose to respond to her comment
by speaking about my intersecting identity: I am a Jew and an immigrant, yet I classified as
White and had not experienced racial tensions like Debbie. I wanted to address my intersecting
identity in order to discuss the intersecting identities that Debbie and the other group members
held. But simply sharing my intersectional identities would not necessarily prompt them to
realize theirs. I needed to explicitly bring up the idea that although Debbie and the other parent
learners were marginalized, they also held privilege. However, I was uncomfortable bringing this
up to them. I reflected further:
As an educator who checks the White box, I am familiar with the muddiness of the efforts
to discuss or even bring up conversations about inclusion, let alone race. When speaking
with my participants, I notice, and I am paying close attention to how they are both
privileged and marginalized. To get into a space where we can productively advocate for
other White community members to have conversations about inclusion and push for
equity and justice in our district, we need to understand that we hold both power, yet we

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are marginalized. Debbie even alluded to this during our session when she said that non-
Whites in the community try to protect their privilege, and that they would argue that they
worked hard to get to where they were at. I wanted to respond to her comment, but was
unsure. Living in a predominantly White affluent community is challenging when you are
both privileged and marginalized. If I highlight their privilege, would they get offended?
This reflection shows that I missed a teachable moment about acknowledging the
intersecting identities which are instrumental to understanding self and social awareness. My
hesitancy in this interaction is evidenced by my question, “If I highlight their privilege, would
they get offended?” I was not fully prepared to feel discomfort as I contemplated entering the
brave space I advocated and pushed for in our sessions. I did not use the above opportunity
where Debbie spoke about her “bubble friends” to address an important point about their
intersecting identities because I focused on not harming my teacher /parent relationship with
Debbie.
I now acknowledge that I had unnecessarily focused on our parent/teacher relationship
when in fact, the parent learners did not perceive me as their child's teacher. They saw me as
their mentor. For example, in an email informing the parent community about the Dragon Circle,
the parent leaders wrote,
With guidance from 5
th
grade teacher Anna Gralnik, our group spent time learning about
transformative social-emotional learning, participating in activities that foster connection,
and designing a program we can roll out to our community.
In this example, the email mentioned me “guiding” the parent learners in their efforts to
create a space for parents to foster a sense of belonging when utilizing the language of
transformative social-emotional learning.

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In addition, the more I got to know Debbie, the more I understood that she would have
appreciated me pushing back because she was open to multiple perspectives and developing an
in-depth understanding of social awareness. For example, on a few occasions during our
sessions, she would say, “I know that we will have different opinions, but I appreciate coming to
the table and having those conversations. I want to learn and understand.” However, I became
unable to push back where I needed to create growth opportunities because of my own
insecurities navigating my dual role. Singleton and Hays (2008) would argue that a courageous
conversation requires a person to be honest about their thoughts, feelings, and opinions. It is
precisely through sharing honest and heartfelt sentiments that I could have helped participants
transform their perspectives regardless of my insecurity. In addition, adaptive leadership theorists
would argue that the appropriate dose of imbalance is intended to help people let go of part of
their “DNA” and reach an adaptive solution (Heifetz et al., 2009). Thus, letting the idea emerge
that Debbie is benefiting from the “bubble” would have allowed for the courageous conversation
to take place. I also now acknowledge that to support Debbie and the rest of the group in
clarifying their intersecting identities in the “bubble,” I could have asked an open-ended question
to push their thinking about their identities. This would have offered the parent learners the
opportunity to respond in their own words and express their own personal perspectives (Patton &
Patton, 2014). I could have, for example, asked, how were they similar to other parents, and how
were they different from other parents? This question could have been a potential entry point in
exploring their intersecting roles and further understanding self and social awareness.

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Insecurities as a Leader. As represented in my conceptual framework, I attempted to
support my parent learners in their developmental process. However, I became more aware of
my insecurities as a parent leader because I questioned my own capacity to support other adults.
I was also aware of their expectations of me to guide them and teach them. They often referred to
me as their mentor and also shared how glad they were that I was their children's teacher, which
highlighted my dual role. I understood that, as a leader, I would need to push back at times, and I
was still navigating through how I would to do that without hurting our relationship. Feeling
uneasy about a personal relationship is not, in and of itself, impairment. Identifying that unease
creates a disruption that could lead to growth. Interpretation of experience must have an
awareness of both an interruption in homeostasis and confidence that, despite having been
pushed beyond the comfort zone, one is capable of making new meaning of that experience
(Wergin, 2020). But in my case, I lacked the confidence to correct and redirect the parent
learners when the opportunity arose. After finishing the second session, for example, the
following excerpt from my reflection speaks to a missed opportunity to push back caused by my
insecurities as a leader.
I grapple with the brave space discussion because I am unsure how to articulate this
concept. If I could express myself more openly where I felt the parents were
misinterpreting brave space, I would be more confident in saying what I wanted to say. I
don’t know why I am reluctant to say, “I am going to push back on this,” or “I believe
you misunderstood that.”
This reflection shows me recognizing a teachable moment (“I felt the parents were
misinterpreting brave space”), and contemplating pushing back (“I don’t know why I am
reluctant to say, I believe you misunderstood that”), but finding fault within my expertise as a

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parent leader (“I am unsure how to articulate this concept”) and ultimately not pushing back. I
did not, as Wergin (2020) suggested, make new meaning of that experience.
Positioning myself as a parent leader and a teacher in this dual role presented additional
insecurities about my leadership I did not anticipate as I began the self-study action research: that
of navigating the tense relationships the parents had with other parents and our school
administration. The parent learners were attempting to utilize the Dragon Circle to push DEI
efforts at the school site, and the school administrator was trying to understand the purpose of the
Dragon Circle. Neither communicated well with each other, and I was sandwiched in between
not knowing how to properly communicate with the parents as their leader because I perceived
myself as their child's teacher rather than a parent leader. In addition, I did not know how to
properly communicate as a parent leader with my site administrator because she was my
supervisor. In addition, I positioned myself as a parent leader. The position and title were not
given to me by the district. Thus, I was not in a leadership role.
In many of the sessions with the parent learners, they shared with me their interactions
with other parents and the principal. I was aware of conflicts between them, and tried to maintain
neutrality and avoid getting caught in the middle. The task was to collaborate with my parent
learners to frame the value of my project and not become immersed in my organization's political
dynamics (Coughlan, 2019). Within the course of the three-month time frame of this self-study
action research, the parent learners were trying to legitimize their group as one that advocated for
diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice at our school site. On multiple occasions, the parent
learners were met with opposition from other parent organizations and school leadership at the
school site. This resulted in growing tension between my parent learners and other community
members. Because these sensitive interactions were occurring parallel to my study, I noticed that

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during our sessions, the parent learners would talk about the actions of others, and I feared that
this might be unproductive because our sessions were intended to focus on productive efforts to
engage others in the community and to transform them. As a novice adult leader, I felt pressure
to keep them on track and not veer off the path of the topic of my study: productively advocating
for TSEL. I did not want our sessions to become venting sessions with no resolve. In the
following self-reflection, I shared the tensions I felt about our prolonged sessions.
I am not very good at telling the parent learners to move on and get back on track. I get
lost in the time I have to go through what I planned. I find myself thinking that I am not
good at this adult learning thing. I am playing catch up because I don’t have the
confidence to say, “OK, let’s move on.” I think it's because I don’t want to be rude; these
are my parents. After all, I don’t want them to feel that I am dismissing them or thinking
less of them.
This example showed my insecurities and lack of confidence about leading the sessions
when I said, “I am not good at this adult learning thing.” At this stage of my self-study action
research, I was cognizant of the time I spent with the parent learners as they vented about their
interactions with other community members and our school administration. I felt the need to
transition to the intended objectives of our sessions, but ultimately was not able to. This can be
seen when I said, “I don’t have the confidence to say, OK, let’s move on.” I knew that I had to
keep them focused on the work we needed to do; however, being sensitive to the fact that they
were “my parents” and I did not want to “be rude” was a real inhibitor that I had to figure out
how to overcome. However, according to adaptive leadership theories, I could have regulated the
distress by creating a holding space before the start of our sessions to allow some steam to
escape (Heifetz & Laurie, 1997). The holding environment refers to a safe zone where people

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can discuss the problems of a change process without avoiding the real issues (Heifetz & Laurie,
1997).
During our third and final cycle, my school administrator approached me again—this
time, she specifically wanted clarification from me about the Dragon Circle. Although she was
not a participant in my study, she was instrumental to the parents’ success in advertising the
Dragon Circle to the parent community. As a parent leader and a teacher at the school, I was
caught in the middle. I needed to be attentive to how I engaged with the parent learners in the
study and build relationships with the school administrator as I listened to both and interacted
with them in a collaborative manner. This placed me in an uncomfortable position. On the one
hand, there was an existing power dynamic between the school leader and me, and on the other
hand, I was committed to my study and the confidentiality of my participants. This was an area
of growth for me to learn how to lead my parent learners and to learn to advocate for the Dragon
Circle. I could have leveraged that to be a bridge between the administration and the parents.
However, I was insecure about my leadership capabilities which did not allow me to be the
bridge I could have been. The following evidence from my reflection demonstrates my
continuous insecurities as a leader.
When she asked me about the Dragon Circle, I did not want to speak for my parent
learners. I did not think it was my place to articulate their mission. I felt cornered by my
school leader, so I explained to her that it would benefit her as a school leader in the long
run because the parent learners have been diving deep into DEI work. Their focus is to
establish relational trust with community members to build a culture of care that would
benefit the parents and students. I explained that when the district decides to push down a
justice-oriented curriculum, the parent learners would have been already engaged in

127
discussion around DEI through the Dragon Circle, helping the parent community
advocate for DEI, minimizing the pushback that is currently felt by the community.
In this reflection, I am placed in a position where I did not want to be the voice
representing the parent learners’ intention when I said that, “I did not want to speak for my
parent learners. I did not think it was my place to articulate their mission.” I realize there is room
to grow in this aspect of my leadership if I want to productively navigate through our sessions
and lead and assist the parent learners in their efforts.
To overcome my insecurities, I needed to be truthful with my parent learners, share how I
felt throughout the self-study action research, and admit that knowledge and experience are
limited and incomplete and that others can teach us something (Cranton, 2016). If I were to build
relational trust with my parent learners, I could not solely ask them to embrace a stance of
vulnerability and not participate in the same action. In my conceptual framework, I theorized that
I would build relational trust with my parent learners by embracing a stance of vulnerability to
learn and co-construct ideas. Learning about and from each other cultivates a co-learning
atmosphere built on trust and respect (Cranton, 2016). We ask our learners to unearth their
hidden assumptions, at times, in quite personal arenas; we need to be able to do the same, even if
we choose not to share the process with our students (Cranton, 2016). The following is what I
shared during session one of phase three, our final phase, which demonstrates my vulnerability
with the parent learners.
As we come towards the end, I have to share something with you. I should have shared
this earlier. The most appropriate time, I believe, would have been during our brave space
conversation, but I feel like it was a missed opportunity on my part. I was, in all honesty,
scared to admit that I felt like I was not doing a good job leading you. I started with kind

128
of being very silent in the beginning. I just let you guys talk because I didn't know how to
push back properly. I was scared to say anything because of the power between
parents/teachers. You see, it's like I am a teacher, right? I don't want to ruin relationships.
I don't want to say anything that could be offensive. And when you were sharing your
stories, and sometimes there was a lot of like venting, I couldn't just stop and say, “Okay,
we've gotta go to my study,” right? Because I didn't want to be dismissive, and I didn't
want to, um, you know, I didn't want you to feel like what you're saying did not matter.
In this comment to the parent learners, I embraced a stance of vulnerability with the
parents about my insecurities by saying, “[I was] scared to admit that I felt like I was not doing a
good job leading you.” As a novice leader, but one who was regularly referred to as their mentor,
I used the opportunity to tell the truth about the fear I felt during our earlier sessions. In this
example, I acknowledged that the main reason for feeling scared was that they were my students’
parents, thus alluding to the dual role I had as both a leader and a teacher. I said, “I am a
teacher...” and “I don't want to ruin relationships.” In addition, I also expressed that I recognized
a missed opportunity as a parent leader during our brave space sessions to embrace a stance of
vulnerability when I said, “The most appropriate time, I believe, would have been during our
brave space conversation. I feel like it was a missed opportunity on my part.” While it came later
than I would have liked, I was ultimately vulnerable by being truthful with my parent learners
about my insecurities. I realized there is room to grow in this aspect of my leadership because
pushing back and having the confidence in my abilities to know how was an important way to
support the parent learners.
Although this admission should have occurred earlier in my self-study action research, I
felt more confident coming to our final few sessions. In my pre-session reflection I shared, “I am

129
not as nervous coming to the session today as on other days. I am glad I shared how I felt last
week.” In this reflection, I alluded to feeling relieved about acknowledging and sharing my
insecurities with the parents. Similarly, in a post-session reflection of the same session, I
reflected on my leadership abilities: “Maybe, I am good at this adult learning thing.” Only
towards the end of my self-study action research did I start to see growth in my own confidence
level to take up this leadership role, despite them being my students’ parents,
My self-reflections throughout the action research project revealed how insecure I was
during our sessions and how my dual role as a parent leader and teacher shaped what I did or did
not do to support the parents to productively advocate for TSEL in their parent community. My
reflections demonstrated that overcoming my insecurities and feeling confident in my leadership
abilities was a place of growth for me. If I take up the role of leading parents, I have a
responsibility to figure out how to overcome the discomfort of also being their children’s teacher
so that I can, in fact, push back productively. Additionally, I have to overcome my insecurities
about advocating for the parents to my administrator. If I cannot be a bridge between
administrators and the parents, or productively push back on assumptions the parents make, or
bring to their awareness the ways in which they might be benefiting from and thus complicit in
maintaining the “bubble,” then I cannot expect the parent learners to productively advocate for
TSEL with their parent peers.
Conclusion
In summary, this findings section highlights my actions to support parent learners in a
predominantly White community to productively advocate for TSEL with their parent peers by
implementing an 8-session, 3-month group mentoring program. I supported the parent learners in
understanding and differentiating between brave space and safe space and traditional forms of

130
SEL and transformative SEL. I worked towards supporting the parents to understand how to
meet their peers where they were by utilizing various action steps to facilitate discussion by
sharing personal stories to help build relational trust. Through the self-study action research, I
learned about my strengths and limitations as an adult educator, my role within my organization,
and how to navigate the challenges of being a teacher and a parent leader.
Afterword
While I am not in a positional leadership role at my organization, the self-study action
research dissertation process helped me grow in the area of adult education by positioning me as
a parent leader. I guided the parent learners in an 8-mentoring session program at my school site.
They were looking to productively advocate for TSEL as a conduit for diversity, equity,
inclusion, and social justice conversations with their parent peers. After completing a three-
month study, analyzing the data, and organizing the findings, I created slide decks for the parent
learners to use as a format for the sessions they will create for their parent peers (see link here
session slides). The intent of this section is to provide information about the next steps of my
practice as an adult leader and the implications of what I learned.
Introduction to Leading Adult Learners
I have worked at Pennekamp (PK) for nine years as a classroom educator and served on
various leadership committees. When I first started working at PK, I could not have imagined
creating a learning environment with the parents in a predominately White community to work
toward cultivating a brave space for courageous conversations about DEI to take place in the
community. I also could not have imagined creating a learning environment for adults. This was
unknown territory for me. However, this new territory revealed deep insecurities about my

131
ability to not only succeed with the completion of my dissertation but succeed in leading adults
to transform their thinking.
Coming into this self-study action research dissertation process, integrating scholarship
into my practice, and generating actionable knowledge (Coughlan, 2019) was unfamiliar to me.
In my conceptual framework, I discussed adult learning theory and how to support adults.
Coming into the self-study action research, I knew that the parent learners would be in different
places developmentally, and it would be up to me to differentiate my leadership and andragogy.
Adult learning theory requires differentiation, and it requires pushing my learners to get them to
a place of disequilibrium (Wergin, 2020) that can be emotionally charged. This awareness makes
me want to think about the next step of how I can get over that insecurities I have so that I can
appropriately lead in the future.
Future Practice
Creating, implementing, and analyzing my eight-mentoring session helped me understand
my future as an adult educator. I aspire to branch out of teaching 5
th
grade and take up teaching
and leading adults as an instructional coach with the lens of TSEL for the next school year and
continue that work that I began with my parent learners. I acknowledge how I struggled in this
process, and I know it was not perfect. I recognize that I now have the skills and knowledge to
engage with parents and other school members in a way that I did not before. This confidence
has led me to approach my school Superintendent and suggest a position at the district level for a
Transformative Social Emotional Learning Coordinator/TOSA for the next school year.
Continue Working With the Parent Community
Although it was challenging to support a group of parent learners in my organization
because of my dual role, I believe that I learned a substantial amount of content knowledge,

132
interrogated my dual identity, and gained professional experience while supporting a group of
parent learners. I think that I made the right decision to engage a group of parents for my self-
study action research. As stated in my conceptual framework, parents carry a perceived power
and leveraging their power, I was able to support them as a group to one day productively
advocate for TSEL with their parent peers. Pulling from my experiences as a teacher/researcher
supporting parent learners, I would love to continue volunteering my time working with my
parent learners and potential new parents in the future and co-construct additional action steps to
build high-quality relationships that help to enhance self-awareness, social awareness among the
parents and school staff. I plan on attending the Dragon Circle sessions and providing additional
support and feedback to the parents as they grow the Dragon Circle to the community.
Cultivating Brave Space
Prior to my self-study action research, cultivating a brave space was not part of practice;
however, a safe space was. Given my work with the parent learners and after engagement in the
literature, I now understand the importance of cultivating a brave space. It is important to note
that a brave space focuses on engaging in a deeper dialogue that requires individuals to be open
and honest about their feelings, which may cause discomfort as participants are asked to abandon
old views (Arao & Clemens, 2013). Learning from my experience with my parent learners, I
understand that I will need to take my time with my learners as we unpack the concept of brave
space and provide as many scaffolds and examples as needed for them to have a firm grasp on
this concept. In addition, I also understand that modeling will be instrumental to understanding
brave space. As an adult leader, I will need to establish learning conditions that facilitate a brave
space and model how brave space is gained within that space. I learned how long it takes to
cultivate a brave space. Using the insights I gained in this project with my parent learners helped

133
me understand that in any leadership role, I will be in situations where it will be necessary for me
to push people. As I consider leadership roles in the next phase of my career, I understand that
pushing back will be uncomfortable irrespective of who is in front of me. I will need to reflect on
my practice continuously and overcome the fear and discomfort of pushing back on others.
My plan moving forward is to continue to grow professionally as an instructional coach
and expand the knowledge that I gained through the self-study action research to the district
level, looking to productively advocate for TSEL across the community by perfecting my skills
in writing critical reflections. I realized that although I reflected after each session using
descriptive and comparative reflections (Jay & Johnson, 2002), I need to reflect critically to
become a better adult leader. In addition, by recognizing my dual identity, I will be able to
demonstrate a strong sense of the school as a learning community. Using relationships and
communication to build relational trust as I support teachers in the area of TSEL and being
cognizant of where they may be in their learning process as we use courageous conversations to
communicate will be essential. My dual identity may be a bridge to integrating scholarship and
generating actionable knowledge as I move to support a community of teachers. I am a lifelong
learner committed to continuously critically reflecting on my practice, and I am looking forward
to continuing to develop my reflective practice in hopes of gaining new perspectives and
stepping outside my comfort zone.

134
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Appendix A: Initial Conceptual Framework

Parent Leader
* Build relational trust
* Engage in critical
reflection
* Participate in courageous
conversation in a brave
space
Parent Learner
Empathy
Self
Awareness
Social
Awareness
Growth
Mindset
Modeling
Adaptive Leadership
Behaviors
Critical self-Reflection
Assessing ways of
knowing
Parents are positioned to be
advocates of Transformative
Social-Emotional learning in
the parent community as a
way to accomplish the
district ’s vision of inclusion
and a culture of care
Parents critically reflect on
their role in this advocacy
effort, how they are the
recipients and producers of
marginalization.

146
Appendix B: Initial Action Plan
Phase 1
meeting topic
Outcomes Action steps Data collection
Develop an
understanding
of the
importance of
TSEL as a
lever for
justice.
Emphasize the
importance of
TSEL
competencies as
an integral part of
equitable
education and
community
partnership
• Reflective writing moment

(Group share)

What is one of the more important
hopes you have for your learning
during our time together? (Drago-
Severson & Kegan, 2009)

Parent Leader
• Present definitions of the TSEL
competencies (self-awareness, social
awareness, empathy, and growth
mindset)
• Question prompts for the
discussion will be adapted from the
CASEL 5 and Jagers et al. (2018)
• Engage in group discussion

How can you use TSEL
competencies when engaging in
DEI work with your parent peers?

Parent Learners

• With the parent learners discuss the
importance of each of the
competencies to our work together.
• Fieldnotes
• Personal Critical
(self)reflection

Develop and
increase the
understanding
of courageous
conversation
in a brave
space

Build relational
trust through a
brave space

Parent Leader
• Review TSEL competencies from
previous session
• Ask parent learners if there were
any take-aways from our last session,
and see if parents have anything that
they would like to share with the
group
• Provide a definition of space and
brave space adapted from Arao &
Clemens (2013)
• Ask parent leaners to differentiate
between the description of brave
• Fieldnotes
• Personal Critical
(self)reflection
• Definition examples
(Appendix A)

147
space and safe space adapted from
Arao & Clemens (2013)
• Discuss what might a brave space
look, sound, feel like in our group
meetings? (Group Discussion)
Parent Learner: Meaning-Making

• Independently create your own
definition of a brave space

• Share out definition with group

• How will developing a brave space
be useful in the work that you do
with other parents in the community?

• How is developing a brave space
align with our work and DEI efforts
at Pennekamp?
Self-
Awareness

Facilitate
reflection of one’s
own heritage and
acknowledge
cultural
differences

Importance of Critical Reflection
Circle of Objects (Brookfield &
Preskill, 2005)

Parent Leader
• Review TSEL competencies from
previous session
• Ask parent learners if there were
any take-aways from our last session,
and see if parents have anything that
they would like to share with the
group
• Engage in a conversation with
parents by asking for their opinion
about the difference between critical
reflection and reflection (Provide
Typology of Reflection (Jay &
Johnson, 2002)

Parent Leader: Model
• Directions will be given during the
meeting.
• I will begin the sharing process by
explaining the importance of my
artifact.
• Fieldnotes
• Personal critical self-
reflection
• Parents reflection

148
• I will model at the end of our
sharing what does it look like to find
a way to express appreciation for the
enlightenment gained (Brookfield &
Preskill, 2005) from the learning
about everyone’s artifact (critical
reflection vs. reflection)
• Be specific about what it was that
helped you understand something
better (Using Typology of Reflection)

Parent Learner: Conversation

• Share their artifact and explain its
significance.
• Express appreciation for knowledge
gained from learning about the
artifacts.
Reflection after session
Parent Reflection: Deepen Self-
Awareness

• In what ways does my identity
inform who I am as a parent in the
community?

• How is developing a brave space
align with TSEL, our work, and DEI
efforts at Pennekamp?

Out of the
field
• Fieldnotes
• Analytical
memos
• Personal critical
self-reflection
• Parent Critical
reflections
Phase 2
meeting topic
Outcomes Actions steps Data collection
Self-
Awareness/
Social
Awareness
Engage in a more
critical analysis of
power and
privilege from the
plural standpoints
of
intersectionality
• Review TSEL competencies from
previous session
• Ask parent learners if there were
any take-aways from our last session,
and see if parents have anything that
• Fieldnotes
• Personal critical self-
reflection)

149
they would like to share with the
group

Parent Leader-Model: “I am from”
poem adapted from Klein (2019)
(Appendix B)

Parent Learner
• Independently write
an “I am from” poem
• Share with the group
the three (or four) phrases
you are willing to share
Discussion
• What surprised you about your
responses to the phrase “I am
from...”?
• In what ways are you both
marginalized and dominant?
• What surprised you about the
responses of others?

How can you use this poem to
advocate for TSEL as a conduit for
DEI efforts at Pennekamp?
Social
Awareness/
Empathy
Develop social
awareness by
understanding the
perspectives of
and empathizing
with others,
including those
from diverse
backgrounds,
cultures, &
contexts

• Review TSEL competencies from
previous session
• Ask parent learners if there were
any take-aways from our last session,
and see if parents have anything that
they would like to share with the
group

Parent leader:

Provide a slide that includes a few
bullet points on what social
awareness might look like and
sentence stems about what it might
feel like

Show two videos
• HS Diploma denied
• Graduation Speech

• Fieldnotes
• Personal critical self-
reflection
• Parent critical
reflection

150
Explain circle of voices protocol
(Appendix D)

After the Video
Model critical self-reflection using
different the typology of
reflection.(Use MBUSD as the
context behind the critical reflection)

Parent Learner: Circle of Voices

To continue the practice of critical
reflection, after watching the two
videos, parent learners will engage in
a conversation guided by the
following prompts:

• What happened?
• Who was involved?
• How did you feel?
• How do you think each student in
the video recovered from the
experience?
• What do you think changed for
each student since then?
• In what ways does our district and
the community perpetuate inequities
in society?
• How are the messages from the
videos align with our work and DEI
efforts at Pennekamp?

Reflection after session
Parent Reflection

How does this session help you in
your work with your parent peers, if
at all?
Empathy Develop empathy
in ourselves and
those around us

• Review TSEL competencies from
previous session
• Ask parent learners if there were
any take-aways from our last session,
and see if parents have anything that
they would like to share with the
group

• Fieldnotes
• Personal critical self-
reflection

151

Parent leader:
Lead a mindful moment activity

Introduce “Guest House Poem” by
Rumi and discuss objectives and go
over guided questions prompts

GUEST HOUSE

Parent Learner: Listen and group
share (Circle of voices)

• Which line resonated with you and
why?
• What emotions or feelings did you
experience after watching the video?
• How does this poem help you
understand others, if at all?
• How is the message of this poem
aligning with our work and DEI
efforts at Pennekamp?

*In preparation for next session, ask
parent learners to write a critical
reflection considering the following:

• What are the relevant similarities
and differences in your lived
experiences and those of your parent
peers? What are the historical,
contextual and personal factors that
help explain this?

• How does this reflective process
inform and renew their perspective
about parent in the community who
are resistant to DEI efforts?

*End session with Brené Brown
video on empathy vs. sympathy

Empathy vs. Sympathy
Out of the
field
• Analytic memos
• Field notes

152
• Critical self-
reflection
Phase 3
meeting topic
Outcomes Action steps Data collection

Empathy for
DEI
Develop empathy
by listening to
others, as the
insights they share
can often illustrate
opportunities for
deeper connection
and
understanding,
both of self and
others

• Review TSEL competencies from
previous session
• Ask parent learners if there were
any take-aways from our last session,
and see if parents have anything that
they would like to share with the
group

Building on Brené Brown’s empathy
video

Parent Leader:

Present and go over the four
attributes of empathy (Wiseman,
1996)
(Appendix E)

Present and go over Ways of
Knowing (Drago-Severson & Blum-
DeStefano, 2017)

Activity: Rewatch the video and with
parent learner find examples
presented in the video that identify
each attribute in their own lives and/
or in the community

Share a recent board meeting public
comment opposing DEI efforts to
engage in empathy building with
parents who do not want DEI.

Group Discussion

Identify the ways of knowing of the
person in the public comment and
discusses ways in which we can help
push the individual to think
differently

Parent Learners
• Fieldnotes
• Parent Critical
reflection
(How can empathy help
in understanding where
our community
members are in terms of
alignment to equity?)
• Personal Critical self-
reflection

153

Using the four attributes of empathy:
• How can you develop empathy for
those with different views than your
own and still work to push them to
think differently?

How can you use this to advocate for
TSEL as a conduit for DEI efforts at
Pennekamp?
Growth
Mindset for
DEI
Develop a growth
mindset when
learning about
diversity, equity,
and inclusion
Parent leader: Present growth
mindset definition (CF version) and
elicit parent learners’ view on the
definition.

Ask parents to construct their own
definition of growth mindset.

Provide parents with a few
statements to identify whether the
statements reflect a growth mindset
or a fixed mindset.

Parent Learners
• Identify growth vs fixed mindset
and explain why the statements
reflect a particular mindset.
Present image Anti-racism: Fixed to
Growth Mindset.

• Facilitate a conversation about the
following statement: “Anti-racism
work is human growth work.”

Reflection after session
Parent Critical Reflection

• How can we align this statement
with the work that we have done with
self and social awareness and
empathy?

*Next Session Preparation:
Read Inclusivity and Growth
Mindset: Why You Need to Cultivate
Both
• Fieldnotes
• Personal critical self-
reflection
• Parent critical
reflection

154
Cultivate growth mindset
Working
session
Build a practice
plan
Parent Leader: Review all concepts
learned and action steps taken

Brave space/courageous
conversations
Self- awareness
Social Awareness
Empathy
Growth Mindset
Critical reflection

How can we use what we have
learned to support other parents to
build a common cause?
• Fieldnotes

Out of the
field

155
Appendix C: Parent Learner Definitions of Brave Space

156
Appendix D: I Am From
I am from… Adapted from Klein (2019, p. 92)
I am from (geography)
I am from (gender)
I am from (class)
I am from (ethnicity/race/nationality)
I am from (sexual orientation)
I am from (ability/disability)
I am from (religion/spirituality)
I am from (politics)
I am from (family)
I am from (education)
I am from (travel)
I am from (heroes/role models)
I am from (nature)
I am from (conflict/loss)
I am from (social movement)
I am from (movies/music/art/literature) I am from (…)
I am from (…)
Or…colonialism, hegemony, dominant culture, globalization, left ‐handedness, outsider
status, doubt, transition, liminality, crisis, love…

157
Appendix E: Code Book
Table E1
Codes
Adaptive leadership Description Total
Getting on the Balcony
(Northouse, 2018)
The need to gain
perspective in the midst of
action
9
Regulate stress/ holding space
(Northouse, 2018)
Therapeutic setting to
provide a sense of safety
8
Regulate Stress/Providing Direction
(Northouse, 2018)
Help participants feel a
sense of clarity, order, and
certainty, reducing the
stress about an uncertain
situation
9
Planning Session/Giving the Work
back to the People
(Northouse, 2018)
Empowering and
encouraging participants to
think and decide for
themselves
14
Andragogical Moves
Knowing Your Learner

Putting learner needs
before agenda/lesson plan

14
Modeling: Vulnerability

Sharing struggles, and
exposing my flaws, my
mistakes and what I am
grappling with.
12
Modeling: Opportunities to reflect Promoting a critical
perspective on own beliefs
7
Modeling: Protocol
(Brookfield & Hess, 2021)
Moving into a structured
discussion to guide how
people talk to each other,
but not what they say.
15
Setting the Stage
(Wergin, 2020)

Brief discussion to prompt
conversation
10
Communicative Learning
(Cranton, 2016)

Co-constructed knowledge
grounded in discussion
interaction and
collaboration

16
Clarify the Focus
(Fink, 2013)

Help participants clearly
see and understand the
central focus
27

158

Clarify the Focus: Soft Words
(Bonilla-Silva, 2010)

Help participants recognize
that colorblindness coopted
the language of cultural
responsiveness, equity,
diversity, and inclusion to
support efforts that lead to
more harm than good

7
Clarify the Focus: SEL vs. TSEL Help participants
differentiate between SEL
and TSEL

9
Clarify the Focus: Shared
Agreements; create conditions
(Arao & Clemens, 2013)
Help participants clearly
see and understand the
importance of setting
ground rules for
courageous conversations

20
Clarify the Focus: Brave space vs.
Safe Space
Help participants
differentiate between brave
space and safe space
16
Clarify the Focus: Leverage in-
depth understanding of TSEL
Intentional action steps to
promote understanding of
self and others
19
Clarify the Focus: Connecting past
activities
Help participants
understand the connection
between session activities
to their topic.
2
Clarify the Focus: Center on Race
(Arao & Clemens, 2013)
Being mindful about when
race-neutral conversations
are taking place and rising
to the challenges of
genuine dialogue on equity
and social-justice issues

15
Clarify the Focus: Productively
Advocate for TSEL; purpose
(Wergin, 2020)
Clarification of the vision
of what we are trying to
accomplish, without
getting sidetracked
10
Personal Experiences Drawing upon my own
experiences to help
participants learn,
understand, and gain
insight when pondering
Dragon Circle
14

159
Guided Reflection Questions
(Fink, 2013)

Reflective dialogue with
self and reflective dialogue
with others
9

Table E2
Brave and Safe Space
Brave space Description Total
Brave Space
(Arao & Clemens, 2013; Brookfield
& Hess, 2021; Singleton & Hays,
2008)
A deeper dialogue that
requires us to be open and
honest about our thoughts,
feelings, and opinions as
we embrace discomfort
and abandon old views.
Courageous dialogue.
High stakes
55
Safe Space
(Arao & Clemens, 2013)
Dialogue where everyone
feels comfortable
expressing themselves.
Low stakes

18
Disorienting Dilemma
(Wergin, 2020)
Desire to have a brave
space but feeling the
barriers to the
creation/participation in/of
a brave space. Thinking
about the condition
present in a brave space

9

Table E3
Transformative Social-Emotional Learning
TSEL Description Total
Empathy
(Brookfield & Hess, 2021;
http://CASEL.org)
Realizing that although
you will never fully
experience what someone
else is feeling, you can still
be drawn into
compassionate responses
11
Growth Mindset
(http://CASEL.org)
Embracing a stance of
vulnerability when sharing
14

160
how one has grown in
recognizing that one has
more room to grow and be
more knowledgeable about
how race and racism
function in daily practices
Self-Awareness
(Jagers et al., 2019)
Interrogating one’s own
positionality and
unpacking aspects of their
identity to examine how
they hold social identities
that are dominant and/or
marginalized.
12
Social Awareness
(Jagers et al., 2019)
Taking the perspectives of
those with the same and
different backgrounds and
cultures and to empathize
appropriately and feel
compassion
28

Table E4
Building Relational Trust
Relational trust Description Total
Relational Trust
(Cranton, 2016; Groves et al., 2016)
Create space and
conditions to tell stories
while embracing a stance
of vulnerability through
empathy, honesty,
fairness, and continuous
critical (self)reflection
46

Table E5
Intersecting Identities
Dual Role Description Total
Parent Leader: Parent Teacher
Relationship vs. Researcher
Perceived power dynamic
between the relationship of
a parent and teacher
relationship and its impact
on the AR self-study
28

161
Parent Learner: Affluent vs.
Marginalized
Participants critically
reflect on their role in their
advocacy effort, how they
are the recipients and
producers of
marginalization.

18

Table E6
Positionality
Positionality Description Total
Positionality: Parent Leader
(Howard, 2003)
Deep self-awareness of our
own positionality can allow
us to reflect critically as we
uncover biases,
assumptions, and beliefs
about ourselves and
individuals who are
culturally, ethnically, and
linguistically different.
12
Positionality: Parent Learner
(Howard, 2003)
Deep self-awareness of our
own positionality can allow
us to reflect critically as we
uncover biases,
assumptions, and beliefs
about ourselves and
individuals who are
culturally, ethnically, and
linguistically different.
8

Table E7
Ways of Knowing
Assessing ways of knowing Description Total
Instrumental
(Drago-Severson & Blum-DeStefano,
2019)
Concrete, right/wrong
orientation to their
leadership and the
world, and they tend to
appreciate clear action
steps, technical "to-
2

162
dos," and informational
supports.

Socializing
(Drago-Severson & Blum-DeStefano,
2019)
Orient strongly to
valued others' and
society's assessments of
them, taking a strong
and principled stand
(especially in relation to
ideas that may diverge
from others') – and
engaging in conflict –
remains a pain point and
growing edge.
5
Self-Authoring
(Drago-Severson & Blum-DeStefano,
2019)
Engaging in conflict
without feeling torn
apart, thinking
systemically, and
enacting a clear vision –
align with many
traditional
understandings of
effective leadership
6
Self-Transforming
(Drago-Severson & Blum-DeStefano,
2019)
Developed their own
philosophies and value
systems; yet they
continually seek to open
their thinking and
identities to further
reflection and evolution
because they recognize
that no single person
alone can understand or
impact the system in its
entirety.
5

Table E8
Participant Reflection
Parent Learner Reflection
(Jay & Johnson, 2002)
Individual and
collaborative process
involving dialogue,
written responses to
guided prompts
24

163

Table E9
Parent Leader Reflection
Parent leader reflection Description Total
Descriptive
(Jay & Johnson, 2002)
Describing what is
happening, how am I
feeling, what I am
pleased and/or
concerned about, and
what I am thinking
9
Comparative
(Jay & Johnson, 2002)
Considering alternative
views of what is
happening and what
does the research
contribute an
understanding of this
matter, and how can I
improve what’s not
working?
14
Critical
(Jay & Johnson, 2002)
What is the deeper
meaning of what is
happening, and how
does this reflective
process inform and
renew my perspective?
19
Missed Opportunity Not using an
opportunity to address
an important point. A
missed teachable
moment.
5

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Full title: Transformative social-emotional learning: an action research study on supporting parents in a predominantly White community to productively advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice through transformative social-emotional learning. Abstract: This action research study aimed to examine how I, as a parent leader, could support parent learners in a predominately White community hold courageous conversations with their parent peers about equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice through the lens of Transformative Social-Emotional learning. I created and facilitated an eight-session, three-month mentoring cycle to help the parent learners build relational trust, engage in critical reflection, and participate in courageous conversations in a brave space. This study took place at Pennekamp Elementary, a TKâ€“5 public school in Manhattan Beach, California, that serves predominately White students. The research question guiding this self-study action research was: As a parent leader, how do I support parent learners to productively advocate for transformative social-emotional learning as a conduit to conversations about diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice in a predominately White community? My conceptual framework, grounded in transformative social-emotional learning theories and my andragogical moves, informed the construction, facilitation, and revision of the action steps utilized to mentor the parent learners. My findings highlighted a transformation in the parent learners' understanding of brave space and the importance of creating conditions of brave space when facilitating courageous conversations. In addition, my findings show an emerging understanding of self-awareness and social awareness. Further, my findings showcased my growth and development as an aspiring leader. At the end of the study, based on the findings, I created guided slide decks for the participants to use within the context of the Dragon Circle, an event they created to productively advocate for transformative social-emotional learning.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Gralnik, Anna (author)

Core Title Transformative social-emotional learning: an action research study on supporting parents in a predominantly White community…

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Degree Conferral Date 2022-08

Publication Date 08/06/2022

Defense Date 08/06/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag brave space,OAI-PMH Harvest,safe space,social emotional learning,transformative social emotional learning

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Samkian, Artineh (committee chair), Pascarella, John (committee member), Slayton, Julie (committee member)

Creator Email gralnik@usc.edu,shylee2@hotmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111376226

Unique identifier UC111376226

Legacy Identifier etd-GralnikAnn-11122

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Gralnik, Anna

Type texts

Source 20220808-usctheses-batch-972 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu