Sanje Ratnavale
Description
This book offers a reimagination of DEI and Purpose in schools. It analyzes what went wrong with DEI implementations at independent schools, examining
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how much of the problem centers around a misunderstanding of curriculum models and providing a clear explanation of how curriculum models work and their tensions. Finally, the book offers a reimagination of DEI around Purpose to provide a more unifying and forward-thinking path for all schools, independent and public.
From the book:
"The implementation of DEI has been lazy. It has paid little attention to curricular conflicts, which should be the foundation of curricular change, and it has rushed content into the programming mix as if the resulting mishmash will resemble a fine work of art. Instead, we have confused children, teachers, and parents."
"To navigate a path through all this, we have to understand the history of curriculum thinking. We have to understand how different curriculum models and approaches work, what they value, and how they conflict. Only then can we determine what needs to be done to fix them. That is the purpose of this book. We start with an honest analysis of where we are today. We then provide an explanation of how each major objective in curriculum modeling works. We look at the tensions between each model and the tools of change. We then move on to DEI and, in particular, what has gone wrong and how to fix it."
Endorsements
"Excellent, timely and an exciting new vision."
Pat Bassett, NAIS President (retired).
"Sanje Ranavale has written an insightful and provocative book that dares to critically and dispassionately examine how Independent Schools, in their effort to seem progressive, have lost track of what made them progressive in the first place. They have been unwilling to do the hard work of understanding how their curriculum and pedagogy support their mission. Sanje Ratnavale, drawing upon a lifetime of experience working and learning across five languages and three continents, exposes the void at the center while also showing how a return to truly progressive education and a rethinking of real diversity, real inclusion, and real equity can provide a basis upon which Independent Schools can reclaim their relevance for the next century."
Raymond Ravaglia, founder of Stanford Online High School and founder of Dwight Global Online School.
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