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Date: April 4, 2024
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Location: Tulare County Office of Education, 6200 S. Mooney Blvd. Visalia, CA 93277
Registration Linkhttps://tulare.k12oms.org/147-244385

The Tulare County Office of Education is proud to host its fourth annual Equity Conference. This conference provides attendees the opportunity to grow and learn so they can make our schools safe spaces for every student, staff member, and family. 

The Equity Conference also consists of breakout sessions that provide deeper learning in specialized areas through the strands of academics, culture and climate, leadership, mental health and wellness, and family and community engagement. 

Dr. Dugan's Keynote Session

The Possible Future of Education: An Invitation to Radically Dream
The education system is broken and we've known this for a long time. Yet, even after experiencing time away from schools during the pandemic, we are still clinging to an archaic system. Urgency, fear, and the pull of the dominant paradigm of schooling have led many educators toward a feverish return to the status quo—reducing schooling experiences to addressing perceived student deficits and learning for the sake of achievement on standardized tests. In this keynote, we explore what it could look like to make a fundamental mindset shift toward capitalizing on the possibilities of now and the transformative chance to dream. What if we moved from how we deal with the perceived loss of learning from the pandemic to questions about how to envision the future of learning? What if we didn't just follow the guidance of curriculum developers and policymakers but took lessons from the legacies of abolitionists and freedom fighters? What if we started to radically dream? Join us for a conversation about the meaning of radical dreaming, its importance, and how it could help us usher in a new education future. 

Dr. Dugan's Breakout Session

Climbing Out of Equity Traps and Tropes: Introduction to Street Data
Many of our district and school equity efforts focus on oversimplified quick fixes and implementation of off-the-shelf solutions. While we may feel a sense of urgency to address deep-rooted equity issues, our attempts are often thwarted by landmines that can be identified and removed through strategic analysis and creative action. In this session, Dr. Dugan extends the conversation around radical dreaming by laying out common equity traps and tropes that can undermine our well-intentioned efforts to transform education. Through storytelling and real-world examples, we explore why it is so hard to move equity work forward while beginning to find the courage to move toward Street Data, a next-generation model for school transformation, and unhinge ourselves from a legacy of “implementation” over imagination.

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Dr. Jamila Dugan

Mr. Hernandez's Keynote Session

Reaching For Your Own Stars: A Recipe to Success
Jose Hernandez's keynote is an effective motivational talk where individuals leave so inspired, they re-evaluate and upgrade their personal and professional goals in life. This is accomplished by empowering attendees through his anecdotal stories of hard work and perseverance. He shares a simple yet effective recipe that serves as an effective tool in the empowerment process.
  • Reaching your full potential
  • Dare to dream big when you are willing to work hard for it
  • Jose shares his six-ingredient recipe to success that led him to his goal of becoming an astronaut
  • His conference leads to re-evaluation and upgrading of the audience's goals

male speaker orange astronautJose Hernandez

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