Current Professional Learning Opportunities
This page lists upcoming graduate courses and seminars that are open for registration or have wait list spaces available. Additional offerings will be posted as they become available. For information about the DEI Anti-Racism Certificate program, click here.
Download a flyer (PDF) with an overview of the current course offerings. Updated December 18, 2023.
Graduate Level Courses
(2) Credits, (30) Hour Courses
IDEAS 1: Anti-Racist School Practices to Support the Success of All Students
This course is designed to introduce educators to the complex issues raised by race and racism and their impact on student engagement and achievement. This course will provide educators with an understanding of racial identity and the importance of building authentic student teacher relationships. This course will also help educators increase their skills of cultural proficiency.
| Section F: | Section G: |
| Course Dates & Times: Tuesdays, 3:50pm – 7:45pm Saturdays, 9:00am – 3:15pm January 27th January 30th February 13th March 5th March 26th March 30th | Course Dates & Times: Thursdays, 4:15pm – 7:45pm February 29th March 7th March 14th March 21st March 28th April 4th April 11th |
| Instructor(s): Jennifer Dirga & Kerryn Hinds | Instructor(s): Edward Byrne & Mark Liddell |
| Section H: | Section I: |
| Course Dates & Times: Saturdays, 9:00am – 3:15pm February 10th March 9th April 6th May 11th | Course Dates & Times: Saturdays, 9:00am – 3:15pm May 4th May 18th June 1st June 15th |
| Instructor(s): Jennifer Dirga & Roderick MacNeal | Instructor(s): Jennifer Dirga & Kerryn Hinds |
Locations: Live via Zoom
Cost: $650 IDEAS members /$780 non-members
Graduate Credit: Participants may choose to apply for 2 graduate credits for an additional fee of $150, payable to Framingham State University.
Registration: To register, please complete and submit this registration form. Please ensure that you have approval from your district before registering. Please email any questions to Dana Mullaley – dmullaley@massupt.org.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellation notice must be received 2 weeks prior to the start of the course to be eligible for a refund.
(1) Credit, (15) Hour Courses
Difficult Conversations: Talking about Race & Racism with Students, Colleagues & Parents/Guardians
This course is designed to help educators develop a better understanding of ways to address and respond to issues of race and racism on a personal and professional level. Participants will consider the experiences of students and families from ethnically or racially diverse backgrounds in predominantly white schools, and will examine both the barriers to/challenges of talking about race/racism/ethnicity and strategies for engaging in productive discussions.
Dates & Time: Wednesdays, 4:00pm – 7:15pm; March 20th, March 27th, April 3rd & April 24th, 2024
Instructors: Edward Byrne & Dr. Paula Martin
Location: Live via Zoom
Cost: $325 IDEAS members /$390 non-members
Graduate Credit: Participants may choose to apply for 1 graduate credit for an additional fee of $75, payable to Framingham State University.
Registration: To register, please complete and submit this registration form . Please ensure that you have approval from your district before registering. Please email any questions to Dana Mullaley – dmullaley@massupt.org.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellation notice must be received 2 weeks prior to the start of the course to be eligible for a refund.
Transforming Curriculum through a Social Justice Lens
This course is designed for educators who wish to understand multicultural curriculum transformation using the model developed by James Banks and incorporating the Teaching Tolerance standards regarding identity, diversity, justice, and action. Participants will explore “challenging and changing the narrative” to include more multicultural perspectives, adapting pedagogy to be more culturally responsive, and challenging systemic racism and bias. Participants will then adapt/develop their own lesson/unit plan.
Dates & Time: Tuesdays, 4:30pm – 7:45pm; February 6th, February 13th, February 27th & March 5th, 2024
Instructors: Claudia Fox Tree & Rebecca Smoler
Location: Live via Zoom
Cost: $325 IDEAS members /$390 non-members
Graduate Credit: Participants may choose to apply for 1 graduate credit for an additional fee of $75, payable to Framingham State University.
Registration: To register, please complete and submit this registration form. Please ensure that you have approval from your district before registering. Please email any questions to Dana Mullaley – dmullaley@massupt.org.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellation notice must be received 2 weeks prior to the start of the course to be eligible for a refund.
6 Hour Seminars
Best Practices for Hiring and Retaining Educators for Equity
In this 6-hour seminar, participants will examine what equitable hiring and other human resources practices are and how to implement them with an anti-racist and anti-biased lens. The seminar will show how to build hiring and retention practices which lead to increased diversity of a school/district’s faculty and staff. The practical and research-based strategies are intended to help district, building, and department leaders, as well as other hiring managers, create professional environments that can help increase the applicants of color for open positions, retain educators of color in your school/district, and better hire for equity. The seminar uses cases/scenarios, recent research, and best practice sharing to achieve the learning objectives for participants.
Dates & Time: Mondays, 4:00pm – 7:00pm; March 4th & March 11th, 2024
Instructors: Edward Byrne & Leslie Smart
Location: Live via Zoom
Cost: $175 IDEAS members /$210 non-members
Registration: To register, please complete and submit this registration form. Please ensure that you have approval from your district before registering. Please email any questions to Dana Mullaley – dmullaley@massupt.org.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellation notice must be received 2 weeks prior to the start of the course to be eligible for a refund
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