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 August 31, 2026.
Graduate Level Courses
(2) Credits, (25) Hour Courses
IDEAS 1: Anti-Racist School Practices to Support the Success of All Students
This 25-hour foundational course invites educators to critically examine how identities and lived experiences shape our understanding of privilege and systemic injustice, across racism and other forms of identity-based oppression, and our role in challenging them. Participants will explore what it means to develop a conscious racial identity while working toward equity and justice, and how this process strengthens our capacity to build inclusive, equity-driven learning environments.
Through reflection, dialogue, and applied practice, participants will:
- Investigate racial identity development frameworks and their relevance to fostering belonging.
- Examine the ways privilege and power operate within classrooms, schools, and communities.
- Build skills to recognize, interrupt, and transform systems of oppression at personal, interpersonal, and institutional levels.
- Strengthen the knowledge, awareness, and strategies needed to move from intention to meaningful impact in anti-racist practice.
By the end of the course, participants will be equipped with practical tools and deeper self-awareness to advance equity and justice in their teaching and leadership. Successful completion earns 25 professional development hours, 2 graduate credits through Bridgewater State University (optional), and PDPs for hours attended (Certificates of Completion).
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Tuesdays, 4:00pm – 7:15pm September 29th October 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th November 3rd, 10th & 17th Instructors: Dr. Claudia Fox Tree & Becs Smoler Location: Virtual via Zoom |
In Person, Thursdays, 4:00pm – 7:15pm October 8th, 15th, 22nd & 29th November 5th, 12th, 19th December 3rd Instructors: Ed Byrne & Seeta Durvasula Location: In Person at Marshall Simonds MS, Burlington |
IDEAS 2: Enacting Systemic Change in Educational Institutions
This 30-hour course is designed to build upon the foundational theories and complex issues studied in IDEAS 1: Anti-Racist School Practices to Support the Success of All Students. Participants will study systemic change models and develop, enact, and evaluate a project to effect change in their educational setting, whether that setting is working with a small group of students, a classroom, a grade level, a school, or an entire district. Successful completion of IDEAS 1 is a prerequisite for the course.
Instructors: Lateefah Franck & Becs Smoler
Dates & Times: Mondays, 4:00pm – 7:15pm
October 5th, November 2nd , December 7th, January 4th, February 1st & March 1st, April 5th & May 3rd
Location: Virtually via Zoom
Graduate Credit: Participants may choose to apply for 2 graduate credits for these (25) hour courses for an additional fee of $150, payable to Bridgewater State University.
Registration: To register, please complete and submit this IDEAS Course 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. IDEAS reserves the right to cancel courses with insufficient enrollment.
(1) Credit, (12.5) Hour Courses
Transforming Curriculum through a Social Justice Lense
This course is designed for educators to explore multicultural curriculum transformation. Participants will examine strategies for integrating multicultural perspectives, adapting culturally responsive pedagogy, and addressing systemic racism and bias. Drawing on the work of scholars such as James Banks (multicultural curriculum), Geneva Gay and Zaretta Hammond (culturally responsive pedagogy and neurological research), and Gloria Ladson-Billings (culturally relevant pedagogy), participants will learn to create inclusive curricula. The course also incorporates the work of Michael Eric Dyson and Paul Gorski (race, privilege, and equity literacy), Karen McLean Donaldson (cultural relevance), Peggy McIntosh (white privilege), and Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Indigenous knowledge), helping educators address bias and foster justice-oriented learning. By the end of the course, participants will adapt or develop lesson and unit plans that reflect these principles.
Dates & Times:
Mondays & Tuesdays, 3:30pm – 6:45pm
November 30th, December 1st, 14th & 15th
Instructors: Dr. Claudia Fox Tree & Becs Smoler
Location: Live via Zoom
Cost: $325 IDEAS members /$390 non-members
Difficult Conversations: Talking about Race & Racism with Students, Colleagues & Parents/Guardians
Educators often find themselves navigating difficult conversations about race and racism with students, colleagues, and families. This course offers a supportive and interactive learning environment where participants explore and practice challenging conversations about race, racism, culture, and identity with confidence, skill, and care. Participants will examine the psychological, interpersonal, and school-based dynamics that make these conversations challenging, including the roles of identity, bias, conflict, and race-based stress. Through reflection, authentic school-based scenarios, discussion, and structured practice, participants will develop practical strategies for responding to difficult moments with confidence, curiosity, and empathy while building stronger relationships and fostering more inclusive learning environments.
Dates & Times:
Mondays; 3:45pm – 6:15pm
October 26th, November 2nd, 9th, 16th & 30th
Instructors: Dr. Paula Martin & Edward Byrne
Location: Live Virtually via Zoom
Cost: $325 IDEAS members /$390 non-members
Graduate Credit: Participants may choose to apply for 1 graduate credit for these (12.5) hour courses an additional fee of $75, payable to Bridgewater 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. IDEAS reserves the right to cancel courses with insufficient enrollment.
Seminars
Seminars are available on the dates listed below as well as by request for in-district training.
Responding to the N-Word in School Settings
We find that more and more in our school communities, we are having to talk about and grapple with the use of this word and how to handle it when we hear it being used in our schools. This seminar will seek to open the conversation for educators and frame it as an open dialogue to address the issue that if heard or said in our schools, all educators should be able to address it. The seminar will include the history of the word in our society and look at several generations and how some have tried to “reclaim” it. We will also read some articles and view some videos by respected academic scholars who have written and spoken about this dilemma. It is our hope that educators who attend will have a clearer understanding of why they do not want this word used in their school communities by anyone and some strategies on how to address it.
Dates & Times:
Thursdays, 4:30pm – 6:30pm
September 24th , October 1st & October 8th;
Instructors: Mark Liddell & Karen Thomsen
Location: Live Virtually via Zoom
De-colonizing Curriculum through an Indigenous Perspective: A Two Part Series
Participants will examine Indigenous histories, perspectives, and contemporary realities that are often absent from U.S. curricula. Using a decolonizing lens, we will explore how colonial narratives continue to shape teaching, curriculum, and educational systems while developing practical strategies for creating culturally responsive classrooms. Although the focus is on Indigenous Peoples, the strategies are applicable across grade levels, content areas, and other marginalized communities.
Part 1: Identity, Decolonizing Curriculum, and Challenging Narratives
Participants will explore Indigenous racial identity development, curriculum transformation through Indigenous perspectives, and foundational concepts including anti-racism, decolonization, sovereignty, political status, settler privilege, and systems of oppression and advantage. Using examples such as Thanksgiving and Tribal Land and Waterways Acknowledgements, participants will practice expanding curriculum to include Indigenous voices, multiple perspectives, and historically marginalized histories.
Part 2: Implicit Bias, Indigenous Knowledge, and Moving Toward Action
Participants will examine strategies for addressing implicit bias, invisibility, and cultural appropriation while recognizing Indigenous knowledge systems, languages, and contemporary Indigenous life. Drawing on the work of Tara Yosso, Susan Scafidi, and Zaretta Hammond, participants will explore culturally responsive teaching, Community Cultural Wealth, and practical strategies for addressing microaggressions, challenging systemic inequities, and distinguishing cultural appreciation from appropriation. The session concludes by exploring what it means to move from allyship toward meaningful action.
Dates & Time: Thursdays, 4:00pm – 6:00pm
October 1st & October 15th
Instructor: Dr. Claudia Fox Tree
Location: Live Virtually via Zoom
Anti-Racist Decision Making for Education Leaders: Making Better Decisions for More Equitable Schools
School and district leaders make hundreds of consequential decisions in their roles: from hiring staff and responding to student needs to allocating resources and resolving conflict. Many of these decisions occur under conditions of uncertainty, competing priorities, time pressure, and high emotional or political stakes. Even leaders with a deep commitment to equity can make decisions that reinforce existing disparities when stress, cognitive shortcuts, organizational routines, inertia, or community pressures shape how decisions are made.
This three-session seminar combines current research in decision-making science with practical leadership tools to help educational leaders make more intentional, equitable, and impactful decisions. Through three complex case studies drawn from authentic school leadership dilemmas, participants will examine how bias, stress, organizational systems, and vulnerable decision points influence outcomes and learn concrete strategies for interrupting inequitable patterns before decisions become actions.
Participants will leave with practical frameworks they can immediately apply to hiring, student support, special education, and other high-priority leadership decisions while strengthening their own capacity to lead through complexity with greater clarity and confidence.
Dates & Time: Wednesdays, 3:30pm – 6:30pm
October 21st, October 28th & November 4th
Instructor: Ed Byrne & Lateefah Franck
Location: Live Virtually via Zoom
Additional Seminars Available for In-District Training Upon Request
Understanding the METCO Program
This 6-hour professional development seminar offers educators an in-depth understanding of the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) program’s origins, historical significance, and contemporary impact on students, families, and suburban school communities. Designed for teachers in METCO-participating districts, the course explores the experiences of Boston students in suburban schools, the role of educators in fostering inclusive environments, and the broader implications of voluntary school desegregation. Through historical context, student and family perspectives, and practical strategies, participants will leave better equipped to support METCO students and contribute meaningfully to diverse school communities.
Recognizing and Addressing Antisemitism
Antisemitism often goes unrecognized as it doesn’t always mirror other forms of systemic oppression. This intensive, interactive 6 hour workshop is designed to equip educators with the historical literacy and practical tools necessary to recognize, confront, and dismantle antisemitism within the educational environment.
By the end of the class, educators will be able to:
- Articulate the diversity of Jewish identity beyond religious practice.
- Distinguish between various definitions of antisemitism and apply them to real-world scenarios.
- Identify historical antisemitic tropesand understand their modern manifestations.
- Differentiate between legitimate political critique and antisemitic rhetoric.
- Apply concrete intervention strategies when encountering antisemitism in the classroom or hallway
Dates & Times: Available upon request to schedule within your district.
Seminar Costs:
(3) hour Seminar – $100 members/$120 non-members
(6) hour Seminar – $175 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.
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