Understanding and Eliminating the Culture of Dehumanization (Series Begins Oct. 10, 2024) (Registration Closed) – The Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth, Inc.

For this webinar series, participants will automatically be enrolled in all 5 sessions.

REGISTRATION CLOSED

Speaker

Jessica Pepple, Ed.D.

Description

The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes dehumanization as addressing or portraying someone in a way that obscures or demeans that person’s humanity, individuality, or dignity. There have been several forms and examples of dehumanization, some of which are listed below.

American chattel enslavement of African and African Americans between 1776 to 1865;
Indigenous genocide that’s estimated to have taken 13 million lives since 1492;
World War II Japanese American internment camps from 1942-45 of 120,000 people on U.S. soil;
1932-1972 Tuskegee Airmen experiments on 600 Black men who were not advised on the fundamental nature of the research study;
The forced sterilization of 60,000 poor women across 32 states by Eugenics boards from 1932-1966, with the majority of those sterilized being Black women;
The 69,550 migrant children held in 2019 in U.S. detention centers and more recent history;
The fight for marriage equality and transgender rights; and
Denial of a person’s pronouns.

As educators, leaders, and change-makers, your role is crucial in creating safe and inclusive spaces. To fulfill this responsibility, it’s essential to understand dehumanization and its profound impact on students’ social, academic, and cognitive development.

To receive PDPs and CEUs, participants must attend all 5 sessions and successfully pass a quiz following Session 5. Following the live webinar, registrants will be emailed a link to view the recorded webinar. The recording will be made available for 7 days after each session.

Participants will understand three historical types of caste systems and how members of the dominant classes from each caste system began the first cases of dehumanization. This session will discuss how scapegoating is used as a mental shortcut not to examine perpetrators’ dehumanizing behaviors.

Author bell hooks stated, “Definitions are vital starting points for the imagination. What we cannot imagine cannot come into being. A good definition marks our starting point and lets us know where we want to end up.” bell hooks highlights the importance of language and how language is used to shape our understanding. Throughout history, there have been repeated attempts to alter and soften the language used to describe and understand dehumanization. As a community that works with students impacted by challenges related to racial trauma, developmental, and mental health, we have a responsibility to not only have empathy for our students but also to adopt antiracist practices that help to ensure more equitable outcomes for everyone. Before we can do this, we must discuss what dehumanizing looks like and how it has evolved.

This session will address how to understand and explain how implicit bias may influence and impact expectations and interactions with adults and youth. Participants will be equipped to understand how to build adults’ and youth’s ability to recognize race-based traumatic stress symptoms resulting from dehumanization practices. Additionally, participants who identify as being BIPOC will understand how to protect themselves as a BIPOC person engaging in minimizing dehumanization.

In addition to individual trauma, dehumanizing language can harm historically marginalized populations. Perpetrators of dehumanization begin with subtle forms of dehumanizing jokes, metaphors, and behaviors that may not be expressed in the content. This can escalate into systemic practices that harm a significant group. To better minimize dehumanization, participants will be instructed to recognize tendencies used to dehumanize others (i.e., forms of bullying). Participants will be provided with the psychological benefits of micro interventions vs. the psychological costs of remaining quiet when hearing dehumanizing language.

Participants will understand how to use micro intervention strategies to disarm and neutralize dehumanizing language. Strategies include 1. Making the “invisible” visible; 2. Disarming microaggressions; 3. Educating the perpetrator; and 4. Seeking outside support and authoritative help.

About the Speaker

Jessica Pepple, Ed.D., is the inaugural Chief Diversity and Culture Officer of RFK Community Alliance and an executive leadership team member. Few people have the combination of data analysis skills, experience in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the engaging presence that Jessica has brought to her role as RFK Community Alliance’s inaugural CDCO. She holds a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies from Boston University, and an Ed. Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership from National Louis University.

Before joining RFK Community Alliance in 2022, Jessica worked for the King Phillip School District as Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Before that, she served in various Administrator and Instructional Coach roles at Browne Middle School in Chelsea, Prospect Hill Academy in Cambridge, and Orange County Public Schools in Florida. She is a strategic thinker and thoughtful contributor who is intuitive and gregarious. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, going to the movies, and visiting local museums and art exhibitions.

Membership Information

Most MPY webinars are available ONLY to current staff from member districts and organizations. Public school memberships include police and fire personnel. Former and retired employees and members of committees, including but not limited to, PTO/PTA, PAC, School Improvement Councils, Health Councils, Drug/Alcohol Councils, and school volunteers, are not considered MPY members.

PDPs and CEUs

MPY is an approved Professional Development Provider through the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (Provider No. F20180079). Professional Development Points (PDPs) are offered for most MPY professional development webinars. PDPs are issued in 10 hour increments, per DESE requirements.

Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available for clinical staff through the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the Massachusetts Mental Health Counselors Association, Inc. (MaMHCA). The NASW and the MaMHCA approve each event individually. CEUs may be given in hourly increments.

To receive PDPs and CEUs, participants must pass the quiz.

Event Cancellation Policy

If you are unable to attend a MPY webinar you must cancel, through Bonnie Mullen at bonnie@mpyinc.org, one business day before the webinar.

For MPY hybrid conferences, the date in-person registration closes will be posted on MPY’s website. Virtual conference registration will close one business day before the hybrid conference. You cannot cancel or switch your registration from in-person to virtual after in-person registration closes. Please email Bonnie Mullen at bonnie@mpyinc.org with any questions regarding registration.

Enrollment in this course closed on 10/10/2024.

All sessions are 9:30 am – 11:30 am.