Decoteau J. Irby, Ph.D.
Dr. Decoteau Irby supports groups, collectives, and organizations create conditions for anti-racist organizational learning and continuous improvement with an emphasis on racial equity change. He enjoys playing guitar and recording songs, writing short stories, and designing games and activities that help make a more racially just world. His academic research examines equity focused school leadership and how it can be used to improve Black children and youth’s academic achievement and social emotional wellness. He is an Associate Professor at University of Illinois at Chicago in the Department of Educational Policy Studies. He is a 2020 recipient of the highly competitive Spencer Foundation for Education research Large Grant, author of numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and edited volumes, which include his recently self-published children’s book Magical Black Tears, the forthcoming edited volume Somebodiness: a Call for Dignity-affirming Education (Teachers College Press, 2021), and Stuck Improving: School Leadership and Racial Equity (Harvard Education Press, 2021).
Tuesday, June 15, 2021 | 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM (CDT)
Black Verve in the Life of School Communities: An interactive online learning lab
Black students, families, and educators bring to school a wellspring of understanding and practices—perspectives, ideas, ways of being and doing, and verve—that should rightfully enrich their schools. Indeed, we know that Black and Brown people profoundly influence and enrich the intellectual, cultural, economic, and social fabric of United States. So why does this not happen in schools? This presentation offers an opportunity for educators to explore the manifestations (and lack thereof) of spirited enthusiasm, or Black verve, that when fostered, enriches the day-to-day life of school communities. I outline the organizational conditions that cultivate Black verve and provide participants with “virtual hands on” opportunities to analyze and practice creating organizational conditions and instructional practices that affirm, cultivate, and sustain Black verve.
