August 15, 2024 • 7 mins
EALA is joined by A'Seret Dokubo, the Managing Director of Fellowships for SELF and former School Study Tour advisor. Listen in to hear about her experience as a School Study Tour advisor, and how this experience has furthered her work in this field.
Access the full podcast transcript at: https://bit.ly/5minwithASeretDokubo
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
This is Jackie from the Educating All-Learners Alliance, and today we're speaking
to A'Seret Dokubo for five minutes with A'Seret Dokubo, a school study tour advisor's perspective.
A'Seret Dokubo serves as the Managing Director of Fellowship for Self.
In this capacity, A'Seret is responsible for overseeing the design and delivery
of programming for Self's teacher and leader fellowships.
(00:22):
She has extensive experience working with educators and school teams implementing
trauma-informed practices along the entire continuum of services.
Specifically, A'Seret is passionate about disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline.
Thank you so much for joining us today, A'Seret. Yeah, Jackie,
thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
So to give our listeners a little bit more background on you,
(00:45):
can you tell us a little bit more about your position and the work you do? Yeah, definitely.
So yeah, for those of you who are unfamiliar with SELF, we are a New Orleans-based
nonprofit that supports schools and districts nationally to improve support
and outcomes for diverse learners.
So students with disabilities, students receiving intervention support,
students who are multilingual learners. partners.
(01:07):
We really have a three-pronged approach to achieving our mission.
So we have our flagship leader fellowship program, which is a year-long fellowship
for school and district-level special education leaders.
We also do direct technical assistant work with school leadership teams to help
them develop systems and structures.
And we also support the growth of our new special education teachers as well.
(01:27):
And in my role as managing director, I kind of oversee the design delivery of
all those various components.
Awesome. Thank you for that. And so, A'Seret, being an EALA partner,
part of some of our work that we do with our partners is invite our partners
on to and to be involved with our initiatives.
And you recently were one of our school study tour advisors.
(01:51):
I'd love to hear, you know, a little bit more about your experience with that.
And also, I thought it was really cool that you, I believe this is correct,
had a school that you've worked with, too, on the tours.
So I'd love to hear a little bit more about that and how, you know,
your experience as an advisor on our school study tours has,
you know, furthered some of the work that you do at SELF.
(02:13):
Yeah. So, yeah, I've done school visits and school tours before.
But what I really loved about the school study tour with you guys was how you
made sure that school teams and participants included the classroom teacher,
a special education leader, and then also a school leader that had decision making power.
So I think having those team members from the three different like perspectives
(02:33):
on like the system implementation really is going to help ensure that the school
teams when they leave and go back to their buildings that they really have something
that they can apply that is like feasible and tangible and make sense in the classroom.
When I think about at SELF, our portion of our leader fellowship programming
focuses on leadership skills.
And so we really strongly believe about empowering our leaders to think about
(02:55):
capacity building of their team and building that like bench of strong teacher leaders.
And then so again, so having like the SPED leaders of the school team that I
directly coach and support, I've been following up with them in our check-ins
to ask like, how are they pushing the teacher that was with them to really like,
really empower them to like be more vocal in spaces, speak up about the ideas
(03:15):
they saw both in the grade level team meetings, but also to the school principal
and like really helping give some of those teacher leader responsibilities.
Thank you. Yeah, I think that's a big part of the way we structure the tours
is trying to be intentional about who we are inviting and who we're,
you know, creating the space with to actually make some change after the tours.
(03:38):
From your perspective, what do you think the attendees were able to get out
of this collaborative reflection experience?
I know, obviously, we have the Reflection Summit where you really played a big
role, but I'm hoping that you were maybe able to see some nuggets of collaborative
reflection throughout since you were with us on some of the earlier tours in the day.
(03:59):
Yeah, so I think what I really, again, love was both with the reflection piece and also Also,
just being with the dinner the night before and having people be able to like
come together was like I love to see the relationship between like special other
teachers kind of coming together and like saying like, oh, I thought this in
my classroom where I would love to do this.
And like just building those relationships with others in their role,
(04:20):
but from schools across the whole country, which I think was really great.
I saw a lot of that again, like in the hallways going from one classroom to
the next, like just those little side conversations. conversations on like,
oh, it's so great to see that.
And someone, you know, maybe saying like, yeah, we've done like a spin of that,
like doing it this way. And someone's like, oh, I would love to like maybe try that too.
And so just kind of having them share those pieces of like nuggets and wisdom.
(04:41):
And then also hearing like, oh my gosh, I want to do that.
We have, we're so far off from that. Like we are too, like no worries.
So just kind of that like camaraderie to know that like barriers and challenges
are similar again across the country and across the world.
So I think that was one of the things that I loved and like just to see those
like little aha moments between participants.
(05:01):
Yeah. Yeah. I think that there is so much value in that and getting out and
being able to work with others, especially from, you know, different parts of
the country and everywhere does things so differently.
So thank you so much for talking on that a little bit. Yeah.
Someone was on the fence about coming to the school study tours.
Maybe they're not as familiar with EALA and they're not really sure about what,
(05:24):
you know, how beneficial it would be to get on a plane and fly to another part
of the country, you know, for a few days. What would you tell them?
I would tell them, jump on that airplane, get to the city. No,
definitely. I would encourage them to do that.
I think too, what I, I think I would say, like just to have a moment in the
middle of the school year to step back and like leave your school building,
(05:45):
leave your campus. this.
And then again, like go see other schools, go be with other educators.
I think it just gives a space to like take a deep breath and like re-envision
and re-ground everyone in like the work that we do and like the visions we have.
I know it can be so easy, especially spring of the school year to be like just
day by day and like trudging along and getting to like the next week and the next thing.
(06:06):
But I love just that this gives you again, two, three days to kind of step back,
reground in like what you believe is true for students, for school.
And then like, it's kind of re-inspire you to come back and like start pushing those ideas.
Yeah, definitely. And I know it is, you know, such a big ask of folks to leave.
Right, their positions, especially in the midst of a teacher shortage and sub shortages.
(06:31):
And there really is something that, you know, I've always seen after the end
of our school study tours is there's always one or two that's like,
oh, I was a little apprehensive to come, but I'm so glad I did.
And, you know, it just, it makes a big difference in us when we're planning
the work, knowing how influential it's going to be.
So that's been really nice to see as one of the, you know, planners behind the scenes.
(06:55):
Well, that's it for us today. Thank you so much to A'Seret, And to learn more,
you can check out their website at selfnola.org.
Thanks, Jackie, so much. It was great to be here. I'm Jackie from EALA,
and this was 5 Minutes with A'Seret Dokubo, a school study tour advisor's perspectives.
Music.
This is Jackie from the Educating All-Learners Alliance, and today we're speaking
to A'Seret Dokubo for five minutes with A'Seret Dokubo, a school study tour advisor's perspective.
A'Seret Dokubo serves as the Managing Director of Fellowship for Self.
In this capacity, A'Seret is responsible for overseeing the design and delivery
of programming for Self's teacher and leader fellowships.
(00:22):
She has extensive experience working with educators and school teams implementing
trauma-informed practices along the entire continuum of services.
Specifically, A'Seret is passionate about disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline.
Thank you so much for joining us today, A'Seret. Yeah, Jackie,
thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
So to give our listeners a little bit more background on you,
(00:45):
can you tell us a little bit more about your position and the work you do? Yeah, definitely.
So yeah, for those of you who are unfamiliar with SELF, we are a New Orleans-based
nonprofit that supports schools and districts nationally to improve support
and outcomes for diverse learners.
So students with disabilities, students receiving intervention support,
students who are multilingual learners. partners.
(01:07):
We really have a three-pronged approach to achieving our mission.
So we have our flagship leader fellowship program, which is a year-long fellowship
for school and district-level special education leaders.
We also do direct technical assistant work with school leadership teams to help
them develop systems and structures.
And we also support the growth of our new special education teachers as well.
(01:27):
And in my role as managing director, I kind of oversee the design delivery of
all those various components.
Awesome. Thank you for that. And so, A'Seret, being an EALA partner,
part of some of our work that we do with our partners is invite our partners
on to and to be involved with our initiatives.
And you recently were one of our school study tour advisors.
(01:51):
I'd love to hear, you know, a little bit more about your experience with that.
And also, I thought it was really cool that you, I believe this is correct,
had a school that you've worked with, too, on the tours.
So I'd love to hear a little bit more about that and how, you know,
your experience as an advisor on our school study tours has,
you know, furthered some of the work that you do at SELF.
(02:13):
Yeah. So, yeah, I've done school visits and school tours before.
But what I really loved about the school study tour with you guys was how you
made sure that school teams and participants included the classroom teacher,
a special education leader, and then also a school leader that had decision making power.
So I think having those team members from the three different like perspectives
(02:33):
on like the system implementation really is going to help ensure that the school
teams when they leave and go back to their buildings that they really have something
that they can apply that is like feasible and tangible and make sense in the classroom.
When I think about at SELF, our portion of our leader fellowship programming
focuses on leadership skills.
And so we really strongly believe about empowering our leaders to think about
(02:55):
capacity building of their team and building that like bench of strong teacher leaders.
And then so again, so having like the SPED leaders of the school team that I
directly coach and support, I've been following up with them in our check-ins
to ask like, how are they pushing the teacher that was with them to really like,
really empower them to like be more vocal in spaces, speak up about the ideas
(03:15):
they saw both in the grade level team meetings, but also to the school principal
and like really helping give some of those teacher leader responsibilities.
Thank you. Yeah, I think that's a big part of the way we structure the tours
is trying to be intentional about who we are inviting and who we're,
you know, creating the space with to actually make some change after the tours.
(03:38):
From your perspective, what do you think the attendees were able to get out
of this collaborative reflection experience?
I know, obviously, we have the Reflection Summit where you really played a big
role, but I'm hoping that you were maybe able to see some nuggets of collaborative
reflection throughout since you were with us on some of the earlier tours in the day.
(03:59):
Yeah, so I think what I really, again, love was both with the reflection piece and also Also,
just being with the dinner the night before and having people be able to like
come together was like I love to see the relationship between like special other
teachers kind of coming together and like saying like, oh, I thought this in
my classroom where I would love to do this.
And like just building those relationships with others in their role,
(04:20):
but from schools across the whole country, which I think was really great.
I saw a lot of that again, like in the hallways going from one classroom to
the next, like just those little side conversations. conversations on like,
oh, it's so great to see that.
And someone, you know, maybe saying like, yeah, we've done like a spin of that,
like doing it this way. And someone's like, oh, I would love to like maybe try that too.
And so just kind of having them share those pieces of like nuggets and wisdom.
(04:41):
And then also hearing like, oh my gosh, I want to do that.
We have, we're so far off from that. Like we are too, like no worries.
So just kind of that like camaraderie to know that like barriers and challenges
are similar again across the country and across the world.
So I think that was one of the things that I loved and like just to see those
like little aha moments between participants.
(05:01):
Yeah. Yeah. I think that there is so much value in that and getting out and
being able to work with others, especially from, you know, different parts of
the country and everywhere does things so differently.
So thank you so much for talking on that a little bit. Yeah.
Someone was on the fence about coming to the school study tours.
Maybe they're not as familiar with EALA and they're not really sure about what,
(05:24):
you know, how beneficial it would be to get on a plane and fly to another part
of the country, you know, for a few days. What would you tell them?
I would tell them, jump on that airplane, get to the city. No,
definitely. I would encourage them to do that.
I think too, what I, I think I would say, like just to have a moment in the
middle of the school year to step back and like leave your school building,
(05:45):
leave your campus. this.
And then again, like go see other schools, go be with other educators.
I think it just gives a space to like take a deep breath and like re-envision
and re-ground everyone in like the work that we do and like the visions we have.
I know it can be so easy, especially spring of the school year to be like just
day by day and like trudging along and getting to like the next week and the next thing.
(06:06):
But I love just that this gives you again, two, three days to kind of step back,
reground in like what you believe is true for students, for school.
And then like, it's kind of re-inspire you to come back and like start pushing those ideas.
Yeah, definitely. And I know it is, you know, such a big ask of folks to leave.
Right, their positions, especially in the midst of a teacher shortage and sub shortages.
(06:31):
And there really is something that, you know, I've always seen after the end
of our school study tours is there's always one or two that's like,
oh, I was a little apprehensive to come, but I'm so glad I did.
And, you know, it just, it makes a big difference in us when we're planning
the work, knowing how influential it's going to be.
So that's been really nice to see as one of the, you know, planners behind the scenes.
(06:55):
Well, that's it for us today. Thank you so much to A'Seret, And to learn more,
you can check out their website at selfnola.org.
Thanks, Jackie, so much. It was great to be here. I'm Jackie from EALA,
and this was 5 Minutes with A'Seret Dokubo, a school study tour advisor's perspectives.
Music.
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