Overview Module Two
| Site: | RRU Open Educational Resources |
| Course: | Self-Leadership in Early Childcare and Education |
| Book: | Overview Module Two |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Friday, 6 June 2025, 3:10 PM |
Welcome to Module 2: Anti-Oppressive Frameworks
In his book, My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending our Hearts and Bodies (2017), Resmaa Menakem shares his work on racialized trauma, highlighting the ways that systemic racism harms everyone, the oppressor, and the oppressed. He approaches the topic as a therapist, identifying the ways that trauma lives in the body and, as we explored in section two of this course, how our bodies can wire themselves into patterns that operate from fear. Resmaa Menakem’s (2017) work is useful as we continue into the course, and supports us to think about why we would ever engage in such complex, often painful, and uncertain work:
Healing involves discomfort, but so does refusing to heal. And, over time, refusing to heal is always more painful
In my therapy office, I tell clients there are two kinds of pain: clean pain and dirty pain. Clean pain is pain that mends and can build your capacity for growth. It’s the pain you experience when you know, exactly, what you need to say or do; when you don’t want to say or do it; and when you do it anyway. It’s also the pain you experience when you have no idea what to do; when you’re scared or worried about what might happen; and when you step forward into the unknown anyway, with honesty and vulnerability.
Experiencing clean pain enables us to engage our integrity and tap into our body’s inherent resilience and coherence, in a way that dirty pain does not. Paradoxically, only by walking into our pain or discomfort, experiencing it, moving through it and metabolizing it, can we grow. It’s how the human body works.
Clean pain hurts like hell, but it enables our bodies to grow through difficulties, develop nuanced skills, and mend our trauma. In this process, the body metabolizes clean pain. The body can then settle; more room for growth is created in its nervous system, and the self becomes freer and more capable because it now has access to energy that was previously protected, bound, and constricted. When this happens, people’s lives often improve in other ways.
As we approach the topic of race with more depth, our nervous systems might become activated. Notice your breath, and remember the work of Norma Kawelokū Wong from Module One of this course; short, shallow breath activates the amygdala and our fight/flight/freeze responses. Focus on grounding yourself regularly and returning yourself to the present through the breath and your senses.
Remember that this work is deep, heavy, and long.
References
Menakem, R. (2017). My grandmother’s hands: Racialized trauma and the pathway to mending our hearts and bodies. Central Recovery Press.
Wong, N. (2024). Norma Wong: Facilitating transformation. https://www.normawong.com/
Resmaa Menakem (2017) says,
“Dirty pain is the pain of avoidance, blame, and denial. When people respond from their most wounded parts, become cruel or violent, or physically or emotionally run away, they experience dirty pain. They also create more of it for themselves and others” (p. 20).
As child care managers and leaders, we must attend to the pain that comes with unveiling the systems that we entrust, as systems built on violence, co-opted narratives, and systemic oppression. Ultimately, these systems harm people, children, parents, colleagues, grandparents, relatives, community members, people.
Anti-oppressive work demands that we interrogate systems, and we have to keep in mind (and heart) that we do this on behalf of people, human beings who, like us, deserve to have human rights, dignity, and a sense of belonging.
Watch her YouTube video "Can you heal intergenerational trauma?" to reflect on racialized trauma more deeply.
References
Menakem, R. (2023, August 7). Can you heal intergenerational trauma? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_aGbH1DuxA
Menakem, R. (2017). My grandmother’s hands: Racialized trauma and the pathway to mending our hearts and bodies. Central Recovery Press.
Calling Yourself In
As you prepare for this marathon, think about what support you currently have and what support you might need.
What makes you uncomfortable?
The goal is not necessarily to overcome our fears but rather to see them, to sit with them, and to develop the capacity to be with these fears and to be with courage. simultaneously.
As Pema Chödrön puts it:
“What we’re talking about is getting to know fear, becoming familiar with fear, looking it right in the eye—not as a way to solve problems, but as a complete undoing of old ways of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and thinking. The truth is that when we really begin to do this, we’re going to be continually humbled. There’s not going to be much room for the arrogance that holding onto ideals can bring” (2016, p. 3).
Reference
Chödrön, P. (2016). When things fall apart: Heart advice for difficult times (20th anniversary ed.). Shambhala Publications.
Learning outcomes serve as a valuable resource to guide your learning journey and ensure you can maximize your learning experience. The primary purpose of this section is to clearly communicate the intended learning outcomes of Module Two: Anti-oppressive frameworks.
The learning outcomes for Module Two align with the content, activities, and assessments you will encounter throughout Module Two, enabling you to track your growth and identify improvement opportunities.
After completing all activities and the reflective assessment within Module Two, participants will:
- Identify skills and dispositions required to practice anti-racism as a leader in early learning and care communities.
- Articulate your personal commitments to visionary leadership, grounded in your identity and in honour of your unique gifts.
Module Two Activities and Assessments
The activities within Module Two include:
- ACTIVITY 2.1 | Anti-racism is not optional: Bodies are political: Explore the concept of radical self-love and body liberation, reflecting on how valuing all bodies can serve as a foundation for anti-oppressive leadership in early childhood education..
- ACTIVITY 2.2 | Anti-bias practice (identity, diversity, justice, action): Explore how anti-bias pedagogies are enacted in early learning settings and reflect on the professional structures, supports, and collaborative practices that enable educators to engage meaningfully in this work.
- ACTIVITY 2.3 | Pathways for Living Inquiries: Identity, Diversity, Social Responsibility: Reflect on how anti-oppressive leadership practices align with professional ethics and curriculum frameworks, and consider how amplifying marginalized voices can enrich early learning environments for children, educators, and communities.