Outside of Woodstock Union High School & Middle School, in Vermont.
93% of Woodstock Union HS students are white.
How might we help them better understand racism and other social injustices in their community while exploring their own privileges and identities?
In my senior year at Dartmouth, I was part of a team of three Dartmouth design students working with Woodstock Union High School (WUHS), a small, rural school near Dartmouth’s campus.
The goal of our design initiative was to prepare WUHS students to engage in anti-racism and other social justice practices. To achieve this goal, we created E.C.R.A., a framework of educational and interactive classroom materials. E.C.R.A stands for Education, Conversation, Reflection, Action. E.C.R.A. is the result of an intensive 5-month design process: We interviewed students, educators, and administrators at WUHS while also conducting secondary research. We then generated a wide variety of ideas, and tested the best ones using experiential prototypes over Zoom and in the classroom. We believe that by grounding students in social justice education, and creating spaces for them to engage in conversation and reflection, we can equip them with tools to take meaningful action.
A document detailing our design process, including our research methods and findings, as well as our prototyping process.
A card game designed to promote vulnerable conversation around racism and other social injustices.
A slide deck containing materials and resources for E.C.R.A. facilitators.
Highlights
One highlight of this experience for me was the opportunity to work very closely on a design project for an extended period of time with two other students – particularly two driven, brilliant, kind women of color. I learned a lot from their design and technical skills, as well as from unpacking differences in how we design which are informed by our racial identities, college experiences, and family lives. Throughout the project, we spoke often about group dynamics, and made a concerted effort to bond and give feedback to one another. These conversations were valuable for my personal and professional growth.
On the technical side, planning and conducting interviews was a challenge and a highlight – I was able to develop my skills and had the privilege of hearing some incredibly moving stories from participants. I also, as always, enjoyed the opportunity to practice synthesis with a challenging dataset, and to develop and execute on several rounds of prototyping.
Finally, but most importantly, our goals and processes as a design team were in alignment with my values. This was critical to my positive experience with the project and is a dimension I’ll pay close attention to as I consider which design projects to take on in the future.