Support for BIPOC International Educators: AIELOC’s Self Care Saturdays Affinity Group
BY TIWANA MERRITT, CHANDRA POOLE, CHERYL-ANN WEEKES AND DOMINIQUE DALAIS The Association of International Educators and Leaders of Color (AIELOC) launched Self Care Saturdays in 2021, an affinity group dedicated to building sustainable self-care practices for BIPOC international educators. How and why we got started The idea for the affinity group started off in 2021 with Chandra Poole reaching out to the founder of AIELOC, Kevin Simpson, about holding an affinity space for Black or BIPOC international educators. Kevin provides a platform and the freedom to create spaces that meet the needs of those working in international systems. After one of the earlier meetings Tiwana Merritt offered to help facilitate more meetings with Chandra and they began brainstorming future topics. Both noticed a common theme emerging within the meetings: BIPOC educators in distress. These educators needed a supportive venue in which to talk about and learn tools to navigate the racialized trauma they were experiencing in international schools. The Self Care Saturdays affinity group was thus born. Tiwana and Chandra decided to focus future meetings around building sustainable self-care practices for BIPOC international educators. Dominique Dalais, a physical health educator, and Cheryl-Ann Weekes, a high school counselor were asked to join the group to add their expertise and insight to the various challenges and mental health issues that were being identified by their peers.
Purpose and topics covered We use guiding questions, reading prompts, mental health information and current events to create presentations. The initial questions were around topics such as what self care means for you as an educator; how you look after your health; and what you do to destress and rest. The gatherings focus on the different types of self care and, over time, the exploration of topics has shifted and changed. A few examples of topics covered by the group are: 1. Yoga and breathwork are forms of self care that aren’t popular or haven't been explored in BIPOC communities, as traditionally these spaces have been viewed as being reserved for those who could financially afford to practice. There are so many elements and types of practice anyone could engage in that don’t require spandex or folding yourself into awkward postures. 2. The need to set boundaries is a form of self care that is often ignored by educators because we are givers and helpers, but also BIPOC educators feel a sense of failure if we can't help others. The conversation on boundaries encouraged participants to focus on our own wellbeing by identifying the things that cause us stress and making appropriate changes. We introduced the different types of boundaries one can set as a way to help participants understand where they need to implement changes. We also discussed how to respond when people ignore or breach your boundaries, since this can often become challenging. We talked about disappointing others as an