Imagine Otherwise

HIGHER EDUCATION PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Imagine Otherwise: Radically Co-Creating Education Futures

“Make Change Wherever You Are”

Educators can make change from wherever they are. This three-part certificate program engages educators in radically (re)imagining and critically co-creating equitable futures in K-12, higher education, and beyond by transforming their lived experiences and radical aspirations into tangible action plans for collective change. Radical imagination and critical creativity are integral to addressing, interrupting, and remediating inequitable education outcomes and co-creating conditions and pathways for the liberatory futures students deserve.

First cohort begins March 4, 2025. Email profdev@plu.edu with questions.

Imagine Otherwise: Creative Thinking for Equitable Futures

Through a series of readings, discussion, and creative and collective thinking, we will explore tangible goals and strategies for equitable practices to implement in your specific unit.

Outcomes:
In this course, we will

• Reflect on our own perspectives and biases, recognizing how these shape our understanding of equitable futures and what is possible
• Articulate an understanding of key concepts related to equity and inclusion as they relate to personal and professional contexts
• Imagine and co-create innovative ideas for addressing systemic inequities through reflective and creative thinking
• Formulate personal and group commitments to equitable practices and futures

Becoming Critical Creatives: Human-Centered Design Thinking and Strategic Diversity Leadership for Equitable Futures

Utilizing principles of human-centered design thinking (IDEO, 2012, 2015) and strategic diversity leadership (Williams, 2013) as guiding frameworks, this certificate program guides leaders through the development of critically creative strategic plans to advance equity-minded organizational change. This experience scaffolds with Imagine Otherwise (part 1) to strategically develop radical imaginings into critically creative actionable plans.

Outcomes:
By participating in this continuing education certificate class, learners will be able to identify and understand aspects of human-centered design thinking and strategic diversity leadership frameworks and utilize these frameworks to develop an equity-minded proposal for a critically creative program, policy, practice, or other intervention designed to catalyze organizational change toward diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or justice outcomes, including developing needs assessment, budgets, planning and implementation timelines, evaluation plans, and other project management details.

Engaging Equity Minded Leadership: Bringing an Actionable Plan to Life

This session focuses on completion of a project that has applied relevance to one’s current workplace. The project will incorporate philosophies and strategies introduced in the previous two certificates to engage and bring to outcome an applied experience that upholds equity minded leadership practices.

Outcomes:
By participating in this continuing education certificate class, learners will be able to:

• Move a contribution to equity minded organizational change from recognizing equity gaps in disaggregated data; reimagining the design of systems and conditions; developing purposeful plans and aligned resources; to application via a community engaged response and assessment of impact.
• Critically analyze existing policies or procedures in their workplace through an equity minded leadership lens.
• Synthesize learning from two previous certificates to inform their own philosophy about equity minded leadership through reflection and the related development of a personal statement
• Identify learning gaps for further education and/or experience to support growth as an equity minded leader in their industry.