An experienced practitioner and adjunct lecturer at colleges and universities, Charles Barrett is a school psychologist with the heart of a teacher.  Informed by rich clinical experiences serving public schools with significant numbers of racially and ethnically minoritized (REM) students and families, he offers a variety of professional learning opportunities and workshops to improve the manner in which school-based practitioners serve all children and families.  Particularly skilled at meeting individuals where they are and helping them to move forward, his presentations are informative, engaging, and filled with practical strategies to assist individuals and systems improve outcomes for children.  Available to facilitate professional learning sessions and workshops on a variety of topics for PK-12 educators, undergraduate and graduate students, and state and national conferences, the descriptions below are a sample of his areas of research and practice.  To discuss additional presentation themes and topics to meet your organization's needs, and for more information about availability and scheduling, please click here.  I am looking forward to hearing from you and supporting the continued development of your staff, colleagues, and students.

Virtual and in-person half-day sessions are 3 hours and full day sessions are 6-8 hours.

Charles Barrett often says, "teachers are special people who take care of other people's children as if they were their own."  Given the myriad challenges facing all educators--principals, central office administrators, school counselors, school social workers, school psychologists--more than ever before, everyone needs encouragement.  Using personal experiences as a child with a stutter, and anecdotes that inform his teaching and clinical practice, Charles will inspire and motivate attendees to view their respective roles serving children through the lens of purpose, which leads to passion, and ultimately unlocks the potential of young people.

For those who might be new to thinking about social justice and its relationship to achieving equitable outcomes in schools, a common question is, “Where do I begin?”  This session explores three foundational constructs for understanding social justice: privilege, implicit bias, and intersectionality. Additionally, it discusses the importance of individuals engaging in self-reflection to become more aware of how these concepts can negatively affect their professional practice. Although educators are committed to serving children, families, schools, and communities, based on our own intersecting identities and lived experiences, we also have different histories with racism, prejudice, discrimination, inequity, and systems of power and privilege that affect how we view the world (NASP, 2016).  Allowing ourselves the time and space to think critically about, and perhaps wrestle with, these constructs is a necessary first step in promoting equitable outcomes in our respective settings.

In this session, attendees will learn about Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1977) and how educators can use it to understand their students and make the most appropriate decisions. The session also discusses how social justice is fundamentally about systems and structures that lead to differential outcomes for students, families, schools, and communities. Implications for educators using a broad systems orientation to fully understand children’s performance are discussed.

After reviewing theories, policies, and practices that perpetuate educational inequities, socially just alternatives are provided to help schools and school systems promote positive outcomes for students. To show the importance of educators challenging their colleagues when their actions, even unintentionally, are inconsistent with social justice, two real-world examples that contain harmful language and helpful responses are discussed. Additionally, the responses highlight 11 principles that educators can use to have constructive conversations with their colleagues. The session ends with a brief review of terms that are commonly used in psychology and education, reframing them to be more consistent with a social justice orientation.