Learning to Relearn: Building Identity-Affirming Classrooms
From The Equity Hour by Dr. Tami Dean
October 28, 2025 · 1h 2m · Season 3 · Episode 5
About this episode
Dr. Tami Dean and Kwame Sarfo-Mensah discuss creating identity-affirming, culturally responsive classrooms and the impact of compliance culture on education.
Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Equity Hour, Dr. Tami Dean sits down with Kwame Sarfo-Mensah—founder of Identity Talk Consulting and author of Learning to Relearn—to unpack what it really takes to create identity-affirming, culturally responsive classrooms. They explore how “compliance culture” undermines agency, the history behind school policies (from uniforms to hair), and practical ways educators can “clean the lenses,” confront bias, and center joy, belonging, and critical thinki...
People in this episode
Host: Dr. Tami Dean
Guest: Kwame Sarfo-Mensah
Topics covered
- identity-affirming classrooms
- culturally responsive education
- compliance culture
- educational policies
- bias in education
- joy and belonging in learning
Keywords
- identity-affirming
- culturally responsive
- compliance culture
- educational policies
- bias
- joy
- belonging
- critical thinking
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Identity Talk Consulting
Books & works: Learning to Relearn
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