INCLUSION IN SCHOOLS
My eighth-grade math teacher told me I was “pretty smart for a Black girl."
I want you to be the teacher that I needed growing up.
You want to have great interaction with ALL your students and colleagues and promote diversity in schools
But sometimes cultural differences can make that tricky.
Maybe your students don’t seem to be engaging and performing as well...
Or you aren't getting the support you need as an educator to ensure your success and the success of your students.
Or perhaps you’ve heard of healthy working and learning environments, and, as a school leader, want to learn more.
Either way, I know you’re committed to creating a world where everyone thrives.
The first step? Take a look at your own life stories and how they shape your own bias and the choices you make with others... whether you realize it or not.
We all have them. Ready to get started?
Art, history, and storytelling: The secret ingredients I use to help you self-reflect and think critically to be the best possible teacher and leader.
The results you can expect when you invest in my diversity, equity, and inclusion services in schools.
- Increasing teacher confidence to help lower turnover
- Creating stronger relationships with students to help reduce the dropout rate
- Creating an inclusive classroom leads to greater academic achievement
- Creating more productive citizens
When teachers have the opportunity to move out of a power position and embrace student empowerment, it can yield amazing results.
After the training with Melissa Crum, I had the confidence to start the conversation on multiculturalism with my students. “They were excited to engage with one another as we discussed cultural appropriation, cultural exchanges and cultural assimilation. The interesting thing I found is that they were hungry to learn and embrace multiculturalism. I was able to join them in the conversation not just lead it.
John G.
Allen High School
Visual Arts Department Head
Your journey starts here.
Inclusion Audit
Shine light on the ignored areas within your school or college department.
Assessments
Gain tools and customized plans to increase productive problem-solving communication.
Workshops
Interactive workshops that invite self-reflection and critical thinking to reach academic success.
Audits: Shine light on the ignored areas
This is the best place to start.
Through a six-part organization-wide process, my team and I investigate systemic barriers, biases, and inequities within policies, practices, and workplace culture to give you a highly customized diversity, equity, and inclusion action plan.
We’ll read through your policies and guidelines and hold focus groups with staff to uncover unspoken rules that are holding your institution back from leading the way.
Audits are not essential, but are a great place to start, so we can recommend the best path for workshops and further action.
Assessments:
Metrics to make your interactions more productive
This is a great place to set benchmarks for personal and team growth.
The Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) series is a workshop and 1-on-1 coaching for each participant that allows you to see your and your team's progression along a continuum of cross-cultural competence. Because of this, the IDI provides in-depth insights into how individuals and groups make sense of cultural differences, and also how they respond to cultural differences.
Watch the video and learn more.
The Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory® (ICS®) is an assessment and interactive workshop series that helps you understand your conflict and communication style, so you can better resolve conflicts and solve problems across cultural boundaries.
Watch the video and learn more.
Know your team's capacity for inclusion
The Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) gives you tools to create a culture of belonging.
Watch as I share a personal story of me expanding my capacity for inclusion while working with an organization in Ghana. The IDI assesses intercultural competence, helping teachers and staff understand and adapt to diverse perspectives from the communities you serve, students, parents, and peers without compromising values. It offers a comprehensive model for self-awareness and bridge-building, guiding progress toward inclusive practices and academic achievement.
Have more effective communication with your team
The Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory® (ICS®) aims to enhance awareness of diverse communication approaches to make conflicts productive.
Watch as I explain the Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory (ICS) and its workshops that help educators, leadership, and staff grasp their communication and conflict management styles so you have more effective classroom management, explain district goals, and have productive conversations with students' caretakers. I share personal experiences to illustrate how misinterpretations can arise due to different styles.
Interactive workshops that invite self-reflection and critical thinking
I offer three series of workshops for educators.
Workshops can be live and in-person, live and virtual, or virtual self-paced courses to fit your busy schedule.
The time it takes to deliver each series is up to you - the workshops can be held as often as twice a week or as little as twice a month.
I also have two stand-alone workshops exclusively offered to schools and universities.
DEI 101 Workshop Series
Are you ready to lead with purpose and create a workplace where everyone feels valued and respected? My comprehensive 11-part DEI workshop series is designed for early to mid-career leaders who want to make a difference, but are concerned about "getting it wrong." If you're feeling uncertain about the latest terminology or historical context of identity, this course is for you.
I create a supportive environment where you can develop the competencies to execute inclusive practices with confidence.
- Building a Common Language: Learn shared definitions and terminology to foster clear communication.
- Developing an Inclusive Culture: Discover strategies for creating a workplace that values diversity and equity.
- Equipping Yourself with Practical Tools: Learn the history and gain the skills to address your implicit bias and understand structural racism and other barriers to inclusion.
- Reducing Turnover and Increasing Confidence: Develop a thriving workplace where all team members can communicate with a shared understanding of the language.
You can get this series as a self-paced course, in-person, or live via Zoom.
Now you’re ready for...
Application of Knowledge
This three-part series is designed for educators seeking to enhance collaboration with peers and leaders, inclusion of students, and alignment with core values in their school. Each workshop builds on the next, equipping educators with the skills to navigate complex challenges, foster trust, and drive positive change.
In breakout groups, we'll process and unpack experiences and discover how to mindfully engage with the communities they serve.
Subtle Acts of Exclusion
Learn to recognize and address small but significant actions that can harm inclusion in the classroom. This session will empower you to transform these moments into opportunities for trust, equity, and support.
Brave Space Practice
Move beyond the concept of "safe spaces" to cultivate environments where difficult conversations can happen with empathy and accountability.
Investigating Dominant Culture Norms
Unpack how dominant cultural norms like defensiveness and fear of conflict shape dynamics in learning environments. Explore actionable strategies that promote equity and trust within their organizations.
And finally...
Making School-Wide Change
Explore, reflect, and transform your teaching and organizational practices.
Designed for educators and leaders, this three-part series equips you with actionable strategies to build stronger relationships, foster innovation, and align values with daily practices.
Taking Risks with a Growth Mindset
Discover how embracing mistakes and encouraging risk-taking can inspire academic success and character development for both teachers and students. Learn how to create a culture of growth by connecting relationship-building and experiential learning principles.
Who Am I as a Teacher?
Reflect on your motivations and teaching practices to uncover what’s working and identify areas for growth. Engage in self-reflection to develop a healthier academic and work environment for yourself and your students.
Operationalizing Values
Bring your organizational values to life by defining behaviors that align with your mission and vision. This hands-on workshop offers clear frameworks for creating a shared language, reducing subjectivity in decision-making, and embedding values into performance metrics and everyday practices.
Not exactly what you’re looking for? Create your own customized workshop...
This option allows you to craft a session tailored to fully meet your school's needs.
Whether you want to take a more critical approach to choosing curriculum, reassess how you view students and the communities they come from, or improve classroom dynamics, we’ll work with your team to reach their goals and create a more equitable environment.
Need to create or reignite your DEI committee?
Create a DEI Committee Governance Structure without Certification or Formal Experience
Tired of navigating the complexities of inclusion and belonging with few resources and no support from leadership? Let me be your resource!
Learn more about my transformative 90-day course for DEI advocates like you. In this course, you'll:
- Gain clarity and find power in your role.
- Gain support and buy-in from leaders and colleagues.
- Learn a data-based sustainable strategy.
- Align work with your organization's needs.
Stop the confusion and burnout—feel confident in your inclusive leadership and create a workplace where everyone thrives!
Want a different approach?
We’ll create an informal weekly club for your staff where we use books as tools to break down bias
Dialogue and Action: A club for shifting workplace culture
Designed to foster connection and community, this weekly one-hour club uniquely gathers colleagues, regardless of their title or position, into honest and critical conversation.
By creating a space where authentic dialogue can occur, teams have the opportunity for greater productivity, empathy building, higher retention rates, and greater academic success.
This action-oriented club meets for eight weeks, focusing first on discussion and then on applying DEI concepts specifically to your school or college.
Participants leave with the tools and courage needed to create change from wherever they are.
Potential books include:
Implicit Bias in Schools: A Practitioner’s Guide by Cheryl Staats, Gina Laura Gullo, and Kelly Capatosto
Diversity Regimes: Why Talk Is Not Enough to Fix Racial Inequality at Universities by James M. Thomas
Is Everyone Really Equal? An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education by Robin DiAngelo and Özlem Sensoy
Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy by April Baker-Bell
Today’s leaders can no longer wish away or wait for someone else to engage their organizations about diversity and inclusion.
Dr. Crum drove this point home and provided real world experiences and examples when dealing with implicit bias by using the multi cultural, critical, reflective and practice (MCRP) professional development process.
Jay J.
Director
Professional & Executive Education
Ohio University
Your questions answered
(and maybe a few more)
How many people can attend the workshops?
We have a maximum capacity of 50 people to keep the sessions intimate and interactive.
For schools and colleges with more than 50 people we can hold multiple identical workshops.
Do you help with registration?
Sometimes, when organizations register large groups and need to repeat workshops (because there are more than 50 people), we are asked to register participants in different sessions. There is an extra fee for this, but it’s no problem to do.
Will you (Melissa) facilitate all sessions?
If I am available, yes! If not, I have a fantastic team that I have trained who can deliver these workshops with the same results.
Can we have a workshop shorter or longer than 2 hours?
Only the customizable workshops can be longer or shorter than 2 hours.
Do you lead virtual and in-person workshops?
Yes. I have traveled across the country. I’ve also held plenty on Zoom.
How do we decide who should be in which workshops?
It’s important to have a real mix of all staff in each workshop - it’s important not to separate educators based on their position in the organization. Mixing up hierarchy is key.
Which workshop should I book?
The workshops have been designed to go through consecutively.
DEI 101 is a good place to start so you can build up your language toolkit. Then you can move through the remaining series to apply your knowledge and make a change.
Do you lead workshops for students?
I focus on supporting educators so they can best serve students. However, I conduct workshops for college students, but not for K-12 students at this time.
Hmmm, none of your proposed workshops meet our objectives. Will you create a customized workshop?
Yes, absolutely. Just get in touch and we can have a chat to put together a proposal.
Dr. Crum's presentation was something our district has needed for a long time!
Her conversational style captivated her audience, while providing many facts, realizations, and helpful tips.
I am excited to see the impact Dr. Crum's presentation has among our staff as we continue to strive to honor and include all students!
Jenny V.
English Learner Teacher
