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2.2: Inclusivity Session

  • Page ID
    78002
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    Workshop Overview

    The Inclusivity workshop uses facilitated discussion and reflection to increase awareness of the most common invisible factors that serve as barriers to success for students from underserved groups. Awareness is only useful when paired with action, so participants will use their awareness to develop and share teaching strategies to offset the impact of structural barriers.  Therefore participants will walk away with concrete examples of strategies they can use in their courses to reduce barriers and increase success for all students. 

    Learning Outcomes

    Participants will be able to:

    • Determine the benefits and challenges of diverse populations in the classroom
    • Describe the impact of privilege, stereotype threat, and unconscious bias on learners and strategies to offset their impact
    • Incorporate inclusive teaching strategies into classroom activities that offset inequities and/or invisible barriers

    Key Terms

    • Inclusive teaching
    • Implicit/explicit diversity
    • Implicit assumptions/unconscious biases
    • Privilege
    • Equity
    • Microaggression
    • Cultural competency
    • Stereotype threat

    Active Learning/Formative Assessment Strategies

    • Brainstorming
    • Directed- and random-call report out
    • Life walk
    • Think-pair-share
    • Back-channel discussion
    • Front-channel report out
    • Small group discussion/breakout rooms
    • Reflection

    Pre-Workshop

    Background

    The goal of the following pre-workshop homework is to introduce all participants to four common factors that make our classrooms exclusive: a) unconscious bias, b) stereotype threat, c) microaggressions and d) cultural competency. During the workshop, each participant will choose one of these areas and as part of a group will do a deeper dive into that topic and then share resources and strategies with their cohort peers for offsetting that factor in the classroom.

    Tasks

      Please complete the following tasks prior to the workshop for an introduction to four barriers to inclusive classrooms:

    1. Unconscious bias:
      • Read this 2-page NYTimes Op-Ed "What? Me Biased?  What? Me Biased?.pdf
      • Visit Harvard Project Implicit and take at least two Implicit Assumption tests of your choice. (*Note: It can be uncomfortable to find out that you have unconscious biases. It's important to know that unconscious biases are a result of YOUR ENVIRONMENT and not what you consciously believe. The goal is to use awareness to make conscious efforts to offset unconscious biases. Knowledge is power.) 
    2. Stereotype threat: Watch the following the 8-minute video of Dr. Claude Steele (Stanford) discussing stereotype threat, the focus of his book, Whistling Vivaldi

       

    3. Microaggression: Watch this 4.5 minutes video on Microaggressions by Dr. Derald Wing Sue (Columbia). 
    4. Cultural competency: Visit the National Education Association website and read through the information on cultural competency on the first page.  This can also serve as a resource later as there are links to resources for educators here as well. 


    During Workshop

    Activities

    1. Equality vs Equity - Visit the Inclusivity Workshop Google Folder and go to the folder for your institution.
      1. Record your group's answers in the Equality/Equity Google Doc. 
    2. Deeper Dive on Invisible Barriers to Inclusion:
      • Visit the Inclusivity Workshop Google Folder and go to the folder for your institution to report your findings in the Deeper Dive on Invisible Barriers Google Doc.
      • Use the materials linked below for your topic to develop and share classroom strategies to offset one of the four invisible factors that contribute to classroom inequities. 
    3. Reflection - Visit the Inclusivity Workshop Google Folder and go to the folder for your institution.
      • Record your reflections on the benefits of this session in this Inclusivity Reflection Google Doc.

    Post-Workshop

    Selected Resources


    References


    Session Slides

    Inclusivity Session Slides

     


    2.2: Inclusivity Session is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.