Session 27: Understanding Ourselves and Our Position
55 minutes
discussion-based
Purpose
This session focuses on the “understanding self” portion of the equity framework. Now that participants have had more time to get to know one another and have done a decent amount of work in the curriculum, we are asking participants to dig a little deeper in understanding how their identity and the role unconscious bias plays in their teaching practice.
Objectives
- Participants can describe how their identity, experiences, and beliefs shape how they see their role as a CS teacher.
Supplies & Prep
Room Setup:
- None
Facilitator Supplies:
Participant Materials:
- Notebooks
Agenda
Welcome and Housekeeping (4 minutes)
Understanding Self (36 minutes)
Introducing Unconscious Bias (15 minutes)
Facilitation Guide
Welcome and Housekeeping (4 minutes)
(2 minutes) Review agenda for the day
- Review norms
- Today we will be focusing on Unit 2
- We will see three lessons from Unit 2 in TLOs
- The theme for today is “Understanding our Responsibility"
(2 minutes) Gots and Needs
- Share themes from gots and needs with participants.
- Address any gots and needs you can cover quickly
Understanding Self (36 minutes)
(3 minutes) Setting Context
Introduce where we are in the equity cycle.
Remarks
On Day 1 we talked about the role identity plays in your views of CS and we looked at inequities in CS access and diversity. On Day 2 we talked about the role you play in creating an inclusive classroom. Today, we are going to build on understanding self and understanding responsibility.
(5 minutes) Create an Identity Map
Remarks
On Day 1, you introduced yourself to the group and while doing that you, shared part of your identity. During this activity, you will make an “identity map”. You will not need to share this with anyone else, but you will be able to talk about any portion you want to talk about with a partner.
Directions:
- Create a web that takes up the majority of your journal.
- Within this web, write your name in the center circle. In each additional circle write a word or phrase that captures some element of your identity — those terms or descriptors that have most helped shape who you are and how you interact in the world. You may add as many circles as you like.
- Facilitator modeling: Include some of the phrases you might include in your identity map to help model this for the group. This might include words like “woman” or phrases such as “college graduate”
More information about the activity
This activity was inspired by the "Circles of Identity" protocol from the School Reform Initiative. You can find the full protocol here.
Share the slide that includes other common social identity markers. For some participants, they may have naturally included some of these social identity markers, but looking at these markers, they may want to add more to their map. Give participants time to add more to their map if they like.
(18 minutes) Circle Share
Explain the instructions before participants move.
Facilitator Tip
Why this set-up: We recommend this circle set-up for two reasons. First, circles promote equity of space. There is typically equal space between people in a circle and each person has a similar view of other people. Second, this set-up encourages people to look at and speak directly to one another rather than speaking to each other at an angle or speaking to the projector rather than the other person. Here people need to look at and listen to one another when they are face-to-face.
Directions:
- Next we are going to discuss parts of your identity. Again, you are able to share whatever you are comfortable sharing.
- To do this, we are going to get into two different circles. We will have the same number of people in the “inner” circle than the “outer” circle. You will have a buddy in the opposite circle as you.
- I will pose a question on the screen, give one minute of thinking time, and then give each of you two minutes to talk. During the talking time, the other person is actively listening. In fact, if one person finishes early, you will just stand quietly processing what was said. That silence can feel uncomfortable, but that is ok.
- I will cue you for when to change speakers.
- You may choose to bring your “identity map” with you to the circle or not.
Facilitator Tip
If your space doesn’t allow for this setup, you can also create two lines. If that is not possible either, you can do a “speed networking” format. The key is to move quickly, and without too much mental energy, between partners.
Give participants 2 minutes to arrange themselves in the two circles, standing opposite of their buddy. Once everyone is in place, project the following prompt:
- With which descriptors on your identity map do you identify most strongly? Why is that?
Facilitator Tip
If you have an odd number of people, have your co-facilitator stand in as a buddy and participate just as you would expect a participant to participate.
Allow one minute of think time, followed by two two-minute timed intervals for participants to share. After that time has passed, project the following prompt:
- Describe a time when one of the elements of your identity definitely worked to your advantage, either in your educational experience or in other areas of your life.
Allow one minute of think time, followed by two two-minute timed intervals for participants to share. After that time has passed, project the following prompt and follow the same process:
- Talk about a time your identity heightened your awareness of an inequity.
Thank participants and have participants return to their seats.
(10 minutes) Debrief the Process
Facilitator Tip
As you are supporting this discussion, make connections between what participants are saying. For example, if a participant says, “I felt really uncomfortable with _____”, ask the room “did anyone else feel uncomfortable with _____ and want to share about that experience?” You can also contrast perspectives, so if someone says, “I really struggled with coming up with an answer to _____”, thank the individual and ask the group, “Did anyone have a different experience with coming up with an answer to _____?”
Think-Share
- What did you see, hear, or feel during this process?
- What did you learn about yourself or about identity in general by going through the process?
(2 minutes) Think: Allow participants to journal or think independently.
(7 minutes) Share: Encourage participants to share first what they heard, saw, or felt for two minutes, then shift the discussion to what was learned through this process.
* Facilitator note: Be prepared with follow up questions to push this conversation about what was learned. These questions might arise during the debrief. For
example, someone might say “I don’t know why this matters for teaching CS” - you can use that to generate a question for the room (“Why would this matter to your
students?”).
Introducing Unconscious Bias (15 minutes)
Remarks
(2 minutes) When we think about the role identity plays in the classroom, we need to consider both our own identities and how those impact our experiences with students in the classrooms as well as how students’ identities impact their experiences in CS. Yesterday we talked about the role and responsibility we play in actively creating a classroom culture of inclusion in our CS classrooms, but even despite our best intentions, we can fall short of that goal. One factor we should consider when creating an inclusive classroom is the role Unconscious Bias plays in the decisions we make in our classrooms. We are going to start by watching a video to frame this discussion.
(2:20 minutes) Watch the PWC video about blind spots.
Remarks
(2 minutes) It is normal to miss things as we go about our lives - our brain intentionally takes shortcuts to help us process information at a rapid pace, and make decisions we’re not even aware of. These blind spots are actually unconscious biases.
Use the slides to define unconscious bias:
- Unconscious bias: Prejudice or unsupported judgments in favor of or against one thing, person, or group as compared to another, in a way that is usually considered unfair. [adapted from Vanderbilt University]
When the unconscious biases of well-intentioned teachers influence their judgment towards particular students (e.g., by race, ethnicity, gender, able-bodiedness), it can influence their instructional practices, the expectations they convey, and their recommendations for relevant outcomes like course placement, special education, and discipline. [Dee & Gershenson, 2017]
Facilitator Tip
It may be beneficial to read the article participants will read later in the day about unconscious bias to get an idea for examples of how unconscious bias has influenced your work or relationships. Each person’s example will be unique but in general it should roughly follow this framework:
- You took an action or had a thought.
- Something or someone challenged that action or thought.
- You realized that the action or thought was unintentionally based on biases you have/had.
- You did something to counteract those biases.
Facilitator shares an example of how unconscious bias impacted their work or relationships with other people.
(2 minutes) Individual reflection
Choose one of the three prompts below to journal about. You will not be asked to share these reflections with anyone, they are just for you.
- Are there biases that you have that you are currently aware of? How did you become aware of it?
- Has anyone ever suggested that you might be biased? What was your reaction in the moment to that suggestion? What is your reaction now to that suggestion?
- What biases are you concerned you might have but not be aware of? Why?
(6 minutes) Table discussion
Prompt: Think about your past experiences as a teacher. (For those new to teaching, think about your experience as a student.) Consider the following:
- How do you think unconscious bias might impact your ability to meet the goal of creating an inclusive classroom?
Remarks
We know that being aware of our unconscious biases is the first step in overcoming that bias. Later today we are going to talk more about more strategies we can use to address unconscious bias.