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Everyday language is often unnecessarily gendered. By shifting towards inclusive language, we can contribute to a more affirming environment that respects the gender identities of all people.

Pronouns and names are not the only parts of language marked by gender. Always be mindful of your assumptions and consider gender-neutral ways of communicating the same phrases. These tips are especially important in instances where you are referring to a general audience or don't know the gender of the people you are speaking to.

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Affirming and Inclusive Language - Egale

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Everyday language is often unnecessarily gendered. By shifting towards inclusive language, we can contribute to a more affirming environment that respects the gender identities of all people. Pronouns and names are not the only parts of language marked by gender. Always be mindful of your assumptions and consider gender-neutral ways of communicating the same phrases.

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Making assumptions about someone's gender identity can often lead to exclusion and harm. Learning to ask for and use someone's pronouns is a small step in treating 2SLGBTQI people with decency and respect. To affirm someone's right to be addressed the way they want to be is a simple step in boosting mental health. Inclusive pronoun usage is a step towards inclusion and cultivating a safer space for 2SLGBTQI people.

Pronoun Sets

Here are pronouns that you might see or hear. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list.

Check out the full resource for more tips on pronoun usage!

Related Resources

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Making assumptions about someone's gender identity can often lead to exclusion and harm. Learning to ask for and use someone's pronouns is a small step in treating 2SLGBTQI people with decency and respect. To affirm someone's right to be addressed the way they want to be is a simple step in boosting mental health.

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Join us in building inclusive schools. This year, we are hosting dozens of free 2SLGBTQI inclusion webinars for educators and school staff.

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Genderbread Person: Components of Human Identity / Composantes de l’identité humaine

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Genderbread Person: Components of Human Identity / Composantes de l’identité humaine

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Tackling Anti-2SLGBTQI Cyberbullying in Schools - Egale

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Anti-2SLGBTQI Cyberbullying: A resource for educators This resource highlights the disproportionate harm that 2SLGBTQI young people face as a result of cyberbullying. It offers educators and school staff a range of practical strategies for prevention and intervention that respond to the specific con…

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Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion is a forward-looking social organization with research and learning woven into our DNA, tracing how people identify alongside demographic trends within the Canadian workplace to move employers from diversity to inclusion.

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Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion is a forward-looking social organization with research and learning woven into our DNA, tracing how people identify alongside demographic trends within the Canadian workplace to move employers from diversity to inclusion.

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Who we are

Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion is a forward-looking social organization with research and learning woven into our DNA, tracing how people identify alongside demographic trends within the Canadian workplace to move employers from diversity to inclusion.

Our mission is to help those we work with be inclusive, free of prejudice and discrimination - and to generate the awareness, dialogue and action for people to recognize diversity as an asset and not an obstacle.

Our leadership came together from the corporate world and public institutions with a shared goal of helping employers celebrate diversity and difference with a model that blends social impact and proven business tactics for inclusive work environments that mobilize the potential of individuals - and of teams.

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canadian centre for diversity and inclusion

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canadian centre for diversity and inclusion

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Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion

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Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion is a forward-looking social organization with research and learning woven into our DNA, tracing how people identify alongside demographic trends within the Canadian workplace to move employers from diversity to inclusion.

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L'Atlas de la défavorisation permet d'accéder aux cartes relatives aux indices de défavorisation du Ministère de l'Éducation et de l'Enseignement supérieur.

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Creating Equitable Change in Schools - Teacher's Guild

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Creating Equitable Change in Schools - Teacher's Guild

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With news circulating about the presence of the Monkeypox in Montreal, Project 10 has noticed harmful discussions taking place that are unfairly depicting West and Central Africans and gay men as responsible. At Project 10, we're acutely sensitive to the dangers of presenting already marginalized groups as the culprits of viral transmission.

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Stanford School of Design - Activity Resources

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Stanford School of Design - Activity Resources

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What is the intersection between Futures, Design, and Equity?

What might happen, what will we need when that happens, and how can we make sure everyone is taken care of throughout all the happening?

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Design for Equitable Futures - FutureVersary

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Resources which have been developed for educators interested in teaching the histories and present-day realities of race and racism in Canada. These resources have been organized into teaching tools, publications, films, and organizations.

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In this section, you'll find resources which have been developed for educators interested in teaching the histories and present-day realities of race and racism in Canada. These resources have been organized into teaching tools, publications, films, and organizations. Please check back often for updates. To recommend a teaching resource, email racerelation@gmail.com.

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CITIZENShift is the National Film Board of Canada’s participatory Web platform exploring today’s crucial issues through films, photography, articles, blogs and podcasts. This social media network is a space to share media, voice opinions and explore unique content from active citizens, independent filmmakers and multimedia artists. Click here for the “Racial Justice” topic: http://citizen.nfb.ca/categories/racial-justice

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CITIZENShift is the National Film Board of Canada's participatory Web platform exploring today's crucial issues through films, photography, articles, blogs and podcasts. This social media network is a space to share media, voice opinions and explore unique content from active citizens, independent filmmakers and multimedia artists. Click here for the "Racial Justice" topic: http://citizen.nfb.ca/categories/racial-justice

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National Film Board of Canada CITIZENShift: Media for Social Change

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CITIZENShift is the National Film Board of Canada's participatory Web platform exploring today's crucial issues through films, photography, articles, blogs and podcasts. This social media network is a space to share media, voice opinions and explore unique content from active citizens, independent filmmakers and multimedia artists.

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Canadian Association of Education and Outreach (CAEO)

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Canadian Association of Education and Outreach (CAEO)

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This organization has been around for 40+ years with the mission to combat homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, queerphobia, intersexism and heterosexism.

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CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATION AND OUTREACH (CAEO) Québec is a charitable volunteer organisation founded in 1976 originally operating under the name of Gay Line. Since then, the organisation has grown to reflect the needs of the Québec English-Speaking 2SLGBTQIA+ Community and to take on a new identity. Our mission is to combat homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, queerphobia, intersexism and heterosexism. We strive for equal status and equal opportunity within our society and aim to eliminate mere tolerance and achieve real acceptance.

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CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATION AND OUTREACH (CAEO) Québec is a charitable volunteer organisation founded in 1976 originally operating under the name of Gay Line. Since then, the organisation has grown to reflect the needs of the Québec English-Speaking 2SLGBTQIA+ Community and to take on a new identity.

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Quand la tragédie des pensionnats pour Autochtones a refait surface en 2021, il s’en est trouvé pour prétendre que c’était une affaire « fédérale », une expression du colonialisme et du racisme « britanniques ». Et que le Québec n’avait jamais vraiment pris part pleinement à cette entreprise de géno…

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Accueil - Alliance Arc-en-ciel de Québec

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Notre mission est de mobiliser et sensibiliser la population aux enjeux et préoccupations des personnes issues de la diversité sexuelle et pluralité de genres (DSPG) en plus d'assurer leur inclusion et la défense de leurs droits.

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Le JAG est un organisme communautaire qui s'adresse aux jeunes et adultes de la communauté LGBT+ ou en questionnement dans le but d'améliorer leur qualité de vie et de leur offrir des modèles positifs. Il est un organisme-ressources pour les proches, les intervenant.e.s et les enseignant.e.s.

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Jeunesse Lambda - L'amour dès les débuts !

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Amour Poème d'amour, rendre sa moitié heureuse avec de beaux mots ! Séduction Comment draguer une fille très compliquée ? Amour Séjour en Amoureux : 5 conseils pour débuter votre programme en France ! À la une de Jeunesse Lambda La Sélection du Jour Les derniers dossiers autour de l'amour

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The Secret Life of Canada highlights the people, places and stories that probably didn't make it into your high school textbook. Join hosts Leah and Falen as they explore the unauthorized history of a complicated country.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/secretlifeofcanada

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Secret Life of Canada | CBC Radio | Podcasts

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In 1937, tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent were exterminated by the Dominican army on the basis of anti-black racism. Fast-forward to 2013: the Dominican Republic’s Supreme Court stripped the citizenship of anyone with Haitian parents, retroactive to 1929, rendering more than 200,000 people stateless. Director Michèle Stephenson’s new documentary follows the grassroots campaign of a young attorney named Rosa Iris, as she challenges electoral corruption and fights to protect the right to citizenship for all people.

https://www.nfb.ca/film/stateless/

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In 1937, tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent were exterminated by the Dominican army on the basis of anti-black racism. Fast-forward to 2013: the ...

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In 1921, friends and train porters Junior and Zeke find their unbreakable bond stretched to its limits when tragedy inspires them to take conflicting paths to a better life.

https://gem.cbc.ca/media/the-porter/s01b01

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Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street 

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Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street 

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In the spring of 1921, hundreds of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Black residents were murdered in a race massacre that was forgotten for 100 years.

https://gem.cbc.ca/media/dreamland-the-burning-of-black-wall-street/s01

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Native Friendship Centre / Regroupement des centres d’amitié autochtones du Québec

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Native Friendship Centre / Regroupement des centres d’amitié autochtones du Québec

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Regroupement des centres d’amitié autochtones du Québec (RCAAQ) advocates for the rights and interests of Indigenous citizens in cities and actively supports the development of Native Friendship Centres. Contributes to harmony between peoples by promoting Indigenous cultures.

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Native Friendship Centres are urban service hubs as well as a gathering place and a cultural anchoring space for Indigenous people. Fighting for the rights and defending the interests of Indigenous people, Native Friendship Centres work tirelessly each day to promote greater understanding of the issues, challenges and problems urban Indigenous people face while favouring harmonious cohabitation in their living environment.

The Native Friendship Centre Movement was launched in Quebec nearly 50 years ago. After the first Native Friendship Centre opened in Chibougamau in 1969, several others followed in the 1970s. These were in cities that were already meeting points for Indigenous citizens, who travelled there to access the services and, in some instances, settle there permanently.

In 1976, the Regroupement des centres d'amitié autochtones du Québec (RCAAQ) was founded by and for urban Indigenous people who wanted a provincial structure for consultation, coordination and representation.

In Quebec, the Movement underwent a second phase of development in the 2000s and early 2010s. The various local mobilizations demonstrated the need for a space that fostered a sense of belonging and invited cultural expression while providing access to relevant and culturally safe services.

In 2008, the RCAAQ, in collaboration with the Native Friendship Centres, brought together the story of the efforts and successes of the Friendship Centre Movement in a retrospective work from 1969 to 2008. Pashkabigoni, a History Full of Promise highlights the progress made since the opening of the first Native Friendship Centre in the province of Quebec.

In 2015, new local mobilizations in Maniwaki and Roberval, two cities with a significant Indigenous population and growing needs, called on the RCAAQ to support the emergence of Native Friendship Centres. The mobilizations were supported by neighbouring First Nations communities: Kitigan Zibi and the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council for Maniwaki and the Mashteuiatsh and Opitciwan communities for the city of Roberval.

In 2018, in response to the growing needs of the Indigenous population in Trois-Rivières, the city's point of service, which was a satellite of the Centre d'amitié autochtone de La Tuque, established its own Native Friendship Centre. The Centre d'amitié autochtone de Trois-Rivières thus joined the RCAAQ as a member centre.

As of this same year, a new service centre joined the RCAAQ. Indeed, the Centre multi-services MAMUK, located in Charlesbourg in Quebec City and associated with the Maison communautaire Missinak, also became a member centre of the RCAAQ.

In 2018, the RCAAQ represents 11 Native Friendship Centres.

In Quebec, the Native Friendship Centre Movement is powered by more than 150 staff members, most of whom are Indigenous people and women. The Friendship Centres rely on over a hundred volunteers and serve thousands of First Nations people.

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Native Friendship Centres are urban service hubs as well as a gathering place and a cultural anchoring space for Indigenous people. Fighting for the rights and defending the interests of Indigenous people, Native Friendship Centres work tirelessly each day to promote greater understanding of the issues, challenges and problems urban Indigenous people face while favouring harmonious cohabitation in their living environment.

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Programs for teens and young adults on the spectrum.

https://www.productionsspectrum.com/home-en

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Project 10 is a meeting place and advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex, queer, trans, two-spirit, and questioning youth in Montréal.

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With news circulating about the presence of the Monkeypox in Montreal, Project 10 has noticed harmful discussions taking place that are unfairly depicting West and Central Africans and gay men as responsible. At Project 10, we're acutely sensitive to the dangers of presenting already marginalized groups as the culprits of viral transmission.

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Programs and resources for educators, students and families.

https://qbbe.ca/programs/

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Quebec Board of Black Educators - Serving the community!

The effectiveness of the QBBE's programs lies in their ability to address specific needs and educational challenges of our community by the efficient delivery of services by a dedicated professional team of staff, teachers, and volunteers. We provide customized, engaging, quality instruction that is in alignment with the national curriculum.

Providing quality educational services!

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Programs Elementary Education The BANA summer school curriculum consists of early intervention in literacy and numeracy in the morning, and sports, cultural, and arts & crafts in the afternoon. Learn More Secondary Education The Da Costa Hall summer school provides an opportunity for at-risk ...

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Webinar opportunities exploring Black History for February and beyond.

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OWTA is proud to present "Tracking Black Canada" as the topic of our 2020 Black History Month school tour. This year's presentation will focus on the often forgotten histories of early black communities across our country. Using OWTA's trademark edutainment style that combines video, music, Slam Poetry, Hip Hop, stand up comedy, and audience participation/ interaction, Tracking Black Canada will delve into the histories of some of Canada forgotten black communities. The presentation will highlight the contributions made by prominent residents in those communities, and how their impact is still felt today, and illuminate the conditions that led to their systemic demise.

The presentation will run between 45 to 60 minutes, allowing for enough flexibility to accommodate school periods of varying lengths. The presentation will flow from the East Coast of Canada all the way to the West, paying special attention to the role Canadian railway played in both the geographic and economic lives of blacks in Canada.

Potential Tracking Black Canada subjects include:

NOVA SCOTIA, Africville, Halifax
Africville was an African-Canadian village located just north of Halifax and founded in the mid-18th century. The City of Halifax demolished the once-prosperous seaside community in the 1960s in what many said was an act of racism.

ONTARIO, The Ward, Toronto
The Ward (formally St. John's Ward) was a neighbourhood in central Toronto. In the 1850, many Black families settled in The Ward.

QUEBEC, Little Burgundy, Montreal
Little Burgundy is a neighbourhood in the city of Montreal, that served as home to a thriving black community for much of the twentieth century. It is often referred to as the "Harlem of the North."

BRITISH COLUMBIA, Hogan's Alley, Vancouver
Hogan's Alley was the local, unofficial name for Park Lane, an alley that ran through the southwestern corner of Strathcona in Vancouver. It was the first and last neighbourhood in Vancouver with a substantial concentrated black population.

ALBERTA, Amber Valley, Edmonton
Amber Valley is an unincorporated community in Alberta. In 1909, a group of 160 African-American homesteaders established the community.

Lindsay Place High School & Beurling AcademyPierrefonds Community High School & Howard S. BillingsVilla Ste. Marceline & Pierrefonds Library WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29: Champlain College
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30: St. Anthony's Elementary School
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3: Beaconsfield High School & Christmas Park Elementary School
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4: John Rennie High School
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5:
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6: Macdonald High School & Lakeside Academy
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7: Kuper Academy, Dawson College & Sacred Heart
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10: West Island College & James Lyng
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11:
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12: Place Cartier & Collège Jean de la Mennais
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13: Westmount High School & Dorval Elementary School
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14: Woodroofe High School (Ottawa)
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17:
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18: Villa Maria & Loyola High School

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19: Britannia Secondary School
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20: Tamanawis Secondary
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21: Gladstone Secondary School & Lord Byng Secondary School

FR Haythorne Junior High & Bev Facey Community High School MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24:
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25: MacEwan University
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26: Ardrossan Junior Senior High School
TORONTO DATES:
TBD

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Black History Month - Tracking Black Canada - Overture with the Arts

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OWTA is proud to present "Tracking Black Canada" as the topic of our 2020 Black History Month school tour. This year's presentation will focus on the often forgotten histories of early black communities across our country.

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African Canadian Development and Prevention Network (ACDPN) - Member of the CHSSN

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African Canadian Development and Prevention Network (ACDPN) - Member of the CHSSN

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Provide leadership on topics of access to Health and Social services for members of the English-speaking Black community (ESBC).

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African Canadian Development and Prevention Network - Black Community Advocate

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© 2022 African Canadian Development and Prevention Network.

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Helps teachers create engaging lessons with FUN, hands-on learning activities. Brings to life the personalities and events omitted from the pages of textbooks.

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2020 has been the most pivotal year in race relations in decades. Black Lives Matter, the rallying call for awareness, understanding and action, has accelerated interest in the Blackchange-makers of decades past.

● Are you a teacher committed to bringing the real stories of Blacks and their contributions to Canada's development to your diverse students?

● Have you been frustrated by the lack of pedagogically sound, engaging Canadian Black history resources that teach you and excite ALL kinds of learners?

The ABC's of Canadian Black History Kit brings to life the personalities and events omitted from the pages of textbooks, because their role in Canadian history was considered historically insignificant. Each letter of the alphabet features a person, place, or event with their historical relevance.

The ABC's Kit helps teachers create engaging lessons with FUN, hands-on learning activities, They can create enriched, extended, or cross-curricular learning opportunities for elementary to high school and even adult students. Find out how!

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StopGap Foundation - Helping communities discover the benefit of barrier free spaces and providing support to create them.

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Helping communities discover the benefit of barrier free spaces and providing support to create them.

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Mesure 15062 — Réussite éducative des élèves autochtones (Educational success of Indigenous students)

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Mesure 15062 — Réussite éducative des élèves autochtones (Educational success of Indigenous students)

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Mesure 15062 — Réussite éducative des élèves autochtones (Educational success of Indigenous students)

This measure is intended for school boards, in collaboration with schools working with Indigenous populations, to develop projects aimed at increasing perseverance and success for Indigenous students to reach their full potential.

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Arts-based and service learning project opportunities exploring EDI.

https://hosted.learnquebec.ca/belonging/

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Students explore the relationship between identity and belonging through spoken word with guidance from two-time Montreal Slam Champion Liana/Luca Cusmano, poet, performer and educator Deanna Smith, or renowned Montreal born poet Jason Selman. This 4-6 week project will culminate in an opportunity for students to participate in a virtual Spoken Word Slam.

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Mesure 15061 — Sensibilité aux réalités autochtones

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Mesure 15061 — Sensibilité aux réalités autochtones

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Mesure 15061 — Sensibilité aux réalités autochtones which aims to develop projects that promote harmonious relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, especially those living in close proximity to each other.

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Teachers can partner with an artist through ELAN to lead an arts based project exploring aspects of EDI.

https://artistsinspire.ca/school-application/

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Register

First time here? Only one person can register to be the school's contact person - if you attempt to register and are not accepted, another educator from your school may have already started an application for this year or a previous year. Please contact us and we will support you to register - email artistsinspiregrants@quebec-elan.org or phone 438-979-1171.

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First time here? Only one person can register to be the school's contact person - if you attempt to register and are not accepted, another educator from your school may have already started an application for this year or a previous year. Please contact us and we will support you to register - email artistsinspiregrants@quebec-elan.org or phone 438-979-1171.

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Vol. 61

No. 4

Abstract

Calling on Courageous Educators

The Ultimate Life Skills

Students need the skills to navigate unjust realities.

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Abstract

Calling on Courageous Educators

The Ultimate Life Skills

Our young people are growing up in an increasingly complex world-one where our own citizens commit terrorist acts against their fellow countrymen and women. Hate-fueled violence against black and Jewish Americans this past fall was a particularly terrifying reminder of our new reality.

Last year, the FBI released 2017 data showing hate crimes in the United States increased for the third year in a row . Of the 7,106 hate crimes involving about 8,500 victims in 2017, 60 percent were targeted based on race, and about 20 percent were motivated by religious identity. 2019 began with reports of a white man attacking a black motorist , repeatedly striking him in the head with a U-lock, because of his hatred for black people. American youth are consuming these narratives of hate with too few opportunities to digest what is happening or to recognize their agency in creating meaningful change.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) skills can help us build communities that foster courageous conversations across difference so that our students can confront injustice, hate, and inequity. SEL refers to the life skills that support people in experiencing, managing, and expressing emotions, making sound decisions, and fostering interpersonal relationships. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines five core SEL competencies , including self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. These competencies seamlessly lend themselves to preventing violence and to building a more peaceful world.

Calling on Courageous Educators

However, educators often teach SEL absent of the larger sociopolitical context, which is fraught with injustice and inequity and affects our students' lives. As an SEL practitioner-researcher who speaks nationally about the intersection of emotional intelligence, equity, and culturally responsive practices, I hear that educators shy away from such discussions for fear that they will be accused of politicization or that they will lose their jobs.

This fear is not unfounded. In Arizona, state representative Mark Finchem wants to introduce an education bill that will threaten teachers' jobs if they engage in any dialogue or activity that appears to advocate political, ideological, or religious positions. Other teachers feel ill-equipped and uncomfortable in addressing topics like poverty, gun violence, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of injustice that many students, particularly our most marginalized, experience daily.

In addition, many popular SEL approaches do not explicitly confront these forms of violence or other social inequities. Recoiling from topics that divide us-when SEL skills could help us get along better-diminishes SEL's promise. Why teach relationship skills if the lessons do not reflect on the interpersonal conflicts that result from racism? Why discuss self- and social awareness without considering power and privilege, even if that means examining controversial topics like white supremacy?

Maintaining a safe space that prevents triggering students is crucially important when infusing SEL opportunities with the sociopolitical context.

The Ultimate Life Skills

We can no longer avoid discussing topics that make us uncomfortable. Our students, incessantly inundated with divisive rhetoric and reports of premeditated acts of violence (or even themselves targets of violence), don't have that luxury. SEL has tremendous potential to create the conditions for youth agency and civic engagement and, ultimately, social change. We owe our students an education that centers on their lives and explicitly addresses the sociopolitical context. This will not only prepare our students to engage civically and peacefully across difference, but also to become the changemakers and leaders we need.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) skills can help us build communities that foster courageous conversations across difference so that our students can confront injustice, hate, and inequity.

Strategies for Teaching Fearless SEL

Provide students opportunities to reflect on identity and equity to build self-awareness.

Aristotle said, "Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom." Self-awareness-the ability to recognize one's emotions, thoughts, and values-is a crucial skill for understanding others and the world. Teachers can teach a unit on the relationship between identity and equity, including activities that push students to reflect on how their identity hinders or enhances their life opportunities. Students can interrogate their power and privilege, as well as racism, homophobia, sexism, and other forms of violence, to consider what changes they can make within themselves and their world to achieve more equity. To begin, the New York Times has a collection of videos (" 25 Mini-Films for Exploring Race, Bias and Identity With Students"), and the Learning for Justice website features many K-12 curricular resources on these topics.

Enhance relationship skills through debate.

Relationship skills include making and maintaining rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups and being able to communicate, cooperate, and negotiate conflict constructively. Have students debate an issue in their school or community that matters to them as a way to develop their abilities to build relationships with diverse team members, resolve disagreements, and work collaboratively to debate in effective ways.

Develop responsible decision-making skills through community-based projects.

Responsible decision making means constructive choices about how we behave and interact based on safety, social norms, and ethical standards. Ask students to identify a community problem they want to solve and then, in groups, decide how best to solve it, keeping in mind safety, resources, social norms, and ethics. Students might start a community garden or organize a farmer's market to address access to fresh food in food deserts, protest a community-identified injustice, or partner with an organization to provide a service lacking in the community. The goal is for students to use their responsible decision-making skills while creating change in their communities.

Use current topics to foster social awareness.

Social awareness involves appreciating diversity, building empathy, and respecting others. To develop these skills and use them to create social change, students can study a current event or social issue that is important to them. For example, teachers could lead students on a unit about restroom accessibility. Students can research recent court cases, read and discuss narratives from transgender and gender-expansive students, and interview classmates. A culminating project could include a campaign or a letter to a government official to advocate for a cause or a creative writing piece from the perspective of a marginalized group.

Explore different expectations for self-management.

A key component of self-management is regulating one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in different situations. Students can investigate the relationship between emotion regulation and race, gender, or other aspect of a person's identity to explore the different expectations for marginalized groups' self-management. For instance, police-related killings of people from marginalized backgrounds as well as the spate of "concerned citizen" calls on black people napping, celebrating in the park, or entering their own homes make clear that certain groups of people are expected to regulate their behavior and emotions more strictly in public. Research has confirmed this racial bias. Students can also study how implicit bias influences teachers' behavioral and academic expectations for students as it relates to the school-to-prison pipeline. At the end of the unit, students can write an opinion piece, produce a YouTube minidocumentary, or present their learning to the school board.

ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

Let us help you put your vision into action.

We empower educators to reimagine and redesign learning through impactful pedagogy and meaningful technology use. We achieve this by offering transformative professional learning, fostering vibrant communities, and ensuring that digital tools and experiences are accessible and effective.

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Why We Can't Afford Whitewashed Social-Emotional Learning

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Students need the skills to navigate unjust realities.

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Abstract

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues are urgent in education. We developed and evaluated a massive open online course ( N = 963) with embedded equity simulations that attempted to equip educators with equity teaching practices. Applying a structural topic model (STM)-a type of natural language processing (NLP)-we examined how participants with different equity attitudes responded in simulations. Over a sequence of four simulations, the simulation behavior of participants with less equitable beliefs converged to be more similar with the simulated behavior of participants with more equitable beliefs ( ES [effect size] = 1.08 SD). This finding was corroborated by overall changes in equity mindsets ( ES = 0.88 SD) and changed in self-reported equity-promoting practices ( ES = 0.32 SD). Digital simulations when combined with NLP offer a compelling approach to both teaching about DEI topics and formatively assessing learner behavior in large-scale learning environments.

An increasing number of organizations are investing significant resources in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training to address issues of bias and racist behavior ( Carter et al., 2020). Many U.S. K-12 schools and organizations have also adopted DEI professional education to address issues of systemic racism. However, there is very little empirical evidence that these types of interventions lead to substantive changes in educators' teaching practice ( Bravo et al., 2014; Civitillo et al., 2018; Ehrke et al., 2020; Love, 2019). DEI professional education often emphasizes broad, theoretical concepts that teachers have difficult transferring into practice ( Emdin, 2011).

Simulations hold promise as a pedagogical approach for professional learning on equity-based teaching practices. Simulations have been used successfully in teacher education to approximate various teaching scenarios and support the transfer learning into new situations ( Dalinger et al., 2020; Dotger & Ashby, 2010; Kaufman & Ireland, 2016). Increasingly, simulations are being used to help prepare teachers for equity-based teaching ( G. A. Chen, 2020; J. A. Chen et al., 2020; Cohen et al., 2020; Self & Stengel, 2020). However, because of the difficulty of analyzing large amounts of text it can be difficult to assess participants' simulation performance. Accordingly, most studies of simulation have either limited their analysis to a small number of participants ( G. A. Chen, 2020; Robinson et al., 2018; Self, 2016) or have focused on participants' reactions to the simulations rather than behavior in the simulations themselves ( Bautista & Boone, 2015; J. A. Chen et al., 2020; Dalinger et al., 2020; Girod & Girod, 2006).

In our study, we describe a novel method of analyzing participants' text-based responses to simulations using natural language processing (NLP) tools. We focus on data collected from a series of four digital equity teaching simulations that were given to participants within a massive open online course (MOOC) for K-12 classroom educators on equity teaching practices ( N = 963). In the simulations, participants responded using oral or written text, and they produced more than 30,000 rows of unstructured text data. Using structural topic modeling (STM; Roberts et al., 2014)-an NLP method that does not require prelabeled data-we analyzed participants' text responses for discrete "topics" that represented different tacks participants might take in responding to prompts from characters in a simulation.

To assess the validity of this approach, we examined whether the prevalence of topics within simulation responses was associated with participants' attitudes toward equity on surveys. Finally, we investigated whether STM can be used to detect changes in participants' behavior across different simulations. Using a reference group of "high-equity" (HE) participants-those who were in the top quartile (25%) of equity-related responses on the course presurvey-we analyzed whether the remaining participants converged with these HE participants in their simulation responses and corroborate changes by examining whether these patterns were consistent with changes in attitudes and self-reported behaviors on surveys and ratings given by external human raters.

As attention to DEI issues become an essential component of teacher education and teacher professional learning, simulations are likely to play an increasingly important pedagogical role ( Cohen et al., 2020; Self & Stengel, 2020). This study provides insight into how NLP tools can be used to formatively assess educators' text-based responses within simulations. As one of the first studies to apply NLP tools to equity-based simulations, we examine the potential of these tools for understanding participants' experiences in simulations and for ultimately developing automated supports to facilitate teacher learning on equity teaching practices.

Background and Context

Teacher education, like many other fields, has long been criticized for examining equity issues disconnected from practice ( Sleeter, 2012). Even when teacher education programs include equity issues in their curriculum, they often do not make explicit connections to specific teaching practices ( Bravo et al., 2014; Kavanagh & Danielson, 2020). Once teachers enter the profession, though they might be aware of overall societal factors that limit opportunities for particular groups of students, they struggle to translate this knowledge into practice in order to disrupt inequitable practices in the day-to-day experience of students in schools ( Emdin, 2011; Love, 2019; Matias et al., 2016; Milner, 2010; Schiera, 2020).

Simulations have particular affordances that make them well-suited for DEI educator professional learning. Simulations provide opportunities for what Resnick (1987) described as "bridging apprenticeships" connecting theoretical learning with classroom practice. Because simulations necessitate action, participants draw on the same cognitive, affective, and linguistic processes as they would in comparable real-world situations ( Aldrich, 2009; G. A. Chen, 2020; Slater et al., 2009). At the same time, simulations often simplify the real world. Many are intentionally designed to represent some aspects of reality, but not others, directing the attention of users to specific features and patterns in the simulated environment ( Aldrich, 2009; Mislevy, 2013). This allows them to serve as "approximations of practice" ( Grossman et al., 2009); creating spaces for less-skilled practitioners to try out new practices and receive feedback within scaffolded, low-stakes environments ( Kaufman & Ireland, 2016; Theelen et al., 2019).

Simulations have a long history in teacher education and were used during the height of the "microteaching" movement of the 1960s and 1970s in order to prompt teachers to enact specific, discrete skills ( Cohen et al., 2020). Some of these methods were critiqued for decontextualizing and deprofessionalizing teachers' practice ( Kavanagh et al., 2020; Zeichner, 2012). Instead of focusing on developing discrete skills, more recent teaching simulations focus on improving teachers' "instructional vision"; their ability to notice and interpret educationally significant information through a professional teaching lens ( Gibbons & Cobb, 2016; Sherin et al., 2011; Theelen et al., 2019). Simulations have been used to help educators learn how to modify their instruction based on student needs ( Ferry et al., 2005; Girod & Girod, 2006); respond to student off-task behavior ( Cohen et al., 2020); elicit student ideas ( Bautista & Boone, 2015; Wang et al., 2020); and engage in difficult conversations with parents ( G. A. Chen, 2020; Thompson et al., 2019).

Simulations that prompt educators to attend to equity issues are still an emerging area of research, but initial studies show promise for helping educators change behavior. For example, Self and Stengel (2020) used simulations to call participants' attention to the disproportionate discipline rate of Black students in schools. Novice teachers who participated in the simulations initially did not recognize the racial bias highlighted in the simulation, but through cycles of reflection and debriefing, the participants moved toward greater consciousness of racial bias. Cohen et al. (2020) used a randomized control trial to examine the effect of instructor feedback in a mixed-reality simulation on responsive classroom management. Participants who received feedback during and after the simulation experience were less likely to recommend that punitive steps be taken against student avatars who exhibited minor off-task behaviors in the simulation than participants who only reflected on the experience. These promising early findings suggest that learning experiences that include simulations as part of a learning cycle of instruction, practice, self-reflection, and expert feedback may play an important role in developing DEI training that leads to changes in teacher practice.

Simulations in teaching range from interactions with a live human actor to interactions with human-controlled digital puppets to fully digital simulations where users interact with a computer. Most research on teacher education simulations on DEI issues examines only simulations that include human actors ( Cohen et al., 2020; Dalinger et al., 2020; Dotger & Ashby, 2010; Kannan et al., 2018). One advantage of fully automated digital simulations, without human actors, is they are inexpensive to produce and can be flexibly deployed enabling learners to access them remotely at the time and location of their choice. Particularly for in-service professional learning where time and resource constraints are a constant concern, fully digital simulations may be a practical compromise expanding access on this urgent topic to more teachers.

In this study, we focus on a series of fully digital equity teaching simulations that were embedded within an online course for K-12 educators on equity in education. The digital simulations were developed in Teacher Moments, a free openly licensed teaching simulation platform developed by the MIT Teaching Systems Lab ( https://teachermoments.mit.edu/; Dutt et al., 2021; Hillaire et al., 2020; Sullivan et al., 2020; Thompson et al., 2019). These digital simulations were designed differently than other computer-based simulations where participants selected actions from a predetermined list of responses ( Ferry et al., 2005; Girod & Girod, 2006). In these simulations, participants are immersed in a specific teaching situation that is represented by using text, images, and video within a web-based platform. As participants move through the simulations they encounter a number of decision points where they respond with natural oral language or text responses that provide a more authentic simulation experience than multiple choice scenarios ( Hirumi et al., 2016). Engaging and reflecting on these types of interactions can help participants become adept at noticing and attending to issues of equity ( Borneman, Littenberg-Tobias, & Reich, 2020).

Although studies of Teacher Moments scenarios have found preliminary evidence that participants find them authentic and contribute to their learning ( Robinson et al., 2018; Thompson et al., 2019), at the time when the simulations used in the study were developed, the platform had no way of evaluating natural text and oral language from participants' responses. NLP uses computational tools such as machine learning to automate analysis of text responses. With NLP, researchers are able to quantitatively analyze text data for patterns that are predictive of participants' attitudes, behaviors, and practices. NLP tools have been used, for example, to analyze transcripts of classroom teaching to detect the presence of particular instructional and discourse moves or to evaluate classroom climate ( Jensen et al., 2020; Ramakrishnan et al., 2019).

Many applications of NLP in education rely on supervised approaches that rely on previously labeled text responses using a priori classifications ( Datta et al., 2021; Jensen et al., 2020; Ramakrishnan et al., 2019). In unsupervised approaches to computational text analysis, these categories are drawn from the data itself. The advantage of unsupervised methods is that they do not require a priori assumptions about the structure of the data or time-consuming, hand-labeling of text responses. These properties make unsupervised approaches a good fit for analyzing text responses within large-scale learning environments like MOOCs where participants may produce hundreds of thousands of lines of unstructured text.

One unsupervised approach is the STM-a form of computational text analysis that has been used as for computer-assisted interpretation of open-ended text responses ( Roberts et al., 2014). Similar to other types of topic models (e.g., Latent Dirichlet Allocation), STM uses a probabilistic mixture model to estimate the probability distribution of topics within documents and words within topics ( Blei et al., 2003). STM extends these models by allowing for the inclusion of covariates in the topic modeling ( Roberts et al., 2014). The inclusion of covariates in topic modeling is useful in social science research because it allows researchers to examine how the prevalence and content of the topics might vary based on information about the participant, such as demographics, attitudes, or behaviors ( Roberts et al., 2014).

A number of studies have used STM to examine relationships between patterns in open response texts and participant demographics ( Roberts et al., 2016; Yeomans et al., 2018). For example, Sterling et al. (2019) applied STM to political tweets assessing whether liberals and conservatives had different conceptions of what constituted a "good society" based on the prevalence of topics in their tweets. Some recent studies have used STM to explore population-level changes in topic distributions within a population over time. For example, X. Chen et al. (2020) studied trends in topics within Computers & Education over a 40-year period, finding that certain topics, such as teacher training and social networks, increased over time while programming languages and hardware decreased. Kim et al. (2020) applied STM to self-reported inventories of religion and spirituality over a 60-year period, demonstrating changes in how the authors of the texts experienced their spirituality.

These studies suggest that STM can be a useful way to identify aggregate trends across a variety of different types of media. However, there has been limited research on how STM might perform with simulation response data, particularly with simulations on DEI issues in education. In this study, we seek to understand how this method of computational text analysis performs when used to analyze a large-scale data set of equity teaching simulation data.

Theoretical Framework

To measure equity-oriented mindsets and behaviors, we drew on the opportunity-centered teaching framework developed by Milner (2010, 2012). Opportunity-centered teaching is rooted in critical race theory and culturally responsive and sustaining teaching and pedagogy ( Gay, 2002; Ladson-Billings, 1995; Paris, 2012). It posits that when schools fail to effectively serve racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse students, it is not because of innate lack of academic ability or a demonstrated lack of effort, but because of systemic barriers that limit the potential of these students. These systemic barriers are often enacted and justified by well-intentioned educators who nonetheless possess mindsets that enable these barriers to persist. For example, many educators believe in the "myth of meritocracy," which is the belief that all success is earned through talent and/or effort and, by extension, failure is a result of individual faults ( Milner, 2012). Similarly, many educators maintain a "color-avoidant" stance toward discussing race and racism with students, believing that avoiding the topic is preferable to acknowledging it explicitly ( Bonilla-Silva, 2015; Cochran-Smith, 1995; Neville et al., 2013). Changing these educator mindsets toward more equity-oriented mindsets is a first step toward dismantling racist systems and practices in schools.

In the design and analysis of the Teacher Moments simulations that we developed, we further drew on an adaption of Milner's (2010, 2012) opportunity-centered teaching framework by Filback and Green (2013) that describes equity as contrast between two opposing viewpoints, where one of the viewpoints represents an equity-oriented lens (e.g., "Equality vs. Equity," "Deficit vs. Asset," "Avoidant vs. Aware," and "Context-Neutral vs. Context-Centered). For example, an educator with an "Equality" mindset believes that all students should receive the same treatment regardless of their circumstances, while an educator with an "Equity" mindset believes that students should be treated differently depending on their circumstances and needs.

Each of these viewpoints has an appropriate time and place in teaching. For example, equality should, of course, be one factor in teacher decision making. However, these competing tensions are often out of balance in schools where concerns about equality often lead to inequitable outcomes. For example, a homework policy that does not allow flexibility for students to submit assignments after the due date is "equal" because all students are held to the same standards. However, this policy is inequitable because wealthier students have more parental support for homework and fewer family obligations and, thus, are more likely to be able to submit homework on time ( Sayers et al., 2020).

The four Teacher Moments simulations we developed were designed to elicit educator responses related to a specific mindset (see Table 1 for a description of all the simulations). For example, the Roster Justice simulation was designed around the "Avoidant" versus "Aware" mindset. Participants play the role of a middle school teacher trying to talk with their school principal about demographic disparities-including race, gender, and dis/ability-in class rosters for computer science and math. The principal is resistant to changing the rosters and at various points offers excuses, tries to offer "quick-fixes" that do not address the underlying problems, and moves the conversation away from race toward logistical challenges. The participant must decide after each interaction how much they want to explicitly press the issue of the demographic disparities, as well as the structural issues with the course schedules, to the principal. Furthermore, the participant must decide whether they are willing to accept solutions that do not address the underlying discriminatory problems.

Descriptions of Each Simulation and Associated Dimension of Equity

Current Study

In this study, we applied the structural topic model, a form of unsupervised NLP, to participants' simulation responses in order to evaluate how participants' applied equity mindsets within these simulations. We also used these tools to study how participants' responses to these simulations change over a series of successive simulations that were embedded within an 8-week MOOC on equity teaching practices in education. We address the following research questions:

Research Question 1 (RQ1): To what extent can structural topic modeling be used to detect aggregate trends in participant responses within digital simulations on equity teaching practices?

Research Question 2 (RQ2): To what extent can topic distributions, when compared to a reference group, be used to detect individual changes in participant responses within digital simulations?

Research Question 2a: To what extent did course participants change in their topic distributions over sequential simulations to be more similar to a reference group of participants with initially more equitable mindsets?

Research Question 2b: To what extent are these measures consistent with external ratings and changes in equity attitudes and self-reported practices on surveys?

Method

In spring 2020, we launched an 8-week online course on equity in education on edX called "Becoming a More Equitable Educator: Mindsets and Practices."1 Although the primary audience was K-12 educators, the course was free with open enrollment and thus anyone with an interest in the topic could register for the course. The course was publicized through emails to registrants from previous education-related courses, via social media advertisements, and through individual networks. The course was explicitly marketed to a broad educator audience rather than solely at educators explicitly interested in equity. However, given the topic of the course, we expected educators who signed up for the course to be interested in addressing equity issues in schools.

A sample unit ( Figure 1) starts with a video lecture that introduces one of the four equity mindsets and describes its importance to teaching. Participants then watched documentary-style case study videos of practicing teachers describing how they implemented that mindset in their teaching. The participants then completed a Teacher Moments digital simulation where they were asked to apply their understanding of an equity mindset within a simulated scenario environment. After completing the simulation, participants watched a documentary-style filmed debrief that featured practicing K-12 teachers who had completed the same simulation. The debrief spliced footage of a live, in-person, facilitated group discussion with cutaway scenes where case study teachers are interviewed about the decisions they made in the simulation. Each unit concludes with an assignment where participants were asked to apply the particular equity mindset in their own practices.

The online course had 7,918 registrants and of those, 5,678 (72%) clicked into the course at least once. In order to focus on participants who meaningfully interacted with the content in the course, we restricted our analysis sample to participants who engaged in at least one simulation ( N = 963, 12% of registered participants) during the course. Of those in the analysis sample, 609 (63% of analysis sample) interacted with at least two of the simulations in the course and 342 (36% of analysis sample) interacted with all four of the simulations. Many of participants in the analysis sample were located in the United States (58%) and 81% identified as fluent English speakers. The majority of participants reported working in K-12 schools (53%). The demographics of participants in the analysis sample roughly reflected the demographics of educators and those working in education-aligned industries such as teacher preparation and instructional design ( Table 2).

Researcher-developed survey instruments were embedded within the course platform, which previous research has found increases response rates ( van de Oudeweetering & Agirdag, 2018). We administered the survey instruments three times during the course: precourse, postsimulation, and immediately postcourse. A follow-up survey was administered to all participants in the analysis sample in October-November 2020. Response rates for the survey were generally high for an MOOC (precourse = 56%, postsimulation = 64%, postcourse = 42%, follow-up = 18%).

Descriptions Statistics for Survey Measures

Cronbach Alpha Statistics for Survey Measures

In this section, we describe the steps we used to prepare and estimate the STM model on the open-text data from the equity simulations in the online course. Our analysis pipeline is also depicted in Figure 2.

Results

We begin by describing the topics extracted from each simulation and the associations between topic prevalence and the attitude survey scales (RQ1). We then examine whether participants changed in their patterns of simulation responses over successive simulations in the course and assess to what extent these changes are consistent with changes in attitudes and practices on surveys and ratings by external human raters (RQ2).

In each of the four simulations, we identified particular topics produced by the STM that were correlated with more equity-oriented mindsets and other topics that were correlated with less equity-oriented mindsets. When we reviewed these topics and correlations, they often reflected tensions and decision points intentionally built into the scenarios. Although not every difference in topic prevalence reflected differences in equity mindsets, we found connections frequently enough to suggest that STM can identify meaningful equity-based differences in simulations responses. Additionally, we found that participants with less-equitable beliefs at the beginning of the course converged over time with participants with initially higher equitable beliefs in terms of the topics identified in their simulation responses. This suggests that these LE participants were applying similar approaches with HE participants in the simulations by the end of the course. This shift was corroborated by LE participants also expressing more equity-oriented mindsets and described engaging in more equity-promoting practices on surveys (both immediate postcourse and follow-up). Additionally, for one of the simulations, Roster Justice, we found that LE participants whose responses were most similar topically with HE participants were also more likely to be rated as equitable by human raters. These findings suggest that STM and NLP generally can be useful tools for analyzing text-based data from equity simulations and identifying changes in simulation behavior over time.

We examined the topics identified by the unsupervised STM model and analyzed their correlation with equity attitudes. The topics often reflected meaningful choices the participants could make within the simulation. For example, Topic 11 ("Working with Jeremy in small groups") in Jeremy's Journal was related to responses about whether the teacher in the scenario should intervene, based on Jeremy's Journal entry, by meeting with Jeremy and other students who seem confused in small groups (e.g., "By utilizing small groups, it gives the students more of a chance to share their thoughts and maybe bounce ideas off of each other). The full list of topics and labels can be found in the online Supplemental Appendix.

These findings suggest that STM detected patterns in simulation responses that were often associated with meaningful decision points in the simulation. These topics reflected meaningful differences in the mindsets that participants applied when responding to the fictional scenarios in the simulations. We measured this relationship by looking at the correlation between topic prevalence and participants' responses to survey items about the specific dimension of equity measured within each simulation (e.g., Avoidant-Aware and Roster Justice). In Figure 3, we present the topics that were statistically significantly related to the survey items.

In the following sections, we briefly describe the key topics associated with equity mindsets in each of the simulations and how they relate to mindsets about equity based on the existing literature.

Next, we explored whether participants changed in their simulation responses over the four sequential simulations in the online DEI course. We found that as LE participants progressed through the course, they became more similar in their simulation responses to HE participants. We measured response similarity by looking at the average distance in topic prevalence using a Euclidean distance measure. In Jeremy's Journal, LE participants were an average of 3.71 percentage points per topic from the reference group of HE participants. On Coach Wright, this distance decreased to 3.38 percentage points; in Roster Justice, to 3.19 percentage points, and finally to 2.88 percentage points in Layers, the final simulation ( Figure 4). In terms of the topics identified by the STM model, as LE participants progressed through the online course, their simulation responses became increasingly similar to those of HE participants.

We further extended this analysis to look at individual changes for LE participants compared with the HE reference group. LE participants significantly decreased in their average distance from the reference group for each topic by 0.64 percentage points ( t =17.18, df = 251, p < 0.001, ES = 1.08 SD). Changes in simulation responses were consistent with shifts in equity attitudes and self-reported practices in surveys. LE participants significantly increased on the equity mindsets composite scale between the pre- and postsurvey by an average of 0.88 SD ( t = 12.72, df = 207, p < 0.001), and this increase largely persisted on the follow-up survey (0.60 SD; t = 5.81, df = 93, p < 0.001). These participants also significantly increased in their self-reported use of equity-promoting practices from the pre- to the post- and follow-up surveys (presurvey-postsurvey: 0.32 SD, t = 4.70, df = 216, p < 0.001; presurvey-follow-up: 0.42 SD, t = 4.13, df = 97, p < 0.001). Changes in equity mindsets and self-reported equity-promoting practices on surveys were thus consistent with changes in simulation responses toward more equitable behavior.

To further assess the validity of this method for measuring changes in simulation response behavior, we examined ratings given by human raters to participants' responses in the Roster Justice scenarios. The average human rating for LE participants was correlated with their distance from the HE reference group ( r = −0.18, df = 198, t = 2.52, p < 0.05). This suggests that simulations responses from LE participants that were closer topically to those from HE participants were also more likely to be rated as equitable by human raters. This indicates that as LE participants became more similar to the HE participants in their simulation responses, their responses were also likely to be rated as more equitable. This further suggests that the convergence in simulation responses between the HE and LE participants over the four simulations in the online course likely reflected the LE participants becoming more equitable in their simulation responses rather than the HE participants becoming less equitable.

Discussion

Although equity simulations are a potentially promising practice in DEI education ( Robinson et al., 2018; Self, 2016), their utility as a teaching tool is somewhat constrained by the challenge of quickly interpreting and providing feedback on open-text responses. In this study, we explored the potential for using unsupervised NLP techniques to detect patterns within participants' responses to prompts within equity teaching simulations. We hypothesized that the topics identified by the structural topic model would reflect different aspects of what teachers noticed and interpreted within the simulation and that these patterns would be associated with survey measures of attitudes toward equity teaching. We also were interested in measuring changes in simulation responses of participants over the 8-week online course on DEI issues.

Overall, we found promising evidence for the use of NLP methods with simulations as a promising teaching tool for formatively assessing and evaluating equity-promoting teaching practices. Across all four simulations, the STM model identified discrete topics that reflected meaningful differences in what educators noticed and interpreted in the simulation. We also found preliminary evidence that topic modeling can be used to evaluate changes in simulation behavior over time. This suggests that NLP methods, such as STM, can be valuable tools when used in conjunction with equity teaching simulations.

The findings of this study point to a number of potential applications in the field of teacher education and in DEI training within educational settings more broadly. First, this study provides evidence supporting the use of simulation-based approaches to DEI training for educators. Although other studies have found benefits from using equity teaching simulations (e.g., J. A. Chen et al., 2020; Cohen et al., 2020; Self & Stengel, 2020), this is one of the first large-scale studies to detect changes in behavior within simulations. Digital simulation platforms in particular, such as Teacher Moments, have potential for wide impact because they are low-cost and relatively easy to customize and scale ( Kaka et al., 2021). Cost and scalability are often important factors in selecting and implementing teacher professional learning ( Kraft et al., 2018). As K-12 schools and educational organizations move toward incorporating more DEI-focused professional development, they should consider adopting digital equity simulations as part of a larger DEI professional learning strategy.

Second, this study suggests unsupervised models, such as STM, have the potential to automatically detect population-level patterns within simulation responses that can be used to create tools for teacher educators and professional development facilitators to interpret and evaluate data on teacher practice more easily. One of the barriers to scaling practice-based feedback in teacher education is the time and effort needed to manually analyze and provide feedback on individual practice ( Peercy, 2014). Combining digital simulations with NLP tools can help instructors evaluate and interpret teacher behavior and provide feedback at scale without large increases in resources or cost. These patterns could also be disaggregated by demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, race), teaching experience, and exposure to coursework, which could help identify how different attributes are related to what participants noticed in the simulation. The results of these analyses could also be used to study, for example, if what participants noticed in the simulation changed in response to an intervention.

Third, the findings of this suggest the potential effectiveness of applying NLP tools to evaluate and provide feedback on individual educator performance within simulation. Although some researchers have proposed using NLP as an alternative to human observations of teaching ( Jensen et al., 2020; Ramakrishnan et al., 2019); simulations allow for the collection of large-scale data without having to directly collect data from classrooms. The findings of this study suggest that NLP tools may be able to be integrated with digital simulations to provide automated feedback on participants' performance within the simulations. For example, in the Jeremy's Journal scenario, NLP could be used to detect when users are placing the majority of the blame on Jeremy for his performance in class. The system could then prompt the user to consider how external factors might play a role in Jeremy's performance and have them reattempt their response. Such an approach would work well within a large-scale online learning context, such as a MOOC, where individual feedback from instructors may not be logistically feasible. Automated feedback may allow simulation designers to tailor different feedback for participants with different levels of experience in discussing equity issues. For example, a less experienced user might receive recommendations on how inequitable educator mindsets affect student experiences in schools, while more experienced users would receive suggestions on how they can advocate for school-wide changes to inequitable school policies.

This study is a preliminary investigation into how NLP models can be used to automatically detect patterns within participants' responses in equity teaching simulation responses among participants in an MOOC about equitable teaching. Although we targeted the course at a broad group of educators, because of the topic of the course, participants in this course were more likely to be interested in equity issues than a general educator audience. As a result, the findings may not transfer to other teacher populations. As a future direction, it would be informative to study the effect of these scenarios with the general K-12 teacher population. In subsequent work, we aim to study patterns among participants in other settings including teacher education courses, in-person professional learning, and nonequity-focused online courses. Additionally, because participants did not repeat any of the simulations, we cannot say conclusively whether the change in patterns between simulations was due to changes in attitudes or changes in the simulation. We will, in future analyses, study changes in participants' responses within the same or parallel simulations where changes in response can be more clearly linked to changes in behavior.

Finally, we aim to expand from the results of this study to explore the potential for automatic evaluation of individual participants' responses within equity teaching simulations. Although the STM model was successful in identifying specific themes within participants' responses, in some cases it identified differences in topics that were not specifically related to equity. This may mean that the topics identified by the STM model may not be accurate enough to provide feedback for individual responses. In future work, we will explore using lightly supervised and hybrid approaches to improve the precision and accuracy of the NLP tools for evaluating individual responses without requiring extensive labeling.

In education and every other sector of society, there is much work to be done to create a more just and equitable foundation for human flourishing. Education has an important role to play in helping people recognize how their biases can lead to prejudiced or discriminatory behavior while also helping them to change those behaviors. Given the scope of social change that needs to happen, scalable digital technology has the potential to play an important role in education around DEI.

The evidence from this study suggests promise for using digital simulations to prepare educators on DEI issues within large-scale asynchronous learning environments. We found initial evidence that NLP analyses of digital equity teaching simulation data can be used to formatively assess participants' use of equity teaching practices and capture changes over time. These findings expand the field's understanding of how technology can prepare educators to enact equitable teaching practices ( J. A. Chen et al., 2020; Cohen et al., 2020; Okonofua et al., 2016) and offers tools to instructional designers and instructors develop and facilitate more effective DEI learning experiences.

ORCID iD
Joshua Littenberg-Tobias https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7204-3937

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Authors

JOSHUA LITTENBERG-TOBIAS is a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Teaching Systems Lab. His research focuses on learning interventions in a large-scale learning environment using computational measures to assess and evaluate learning.

ELIZABETH BORNEMAN is a designer, writer, and researcher interested in how art, computation, and communication can combine to strengthen community structures and enhance learning across learner background.

JUSTIN REICH is the Mitsui Career Development Professor of Comparative Media Studies and director of the Teaching Systems Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is interested in learning at scale, practice-based teacher education, and the future of learning in a networked world.

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Measuring Equity-Promoting Behaviors in Digital Teaching Simulations: A Topic Modeling Approach - Joshua Littenberg-Tobias, Elizabeth Borneman, Justin Reich, 2021

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Abstract Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues are urgent in education. We developed and evaluated a massive open online course ( N = 963) with embedded equity simulations that attempted to equip educators with equity teaching practices. Applying a structural topic model (STM)-a type of natural language processing (NLP)-we examined how participants with different equity attitudes responded in simulations.

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Step 1: Establish a Steering Committee
Step 2: Contextualize the Reflection Tool
Step 3: Hold consultations
Step 4: Develop an Action Plan
Step 5: Identify Resources and Tools
Step 6: Implement Action Plan
Step 7: Share and Learn from Each Other

The Centre views schools themselves to be the 'owners' of this process. Building the reflective capacity of school leaders increases the chances that such a process will have a long-term and sustained impact on the school. Each school is unique, serving a different community, with context-specific challenges and opportunities. Action plans must therefore be developed by and for the school communities, within existing parameters and with a deep understanding of what is possible.

PROJECT TRAJECTORY

We are piloting the Reflection Tool in selected schools in Canada during the 2021-2022 school year.

Sections and Sample Questions from the Reflection Tool
Note: The following questions are a selection of the full-length Reflection Tool which includes approximately 130 questions.
1. Vision, Mission and Strategic Planning

What more can we do to ensure that policies (international, national or regional) that address the inclusion of children with diverse backgrounds and abilities are discussed in the school and made available to administrators and teachers/staff?

What more can we do to ensure that the school's mission/vision statements emphasize that everyone has the right to feel like they belong as equal and valuable members of the school?

2.1 Inclusion in School Culture

What more can we do to ensure that all members of the school community (teachers, staff, students, parents/carers) take responsibility for making the school more inclusive?

What more can we do to ensure that exclusion is understood to take place not only in learning spaces but also on playgrounds and in the cafeteria, lunch/dining and staff rooms?

2.2. Inclusion of Staff and Students

What more can we do to ensure that students are involved in assessing their feelings of inclusion in their schools?

What more can we do to ensure that staff treat each other with respect, irrespective of any differences (e.g., gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, religion, class, ethnic background or political affiliation)?

3. Hiring, Professional Development and Training

What more can we do to ensure that the school has (or has a plan to develop) a diverse school staff (women and men, and individuals with non-binary gender identities, and with different races, ethnicities, physical abilities, religions, languages, socio-economic statuses, etc.)?

What more can we do to ensure that the composition of leadership/management, teaching and non-teaching staff reflect the communities that are present in the school?

4. Physical Spaces & Activities

What more can we do to ensure that the school environment is visually inclusive (e.g., signs in multiple languages, including those spoken by the school community, land acknowledgements, art from different cultures, etc.)?

What more can we do to ensure that all students have equal opportunities to participate in all school activities (e.g., children from disadvantaged families are given the same opportunity to join afterschool activities that require a financial contribution)?

5. Curriculum and Content

What more can we do to ensure that the curriculum frameworks and guidelines (e.g., those provided by the Ministry of Education or other external bodies) include promoting respect for different racial, ethnic, linguistic or religious groups and Indigenous Peoples?

the curriculum promotes knowledge about one's own and others' diverse identities as well as attitudes of respect and recognition?

6. Methodology & Pedagogy / Teacher Preparedness

What more can we do to ensure that teachers can identify culture and gender bias in teaching materials, the school environment and in their own teaching, and can they correct this bias?

What more can we do to ensure that students are encouraged to bring their own cultural or historic knowledge into the classroom?

7. Community Engagement

What more can we do to ensure that the differences (religion, language, socio-economic, etc.) between school and home cultures are recognized and addressed sensitively?

What more can we do to ensure that the school actively seeks out and acts on feedback from parents/carers on how to improve inclusion?

8. Pluralism-Specific Skills and Attributes

8.1 Critical and Historical Thinking

What more can we do to ensure that students are encouraged to question and think critically about the dominant historical narratives in their society?

What more can we do to ensure that teachers and students are encouraged to consider historical events from multiple perspectives?

8.2 Media and Digital Literacy

What more can we do to ensure that critical media and digital literacy are addressed/integrated into the school curriculum?

What more can we do to ensure that students are encouraged to deconstruct media representations of diversity (including who is included/excluded in different stories)?

8.3 Dialogue for Respectful Disagreement

What more can we do to ensure that teachers are confident in supporting students to discuss controversial topics in productive and respectful ways?

What more can we do to that staff, teachers and students are encouraged to think critically about their own biases, stereotypes and assumptions?

To learn more, contact the Education team at [email protected]

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Pluralism Reflection Tool for Schools - Global Centre for Pluralism

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Step 1: Establish a Steering Committee Step 2: Contextualize the Reflection Tool Step 3: Hold consultations Step 4: Develop an Action Plan Step 5: Identify Resources and Tools Step 6: Implement Action Plan Step 7: Share and Learn from Each Other The Centre views schools themselves to be the 'owners' of this process.

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Have you ever casually used the terms "spirit animal," "first-world problem," or "spooky"? It might be time to rethink your use of these phrases and remove them from your daily lingo.

CBC Ottawa compiled a small list of words, submitted by readers and some of our journalists who are Black, Indigenous and people of colour. We ran some of the words by anti-racism and language experts, who said some of these phrases can be hurtful to various groups of people for their historical and cultural context.

"Being an English speaker doesn't entail that you necessarily know the racist etymology automatically," said Ai Taniguchi, a linguist and an associate language studies professor with University of Toronto Mississauga, in an email to CBC.

Etymology is the study of the origins of words and the way their meanings change over time.

"The fact that you said it, oblivious to the etymology, doesn't automatically make you a bad person."

What you do once you find out a word is racist, sexist or ableist etymology carries more importance, she explained.

Taniguchi said she understands it's a tricky question, but it's less about being politically correct and more about listening to the lived experiences of others.

It's not so much about political correctness, I think it is about the empirical accuracy. - Jas Kalra, Anti-racism trainer

"'I didn't know it was racist' does not eliminate the pain of the hearer," said Taniguchi. "As language users, we have the social responsibility to monitor the impact our utterances have on others, especially when it involves a marginalized group."

Anti-racism trainer Jas Kalra agrees.

"It's not so much about political correctness, I think it is about the empirical accuracy and ... if somebody really calls us out on a particular word, we need to stop and say, 'It's not about me,'" said Kalra, who runs Ottawa-based Jas Kalra Consulting and coaches people and organizations on inclusion and diversity.

Blackmail, blacklist and black sheep

"The issue here is that these are all negative terms," said Joseph Smith, an anti-racism trainer and educator. "[It] connotes evil, distrust, lack of intelligence, ignorance, a lack beauty - the absence of white."

This lowering of blackness on the spectrum with regards to value was developed further in the wake of the transatlantic slave trade but it also predates that, explained Smith.

"[Black] became associated with a particular group of people, and that group of people received all that negative connotation. That's why we try to move away from these kinds of terms."

Kalra pointed out the tech industry is now moving away from using whitelist and blacklist, replacing it with terms like block-list or deny-list. Computer code labels like 'master' and 'slave' are also being re-examined.

"If we use the words 'allow-list' [instead of whitelist] or deny-list ... it enhances the true understanding of that word," she said.
WATCH | Anti-racism trainer explains why it's important to be sensitive to vocabulary:

Ghetto and inner city

Smith says terms like ghetto and inner city grew out of the industrial revolution in North America. The word ghetto also has a painful historical root in Europe during the Holocaust, and was likely derived from Jewish settlements in Italy centuries ago.

"Ghettos and inner cities were typically seen to be places where less refined people lived - the people who weren't up to date culturally, development-wise," he said.

Meanwhile, from the late 1900s onwards, political rhetoric and media representation showed suburbs as pleasant, quiet and gentle areas, while inner city was seen as dangerous and risky, he explained.

Using these terms implies a negative connotation toward people of a certain socio-economic class (often associated with racialized groups) - typically those who have recently immigrated and often move to large metropolis areas and not suburbs, he said.

Spooky

The term "spook" - used sometimes to refer to a ghost, spy, or something that's strange and frightening (often used during Halloween) - has a history of being an anti-Black slur when white soldiers began calling fellow Black soldiers "spooks" during World War II.

"[It's offensive] because of who and to what it's applied to," said Smith.

He reminds people a lot is packed into certain terms you may use flippantly.

"There's a history behind it and there's also all these connections that are made to other groups," he said. "It's almost like these terms have tentacles that spread and attach themselves to other things and infect."

Sold down the river

This phrase, now used to mean someone profoundly betrayed or jeopardized one's position, is directly connected to the transatlantic slave trade, Smith said.

"The problem with it, we use it in a lot of spaces," he said. "The negative connotation is hearkening back to a time when enslaved African people would be literally sold down the [Mississippi] river for profit, and seen as chattel, objects that could be used or disposed of at the whims of their slave owners."

Linguist Taniguchi says once we learn the painful history behind phrases like these, we need to commit to being sensitive to others' experiences.

"Language, communication, and free speech are valuable, but these things cannot come at the cost of endangering someone else's rights and pursuit of happiness."

Grandfathered in

Likewise, the phrase grandfathered in - modernly referring to someone or a business being exempt from new rules and continue operating as is - dates back to a 19th century policy called the "grandfather clause," which indirectly stopped Black Americans from voting by limiting eligibility to only those whose ancestors could vote.

"It's also speaking to that patriarchy ... a patriarchic family having supreme power over how things operate and manifest, and them possessing all the power and autonomy to make decisions and dictate the course of the future," said Smith.

"It's re-inscribing the idea of a male-dominated society or world."

"At a meeting, let's say you said 'grandfathered in' - you had no idea that it has racist roots. If a Black person asks you not to use that term, then don't," said Taniguchi.

Spirit animal, powwow and tribe

Given the history and current oppression of Indigenous communities by settlers, explained Taniguchi, metaphors English speakers casually use - such as spirit animal, let's have a powwow, and tribe - can be a painful insult to Indigenous communities.

"[It's] a reminder that their past and culture have always been treated as insignificant by settlers," she added.

Spirit animal has become a term of endearment to describe someone who the speaker deeply relates to or loves, explained anti-racism facilitator Kalra. Some synonyms can be alter ego, idol or soulmate.

However, she notes, spiritual connection and reverence for nature and ancestors is deeply rooted across Indigenous cultures - and the phrase itself turns that concept into a casual catchphrase that isn't widely used, or even used at all, among Indigenous people.

The same idea applies to using tribe and powwow - used to say "let's gather" - casually in conversation by someone who's not Indigenous.

"If a non-Indigenous person says 'this is my tribe,' I don't think it's OK, despite the fact that they're using it presumably in a metaphorical way," said Taniguchi.

Lowest on the totem pole

Totem poles are sacred items, much like headdresses, in Indigenous culture, explained Kalra.

The phrase "lowest on the totem pole," casually meaning something is less important, not only is culturally appropriating the totem pole, but it's contextually wrong.

"In some First Nations communities, being [carved] low on the totem pole might actually be a great honour," she said. "When you're culturally appropriating somebody's cultural symbols ... you're saying that marginalized members of society are free for taking."

Savage

In the modern context, savage has become a word used to describe someone who is fierce, or a situation that is intense - and carries a positive or semi-positive connotation.

It's used a lot in the sports world, explained Smith, especially among men when describing actions, behaviours and thoughts that don't conform to norms.

The problem, he says, is the word's origin: it was used by colonizers who saw themselves as "the epitome of refinement, intelligence, spirituality" and considered Indigenous people, and Black and other people of colour who were forcibly brought to North America, or arrived here soon after colonization, as "savage, brutal, unrefined, and uncultured in comparison to European settlers."

In 2019, an Indigenous educator called out a clothing line for using the word on T-shirts.

"It's important to understand that for Indigenous people, this word is our N-word," said Douglas Stewart at the time.

Gypped and gypsy

When someone says they've been "gypped," they mean defrauded or swindled of something.

But that word, which stems from gypsy, is problematic as it has been used as a derogatory slur against Roma who historically travelled from place to place across Europe, says Smith.

The term perpetuates the stereotype that Roma are lower class, not mature or cultured, and foreigners, explained Smith.

"You're othering somebody," he said.

First-world problem

People have slowly moved away from using the term third world to describe low-income countries, says Kalra, but the phrase first-world problem is still used to convey that something is an issue only to those who live in a country with privilege and wealth.

It can be classist, she said.

"When we're saying first world, we're putting them at the top ... What does it convey?" she said. "Why do we have to use these prefixes, which kind of dehumanize some country or some human being or a group?"

Brainstorm, blindsided and blind-spot

The prefix blind is often used in metaphorical terms like blindsided, blind spot and blind leading the blind, to describe the limitation of sight.

"I can see that being offensive to people who can't see," said Julie Cashman, a member of the disability community and co-chair of Consumer Action Committee, which advocates for individuals with disabilities.

Using the term brainstorm could also be insensitive to those who have brain injuries or are neurodiverse, added Cashman.

"More important is the stigma that it will effectuate about ... disorders [like] epilepsy for example," said Kalra.

Dumb and lame

Dumb is modernly used to describe lack of intelligence, but it was once used to describe someone who lacked the ability to speak. Similarly, lame is now used to describe someone or something that's boring or unexciting, but was also a term used against those who have limitations of movement in their limbs.

Both are highly offensive when describing people in the disability community, but also when used casually, says Cashman.

"People now are using lame as a slang, so they go around saying that's lame," she said. "I don't think they really understand what that means .. they just think it's a cool term, but for me, when I hear that, I definitely know what that term means ... it's something I wouldn't say."
WATCH | Disability advocate explains how words have hurt her in the past:

Tone deaf

Though it's used to describe someone who's not able to distinguish musical pitch, or metaphorically as someone who's insensitive to certain matters, tone deaf may not be a kind term to those who have hearing impairments.

Cashman suggests using descriptors like "musically disinclined" instead. Insensitive is another suggestion.

Crippled

This term is used more as a verb to describe a situation, however, it was used historically dating back thousands of years to describe people who are partially disabled or unable to move their limbs.

"I've seen that word being used in the Bible," said Cashman. "I think that's very offensive ... I would use maybe disability ... or mobility issue."

"It's ableist," said Hélène Courchesne, co-ordinator of planning and funding with Ottawa-based group ABLE2, which supports people with disabilities. "It's taken out of context and that's when it becomes offensive."

Metaphorically, people can say "overtaken by fear," she suggests.

"It's the pejorative connotation to it. You're not as good as me, you'll never be as good as me," Courchesne explained about using words that can be painful for the disability community.

"Language is very important."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians - from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community - check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.

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Words and phrases you may want to think twice about using | CBC News

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Have you ever used the terms "spirit animal" or "spooky"? These are among a small list of phrases or words maybe you should think again about using.

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Black people have lived in what we now call Canada since the 1600s. From that time until the early 1800s, hundreds were forced to come here as enslaved people.

After slavery was abolished here in 1834, thousands of people of African descent from the United States, the Caribbean and Africa chose to come to Canada at different times for different reasons.

For 400 years, Black men and women have contributed to all areas of society. They have fought for Black people to be treated with fairness and equality in the struggle against racial discrimination, a fight that has benefited all Canadians.

This edition of Kayak shares some amazing stories and examples of the ways Black Canadians helped to build and shape this country. The United Nations' International Decade for People of African Descent (2015 to 2024) encourages us to "promote a greater knowledge of and respect for the diverse heritage, culture and contribution of people of African descent to the development of societies" and this issue of Kayak helps to do just that.

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kayak: canada’s history magazine for kids

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Black History in Canada - Canada's History

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Black people have lived in what we now call Canada since the 1600s. From that time until the early 1800s, hundreds were forced to come here as enslaved people. After slavery was abolished here in 1834, thousands of people of African descent from the United States, the Caribbean and Africa chose to come to Canada at different times for different reasons.

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Présenté pour la première fois à l'hiver 2018 en format numérique seulement, nous sommes fiers de pouvoir maintenant vous offrir cette version étoffée de notre numéro sur l'Histoire des Noirs au Canada, cette version enrichie de notre numéro sur l'Histoire des Noirs au Canada, produite en 2022. Si vous avez reçu le numéro de 2024, voici le lien vers la version numérique 2024.

Ce numéro de Kayak, produit en collaboration avec notre rédactrice invitée Natasha Henry, vous fera découvrir des histoires étonnantes et des exemples des réalisations des Noirs du Canada, qui ont contribué à bâtir notre pays. Non seulement vous y trouverez les mêmes histoires que dans la version originale, mais nous avons également ajouté trois nouveaux articles sur des personnages qui ont participé à la protection et à la promotion de l'histoire des Noirs, sur la longue tradition de certaines organisations regroupant des femmes noires et sur des Canadiens aux origines afro-autochtones.

Les Noirs habitent le pays que l'on appelle aujourd'hui le Canada depuis les années 1600. De cette période jusqu'au début des années 1800, des centaines d'entre eux ont été forcés de venir ici après avoir été réduits en esclavage.

Une fois l'esclavage aboli au pays, en 1834, des milliers de personnes d'origine africaine venues des États-Unis, des Antilles et d'Afrique ont choisi elles aussi le Canada à différents moments et pour différentes raisons.

Pendant 400 ans, les hommes et les femmes de race noire ont contribué à tous les secteurs de la société. Ils se sont battus pour que les Noirs soient traités avec justice et équité dans leur lutte contre la discrimination raciale, un combat qui a bénéficié à tous les Canadiens.

La Décennie internationale des personnes d'ascendance africaine des Nations Unies (2015 à 2024) nous encourage à " promouvoir une meilleure connaissance et un plus grand respect de la diversité du patrimoine, de la culture et de la contribution au développement des sociétés des personnes d'ascendance africaine ". C'est le but de ce numéro de Kayak.

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Trousse éducative - l'histoire des noirs - Histoire Canada

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Trousse éducative - l'histoire des noirs

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Oscar nominated for Best Documentary Feature! A historic moment for the disability community.

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Oscar nominated for Best Documentary Feature! A historic moment for the disability community.

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It includes lesson plans! https://cripcamp.com/curriculum/

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In the summer of 2020, the Crip Camp Impact Campaign hosted a 15 week virtual camp experience that featured trailblazing speakers from the disability community. With nearly 10,000 participants, Crip Camp 2020 showed the power of committing to accessibility for all.

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Example of Class Activity - When students learn about each other's identities, it helps them understand their own biases and prejudices, as well as build a space of respect and tolerance for all.

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Example of Class Activity - When students learn about each other's identities, it helps them understand their own biases and prejudices, as well as build a space of respect and tolerance for all.

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Exploring Perceptions About Identity Through Self-Portraits

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Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay's examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country's history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America.

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Scholar Ibram X. Kendi won a National Book Award for his 2016 history of racist thought in the U.S., Stamped From the Beginning, and leads the Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University. He's spent years immersed in the facts and theory of one of society's ugliest dimensions. His conclusion? There is no such thing as not being racist. Rather, he posits, there is only racism and that which actively works against it: antiracism. In his latest book, both self-examination and self-help, Kendi offers detailed instructions on how and why to put antiracism into practice. How to Be an Antiracist offers a reverberant challenge to its readers, calling on them to rethink deeply rooted ideas about race. It won't be easy or comfortable, but Kendi makes a convincing case that it's worthwhile.

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'How to Be An Anti-Racist' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2019

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Scholar Ibram X. Kendi won a National Book Award for his 2016 history of racist thought in the U.S., Stamped From the Beginning , and leads the Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University. He's spent years immersed in the facts and theory of one of society's ugliest dimensions.

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21 Things You May Not Know about the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality
by Bob Joseph
Indigenous Relations Press,
199 pages, $19.95

A double review with

Talking Back to the Indian Act: Critical Readings in Settler Colonial Histories
by Mary-Ellen Kelm and Keith D. Smith
University of Toronto Press,
230 pages, $31.95

It is fair to assume that everyday Canadians know little about the 1876 Indian Act and that stereotypes and mistruths guide public opinion and kitchen-table discourse. Despite amendments, notably in 1951 and 1985, the Indian Act still determines who is an "Indian," dictates the rules of on-reserve governance, and is the pipeline for chronically underfunded band-controlled school systems.

The first step towards reconciliation is dispelling errors by filling the gaps in our knowledge that have been left by our history education. Bob Joseph's 21 Things You May Not Know about the Indian Act and Mary-Ellen Kelm and Keith D. Smith's Talking Back to the Indian Act offer Canadians readable overviews of the meat and potatoes of the act. Joseph approaches the task using a conversational tone, highlighting twenty-one restrictions imposed at some point by the Indian Act in its 144 years of existence, while Kelm and Smith provide a critical-thinking framework to analyze a collection of historical extracts pulled from or related to the Indian Act.

21 Things You May Not Know about the Indian Act is subtitled Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality and is optimistic in the least trite of ways. Joseph, founder and president of Indigenous Corporate Training and a member of the Gwawaenuk Nation in British Columbia, has trained thousands of people with the aim of building Indigenous relations, and the tone of his book shows this.

Without sidestepping, he teaches how the Indian Act disrespected and undermined the roles of Indigenous women: "The dissolution of women's stature, coupled with the abuses of the residential school system, has been a significant contributor to the vulnerability of Indigenous women." And he shows how it led to the creation of reserves where "Indigenous people were forced into European-style homes that were inappropriate for the traditional concept of family and often inappropriate for the climate."

Leading the reader through just over one hundred pages, Joseph peels back the layers of the Indian Ac t in seven chapters with titles like "Resistance is Futile," "Tightening Control," and "Looking Forward to a Better Canada." His book is honest, sanguine, practical, and - maybe most important - easily shared.

He tackles the often-asked question, why don't we just scrap the Indian Act? by pointing out that it is the one piece of federal legislation that makes clear the obligations the Canadian government bears towards First Nations peoples.

Bookended with an overview of the act plus appendices that include the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's ninety-four calls to action, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is a heartfelt guide for reconciliation. Joseph leaves the reader with the thought that "the Indian Act was designed for a specific purpose that no longer exists in a country committed to reconciliation."

Talking Back to the Indian Act begins by imbuing the reader with a sense of action: "As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) taught us, history tells us a great deal about the truths with which we live today. In order to answer fully the TRC's 94 Calls to Action, we must better understand Canada's historical relationship with Indigenous peoples."

Using the five Cs of historical thinking - changes over time, context, causality, contingency, and complexity - along with a clear metric of Indigenous methodology, Kelm and Smith remind us that the Indian Act "remains surprisingly understudied, resistant to substantial revision, and largely unknown to non-Indigenous Canadians."

After laying a pedagogical base, the authors unpack the act thematically, using governance, enfranchisement, gender, and land as entry points. Guided by introductory backgrounders by Kelm and Smith, and led through selected historical documents, the reader gets a firsthand glimpse into the minds of the parliamentarians responsible for drafting the Indian Act and the successive administrations that amended and implemented it.

The 1876 words of Superintendent General of Indian Affairs David Laird act as both a window and a mirror: "Our Indian legislation generally rests on the principle that the aboriginal peoples are to be kept in a condition of tutelage and treated as wards or children of the State."

Kelm, Canada Research Chair and history professor at Simon Fraser University, and Smith, chair of the Department of First Nations Studies at the Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C., duly include First People's voices in the book. In a letter to Prime Minister John A. Macdonald in 1879, the Ohsweken Council, representing three hundred chiefs and warriors of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, wrote: "We believe that the Act in question will in time deprive us of our liberties, rights, and privileges which we now enjoy under the Treaty between Great Britain and the Six Nations Indians, and we have no wish other than faithfully adhering to the Treaty...."

Written in the first person, interwoven with the professional parlance of history educators, fortified with primary-source evidence, and shored up with inquiry questions, maps, and a timeline, Talking Back to the Indian Act is not an unwieldy academic tome; rather, it speaks to all Canadians. With a bit of a nudge, it would be as comfortable on a coffee table as it would be in a course syllabus.

Like the London Underground's caution to commuters to be wary of the gap between the train door and the station platform, these books remind Canadians that we are all products of our history education and have been left with a definable gap in our knowledge about the Indian Act and its long-term effects on Indigenous people. Both books seek to lessen that chasm while offering us a cue to mind the gap.

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kayak: canada’s history magazine for kids

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21 Things You May Not Know about the Indian Act

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21 Things You May Not Know about the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality by Bob Joseph Indigenous Relations Press, 199 pages, $19.95 Talking Back to the Indian Act: Critical Readings in Settler Colonial Histories by Mary-Ellen Kelm and Keith D.

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iHeartRadio and Pushkin Industries

Be Antiracist imagines what an antiracist society might look like and how we all can play an active role in building one. Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is the author of How to Be an Antiracist, the book that spurred a nationwide conversation redefining what it means to be antiracist, and in this podcast, he guides listeners how they can identify and reject the racist systems hiding behind racial inequity and injustice. Alongside notable guests, Dr. Kendi continues his journey towards building a just and equitable world and proposes how we can all help create it with him.

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iHeartRadio and Pushkin Industries Be Antiracist imagines what an antiracist society might look like and how we all can play an active role in building one. Dr. Ibram X.

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"The value in White Fragility lies in its methodical, irrefutable exposure of racism in thought and action, and its call for humility and vigilance."
- The New Yorker

"[T]houghtful, instructive, and comprehensive . . . This slim book is impressive in its scope and complexity; DiAngelo provides a powerful lens for examining, and practical tools for grappling with, racism today."
- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

" White Fragility is a book everyone should be exposed to. With any luck, most who are will be inspired to search themselves and interrupt their contributions to racism."
- Shelf Awareness, Starred Review

"A valuable guide . . . While especially helpful for those new to the critical analysis of whiteness, this work also offers a useful refresher to anyone committed to the ongoing process of self-assessment and anti-oppression work."
- Library Journal

"A penetrating new book."
- Pacific Standard

"A vital, necessary, and beautiful book, a bracing call to white folk everywhere to see their whiteness for what it is and to seize the opportunity to make things better now."
-Michael Eric Dyson

"As a woman of color, I find hope in this book because of its potential to disrupt the patterns and relationships that have emerged out of long-standing colonial principles and beliefs. White Fragility is an essential tool toward authentic dialogue and action. May it be so!"
-Shakti Butler, president of World Trust and director of Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible

"A rare and incisive examination of the system of white body supremacy that binds us all as Americans. . . . With authenticity and clarity, she provides the antidote to white fragility and a road map for developing white racial stamina and humility. White Fragility loosens the bonds of white supremacy and binds us back together as human beings."
-Resmaa Menakem, author of My Grandmother's Hands and Rock the Boat

"As powerful forces of white racism again swell, DiAngelo invites white progressives to have a courageous conversation about their culture of complicity. . . . White Fragility provides important antiracist understanding and essential strategies for well-intentioned white people who truly endeavor to be a part of the solution."
-Glenn E. Singleton, author of Courageous Conversations About Race

"Robin DiAngelo demonstrates an all-too-rare ability to enter the racial conversation with complexity, nuance, and deep respect. Her writing establishes her mastery in accessing the imaginal, metaphoric mind where the possibility for transformation resides. With an unwavering conviction that change is possible, her message is clear: the incentive for white engagement in racial justice work is ultimately self-liberation."
-Leticia Nieto, coauthor of Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment

"White fragility is the secret ingredient that makes racial conversations so difficult and achieving racial equity even harder. But by exposing it and showing us all-including white folks-how it operates and how it hurts us, individually and collectively, Robin DiAngelo has performed an invaluable service. An indispensable volume for understanding one of the most important (and yet rarely appreciated) barriers to achieving racial justice."
-Tim Wise, author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son

"Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility brings language to the emotional structures that make true discussions about racial attitudes difficult. With clarity and compassion, DiAngelo allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to 'bad people.' In doing so, she moves our national discussions forward with new 'rules of engagement.' This is a necessary book for all people invested in societal change through productive social and intimate relationships."
-Claudia Rankine

" White Fragility is a must-read for all educators because racism and racial disparities in access and opportunity continue to be an urgent issue in our schools. As educators, we need to summon up the courage and together act deliberately and honestly to develop the skills we need to engage in conversations about bias, race, and racism-especially our own."
-Val Brown, professional development facilitator and founder of #ClearTheAir

Foreword by Michael Eric Dyson
Author's Note

Introduction: We Can't Get There from Here

1
The Challenges of Talking to White People About Racism

2
Racism and White Supremacy

3
Racism After the Civil Rights Movement

4
How Does Race Shape the Lives of White People?

5
The Good/Bad Binary

6
Anti-Blackness

7
Racial Triggers for White People

8
The Result: White Fragility

9
White Fragility in Action

10
White Fragility and the Rules of Engagement

11
White Women's Tears

12
Where Do We Go from Here?

Resources for Continuing Education
Acknowledgments
Notes

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White Fragility by Dr. Robin DiAngelo: 9780807047408 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

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"The value in White Fragility lies in its methodical, irrefutable exposure of racism in thought and action, and its call for humility and vigilance."- The New Yorker "[T]houghtful, instructive, and comprehensive . . .

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Bob Hearts Abishola (stylized as BOB ❤️ ABISHOLA) is an American sitcom television series created by Chuck Lorre, Eddie Gorodetsky, Al Higgins, and Gina Yashere that premiered on September 23, 2019, on CBS. It stars Billy Gardell and Folake Olowofoyeku as the respective title characters, with Christine Ebersole, Matt Jones, Maribeth Monroe, Shola Adewusi, Barry Shabaka Henley, Travis Wolfe Jr., Vernee Watson, Bayo Akinfemi, Anthony Okungbowa, and Gina Yashere in supporting roles. In February 2021, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on September 20, 2021.

Bob Wheeler runs his family's successful, highly-competitive sock company in Detroit with his mother Dottie and his younger twin siblings, Christina and Douglas. When the stress of the job lands Bob in Woodward Memorial Hospital, due to a mild heart attack, he is immediately drawn to Abishola Adebambo, his kind, hardworking nurse. Despite their differences, Bob falls in love with Abishola and sets his sights on getting her to give him a chance.

Billy Gardell as Robert "Bob" Wheeler, a divorced man who runs MaxDot, his family's compression sock manufacturing company in Detroit. When he has a heart attack because of the business and his family, he wakes at the hospital where he meets a Nigerian nurse and falls in love.

Folake Olowofoyeku as Abishola Bolatito Doyinsola Oluwatoyin Adebambo, Bob's nurse at Woodward Memorial Hospital; an immigrant Nigerian who lives with her son, aunt and uncle in a small apartment. She and her husband emigrated to America with their son approximately eight years prior to the start of the series events, but her husband returned to Nigeria after deciding he didn't want to start over in their new country.

Christine Ebersole as Dorothy "Dottie" Wheeler, Bob, Douglas and Christina's mother. Her late husband, Max, was the founder of MaxDot. After suffering a stroke, she moved in with Bob and receives nursing care from Abishola and Gloria at Bob's house.

Matt Jones as Douglas Wheeler, Dottie's son, Bob's younger brother and Christina's twin brother. He is the vice president of human resources at MaxDot, a position he got purely through nepotism. In season 2, Dottie demotes him to the warehouse floor, in an effort to teach him discipline and get him to take his job seriously. Despite hating the idea, Douglas comes to enjoy his new job and especially likes the relationships he builds with the warehouse workers, particularly Kofo and Goodwin.

Maribeth Monroe as Christina Wheeler, Dottie's daughter, Bob's younger sister and Douglas' twin sister. She is the sales department representative at MaxDot and was previously married, but the relationship ended after she stabbed her husband with a knife.

Shola Adewusi as Oluwatoyin "Olu" Ifedayo Olatunji, Abishola's aunt and Tunde's wife.

Barry Shabaka Henley as Babatunde "Tunde" Olatunji, Abishola's uncle and Olu's husband.

Travis Wolfe Jr. as Dele Babatunde Adebambo, Abishola's son.

Vernee Watson as Gloria Tyler, a charge nurse at Woodward Memorial Hospital and Abishola's co-worker. She studied to become a doctor, but just as she was about to start her residency at Detroit Memorial Hospital, the doors were closed to her. Because she had a family and needed a job, she ended up becoming a nurse.

Gina Yashere as Kemi, Abishola's best friend for the last 20 years; she works in food service at Woodward Memorial Hospital.

Bayo Akinfemi as Goodwin Aderibigbe Olayiwola, an employee at MaxDot and Kofo's cousin. They often speak to each other privately in Yoruba. In season 2, it is revealed that Goodwin was on a path toward becoming a professor of economics before leaving Nigeria.

Anthony Okungbowa as Kofoworola "Kofo" Omogoriola Olanipekun, an employee at MaxDot and Goodwin's cousin.

Tony Tambi as Chukwuemeka Mborata (season 1-present), a pharmacist who was Abishola's suitor and now is Kemi's love interest.

Kimberly Scott as Ogechi Mborata (season 1-present), Chukwuemeka's smothering and manipulative mother.

Conphidance as Pastor Balogun (season 1-present), the pastor at Abishola's church.

Vishesh Chachra as Dr. Sanjiv Chakraborty (season 1-present), an arrogant doctor who works at Woodward Memorial Hospital.

Nicole Sullivan as Lorraine Wheeler (season 1-2), Bob's ex-wife.

Dayo Ade as Tayo Adebambo (season 2-present), Abishola's Nigerian husband who finally grants her a divorce near the end of season 2.

Saidah Arrika Ekulona as Ebunoluwa (season 2-present), Abishola's mother and Olu's sister.

Missi Pyle as Liz (season 1), Bob's online date.

Wendie Malick and Marilu Henner as Jen Davenport and Trish Dolan (season 1), Dottie's friends.

John Ratzenberger as Hank Sobieski (season 1), a fellow stroke survivor whom Dottie meets.

Leonard Roberts as Guy (season 1), Hank's caretaker.

Ryan Cartwright as David (season 2), a salesman at a jewelry store where Bob and Tunde go to buy an engagement ring.

Jack McGee and Susan Ruttan as Mr. and Mrs. Clark (season 2), a patient at the Woodward Memorial Hospital and his wife.

Joel Brooks as Arnie Goldfischer (season 2), Bob's lawyer.

Tori Danner as Morenike

Season 1 (2019-20)

Season 2 (2020-21)

Season 3 (2021)

On October 5, 2018, it was announced that CBS had given the production an early pilot order. The pilot was written by Chuck Lorre, who executive produced along with Eddie Gorodetsky, Al Higgins and Gina Yashere. Production companies involved with the pilot included Chuck Lorre Productions and Warner Bros. Television. On May 6, 2019, it was announced that the production had been given a series order. A day after that, it was announced that the series would premiere in the fall of 2019 and air on Mondays at 8:30 p.m. The series debuted on September 23, 2019. On October 22, 2019, it was announced that CBS had ordered an additional nine episodes of the series. On March 13, 2020, Warner Bros. Television announced that production was suspended due to the television impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shutdown left the last two intended episodes of the season unfilmed. On May 6, 2020, CBS renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on November 16, 2020. On February 17, 2021, CBS renewed the series for a third season which premiered on September 20, 2021.

On December 17, 2018, it was announced that five co-leads, opposite Billy Gardell and Folake Olowofoyeku as the title characters, had been cast, including Christine Ebersole, Maribeth Monroe, Matt Jones, Shola Adewusi and Barry Shabaka Henley.

This is Gardell's second starring role in a CBS sitcom, after , which ran from 2010 to 2016 and was also executive produced by Lorre; in addition, Gardell has a recurring role on Young Sheldon as Herschel Sparks, a neighbor of the title character. Matt Jones is an alum of fellow Lorre/CBS series . On January 30, 2020, it was reported that Anthony Okungbowa and Bayo Akinfemi had been promoted to series regulars.

While taking place in Detroit, Bob Hearts Abishola is filmed at Warner Brothers Burbank Studios in Los Angeles. Several Detroit references are incorporated into the show's setting. For example, the fictional Woodward Memorial Hospital where Abishola works is a reference to Woodward Avenue ( Michigan Highway M-1), which is a main route running from Detroit to Pontiac. The Dele character attends Jamerson Middle School, a likely reference to the legendary Motown bass player James Jamerson. Also, the Abishola and Kemi characters ride to work on the 16 Dexter bus, which is a real bus line for the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT). Co-creator Lorre chose the location, in part, because of Detroit's rapidly growing immigrant population. While Detroit's U.S.-born inhabitants declined 5.3 percent between the 2010 census and 2014, the immigrant population rose by 12.7 percent. The cast and crew were originally going to do location filming in Lagos, Nigeria for some Season 3 episodes, but the COVID-19 pandemic made those plans untenable, so stories set in Lagos will be filmed in southern California instead.

On May 15, 2019, CBS released the first official trailer for the series.

Bob Hearts Abishola premiered in United States on CBS and Canada on CTV on September 26, 2019.

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 58% approval rating with an average rating of 6.75/10, based on 12 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Groundbreaking, but unfortunately grating, Bob (Hearts) Abishola undermines its own progressive premise with underwhelming humor that relies too heavily on outdated stereotypes." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 57 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

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Bob Hearts Abishola (stylized as BOB ❤️ ABISHOLA) is an American sitcom television series created by Chuck Lorre, Eddie Gorodetsky, Al Higgins, and Gina Yashere that premiered on September 23, 2019, on CBS.

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The Neighborhood is an American sitcom television series, created by Jim Reynolds, that premiered on October 1, 2018, on CBS. The series follows a white Midwestern family as they adjust to moving into a predominantly African-American neighborhood in Pasadena, California. It stars Cedric the Entertainer, Max Greenfield, Sheaun McKinney, Marcel Spears, Hank Greenspan, Tichina Arnold, and Beth Behrs. In January 2019, CBS announced it had renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on September 23, 2019. In May 2020, the series was renewed for a third season.

The Neighborhood follows "the nicest guy in the Midwest" who moves his family into a tough neighborhood in L.A. where not everyone appreciates his extreme neighborliness. That includes their new next-door neighbor Calvin."

Cedric the Entertainer as Calvin Butler, Tina's husband and Malcolm and Marty's father. He owns an auto repair shop called Calvin's Pit Stop.

Max Greenfield as Dave Johnson, Gemma's husband and Grover's father. He is a professional conflict mediator and a graduate of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Beth Behrs as Gemma Johnson, Dave's wife and Grover's mother. Her new job as principal at a private school in Los Angeles is the impetus for the Johnson family moving to California.

Tichina Arnold as Tina Butler, Calvin's wife and Malcolm and Marty's mother. She was once an aspiring singer, but now works the front desk at Calvin's auto shop.

Sheaun McKinney as Malcolm Butler, Calvin and Tina's older son. He was once a professional baseball player working his way through the minor leagues until an injury ended his career. Since then, he has had trouble finding steady employment. In season 2, Marty got Malcolm a job as a security guard at JPL.

Marcel Spears as Martin "Marty" Lawrence Butler, Calvin and Tina's younger son. He is a successful engineer at JPL and a bit of a nerd.

Hank Greenspan as Grover Johnson, Dave and Gemma's son who is an elementary school student.

Season 1 (2018-19)

Season 2 (2019-20)

On September 27, 2017, it was announced that CBS had given the production, then titled Here Comes the Neighborhood, a pilot production commitment. The pilot was written by Jim Reynolds who was also set to executive produce alongside Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor, and Wendi Trilling. Production companies involved with the pilot include Kapital Entertainment, CBS Television Studios, and Trill Television. On January 27, 2018, the production officially received a pilot order. On February 9, 2018, it was announced that James Burrows would direct the pilot.

On May 9, 2018, it was announced that CBS had given the production, now titled Welcome to the Neighborhood, a series order. A few days later, it was announced that the title of the show had been changed to The Neighborhood. A day after that, it was announced that the series would premiere in the fall of 2018 and air on Mondays at 8:00 P.M. On July 9, 2018, it was announced that the series would premiere on October 1, 2018. On October 19, 2018, it was announced that CBS had ordered an additional eight episodes of the series, bringing the first season total up to twenty-one episodes. On January 25, 2019, CBS renewed the series for a second season and premiered on September 23, 2019. On May 6, 2020, CBS renewed the series for a third season, which is set to premiere by fall 2020.

In March 2018, it was announced that Sheaun McKinney, Marcel Spears, Cedric the Entertainer, Josh Lawson, Tichina Arnold had joined the pilot's main cast. On April 4, 2018, it was reported that Dreama Walker had joined the cast in a main role. On May 15, 2018, it was announced that Max Greenfield had replaced Lawson in the role of Dave Johnson. On June 11, 2018, it was announced that Beth Behrs had replaced Walker in the role of Gemma Johnson. On October 11, 2018, it was reported that Marilu Henner had been cast in a guest starring role. On December 10, 2018, it was announced that Marla Gibbs would make a guest appearance in the series.

On May 16, 2018, CBS released the first official trailer for the series. On July 11, 2018, a short promo video for the series was released, showcasing the addition of Greenfield and Behrs, with newly filmed footage from the re-shot pilot episode. Two days later, a new full length trailer featuring Greenfield and Behrs was released.

On September 12, 2018, the series took part in the 12th Annual PaleyFest Fall Television Previews which featured a preview screening of the series and a conversation with cast members including Cedric the Entertainer, Tichina Arnold, Max Greenfield, and Beth Behrs.

The series has been met with a mixed to negative response from critics upon its premiere. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 24% with an average rating of 4.31 out of 10, based on 17 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "While the show's likable cast has potential, poor attempts at cultural commentary and weak characterizations leave The Neighborhood stuck in a creative dead end." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 50 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."

CBS Home Entertainment released the complete first season on DVD on August 4, 2020.

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The Neighborhood is an American sitcom television series, created by Jim Reynolds, that premiered on October 1, 2018, on CBS. The series follows a white Midwestern family as they adjust to moving into a predominantly African-American neighborhood in Pasadena, California. It stars Cedric the Entertainer, Max Greenfield, Sheaun McKinney, Marcel Spears, Hank Greenspan, Tichina Arnold, and Beth Behrs.

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