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DO-IT (2022) does a wonderful job with identifying potential biases withing the classroom, as they pertain to students with disabilities. Some are those that teachers may do it an effort to protect their students. However, some are acted out by their peers. In this article, information is relayed that can be used for students of any age.

How does unintended or unconscious bias affect students with disabilities? How does unintended or unconscious bias affect students with disabilities? | DO-IT. (2022, May 23). Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.washington.edu/doit/how-does-unintended-or-unconscious-bias-affect-students-disabilities#:~:text=Most%20bias%20related%20to%20students,careers%20is%20a%20common%20bias.

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Unintended bias or unconscious bias refers to stereotypes or beliefs that affect our actions in a discriminatory manner. Most bias related to students with disabilities groups is unintentional. Stress, distraction, and other factors can make someone more likely to be biased in a given situation.

Assuming students with disabilities are less able to be successful in their education or careers is a common bias. Examples of situations resulting from such bias include:

Assuming that a student with a disability will be unable to complete a lab course or other class activity.

Asking a student with a disability to take on a specific role (e.g., notetaker) during group work because of the assumption that it is the only way the student will be able to contribute.

Offering unrequested adjustments or support to a student with a disability because of an assumption that they will not perform well in a class.

Not engaging a student with a disability in a class discussion in order to avoid calling attention to them.

Not providing accessible bathrooms in a science or engineering building.

With effort, unconscious bias can be reduced. Strategies to do so include:

Becoming more aware of our own biases and changing our own actions. The Implicit Association Test is one way to become more aware of your own biases.

Speaking up when you see actions that imply unintended bias.

Modeling equity in your actions.

For more information about unintended bias, watch Recognizing and Addressing Unintended Bias in Engineering Education or Managing Unconscious Bias.

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How does unintended or unconscious bias affect students with disabilities? | DO-IT

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Unintended bias or unconscious bias refers to stereotypes or beliefs that affect our actions in a discriminatory manner. Most bias related to students with disabilities groups is unintentional. Stress, distraction, and other factors can make someone more likely to be biased in a given situation. Ass…

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Johnson presented some mind blowing statistics in students who are bullied based on their religion. She goes on to speak to how teachers should protect themselves by understanding the law. It is important for teachers to understand the law in order to protect themselves and their students from unworthy accusations. This article pertains to students in any grade, as teasing and curiosities can happen even in the early grades.

Johnson, P. (2021, October 29). Religion equity in schools – protecting students and their civil rights. IDRA. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.idra.org/resource-center/religion-equity-in-schools-protecting-students-and-their-civil-rights/

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* Paula Johnson, Ph.D. * IDRA Newsletter * August 2018
Many youths face bullying and harassment in school because of their race, ethnicity, language, gender, sexual orientation or disability. One area that tends to get less attention is religion equity, except perhaps when a dramatic incident catches the public's eye. Reports indicate a rise in the number of Muslim and Sikh students expressing concern for their well-being and that of their families stemming from a perceived association between their religious heritage and terrorism (Guo, 2011; Rogers et al., 2017). Students from other religious groups across the country also experience bullying, which affects both their social and emotional well-being.
This article focuses on religious diversity as a protected civil right, how schools can foster more inclusive learning environments, and recommendations for educators.

Religious Diversity as a Civil Rights Issue

Very little research has investigated bullying based on religious differences. In these types of bullying situations, the act may have more to do with negative attitudes and stereotypes about how someone expresses their beliefs and have less to do beliefs themselves. Nevertheless, when bullying based on religion occurs in a severe, pervasive or persistent manner, it can be considered harassment under Title IV of the Civil Rights Act (AERA, 2013). When schools do not adequately address harassment, they may be in violation of civil rights laws, sometimes requiring intervention by the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.

Many times, students report being targeted because of visible symbols they wear in accordance with their religious beliefs. For example, Jewish boys wearing yarmulkes and Sikh males who wear patka or dastaar (head covering), experience bullying based on their attire. There also have been several incidents involving young Muslim girls wearing traditional hijab (head scarves). These items are sometimes forcefully removed by other students as a means of bullying and intimidation.

In fact, Muslim children are much more likely than those of other faiths to have experienced bullying at school because of their religion (see graphs on Page 2). And surprisingly, while most Muslim bullying is by students, one in four incidents involves a teacher (Mogahed & Chouhoud, 2017).

Schools must be vigilant about these bullying behaviors. It is important that educators be aware of the legal context and be clear about their policies and procedures for investigating and responding to bias incidents. Schools and communities that model respect for diversity help protect students against bullying behaviors.

The IDRA EAC- South is the equity assistance center funded by the U.S. Department of Education to provide capacity-building technical assistance to school districts in Washington, D.C., and 11 states in the U.S. South. One of the four areas of students' civil rights that we focus on is religion equity to help schools build inclusive school environments, reduce biases, and increase positive relationships among all members of the school and community

Fostering Safe and Inclusive School Environments

Current research shows that teachers are more likely to intervene in bias incidents related to race, religion and disability than other forms of bias (sexual orientation, gender presentation, and body size) (AERA, 2013). Safe and supportive school climates are critical to preventing bullying.

Student safety begins in the classroom but extends to every space on campus. Students should feel protected on the bus, in the rest room, on the playground and in the library. It is everyone's responsibility to work together to create a learning environment where bullying is not an acceptable behavior.

The Welcoming School website (www.welcomingschools.org), a project of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, offers parents and educators resources for creating safe and welcoming schools for all children and families. Materials include professional development recommendations and strategies that can be used immediately with staff to foster inclusive learning environments.

Strategies for Embracing Diversity

Dr. Mark Chancey, professor of religious studies at Southern Methodist University states, "If we as a nation want to understand how to relate to the rest of the globe, then we need to have a richer and deeper understanding of different cultures - including various religions." In general, schools can:

Establish a school culture of inclusion and respect for diversity that welcomes all students. The Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Technical Assistance Center (www.pbis.org) can help.

Monitor locations in and around the building that may be bullying "hot spots." Areas that have little or no adult monitoring or supervision (such as bathrooms, playgrounds and the cafeteria) may place students at higher risk of bias incidents.

Make it the business of the entire school staff to be on the lookout for bullying. The climate of the school is set by the adults. This includes teachers, paraprofessional staff, parent volunteers, bus drivers, school librarians and nurses, cafeteria staff, and others. The school can send a strong message of inclusion and respect for diversity when students are hearing it from the many different adults they see and speak to every day.

We must work to prepare teachers to help students appreciate, respect, understand and learn from students of other cultures. The next generation of citizens will be equipped to promote greater tolerance in schools at all levels, in the workplace, and in the global community (Gardner, Soules, & Valk, 2017).

Contact the IDRA EAC-South or your regional equity assistance center if your school or district need technical assistance.

Online Resources Related to Religion and Bullying
Know Your Rights about Religious Expression at School Addressing Bullying Based on Diversity, Race and Religion Instructional Resources for Teaching about Religion

Resources

American Educational Research Association. (2013). Prevention of Bullying in Schools, Colleges, and Universities: Research Report and Recommendations (Washington, D.C.: AERA).

Gardner, R.S., Soules, K., & Valk, J. (2017). "The Urgent Need for Teacher Preparation in Religious and Secular Worldview Education," Religious Education, 112(3), 242-254.

Guo, Y. (2011). "Perspectives of Immigrant Muslim Parents Advocating for Religious Diversity in Canadian Schools," Multicultural Education, Vol 18, no 2, 55-60.

Mogahed, D., & Chouhoud, Y. (2017). American Muslim Poll 2017: Muslims at the Crossroads (Dearborn, Mich.: Institute for Social Policy and Understanding).

Rogers, J., Franke, M., Yun, J.E., Ishimoto, M., Diera, C., Geller, R., Berryman, A., & Brenes, T. (2017). Teaching and Learning in the Age of Trump: Increasing Stress and Hostility in America's High Schools (Los Angeles, Calif.: UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access).

Teaching Tolerance Staff. (Summer 2017). "A Matter of Life and Death - Two Scholars Make the Case for Teaching Religious Literacy," Teaching Tolerance, Issue 56.

StopBullying.gov. (2018). Diversity, Race & Religion, web page (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).

Paula Johnson, Ph.D., is an IDRA education associate and National Director of Policy and is associate director of the IDRA EAC- South. Comments and questions may be directed to her via email at paula.johnson@idra.org.

[©2018, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the August 2018 IDRA Newsletter by the Intercultural Development Research Association. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]

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Religion Equity in Schools - Protecting Students and Their Civil Rights - IDRA

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Paula Johnson, Ph.D. * IDRA Newsletter * August 2018 Many youths face bullying and harassment in school because of their race, ethnicity, language, gender, sexual orientation or disability. One area that tends to get less attention is religion equity, except perhaps when a dramatic incident catches the public's eye.

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Confronting Religious Bias with Education

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Biases towards Religion in the Classroom

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Biases towards Religion in the Classroom

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In this article, Koch offers a very simple point of view, just do not offer an opinion over the topics that are being discussed. This is why I chose this article, there can be nothing more simpler, than just leaving your opinion out of your teaching. Our opinions carry weight with our students, and in themselves can help to create more biases. Koch offers that this type of restraint should be used in grades Kindergarten through the college years.

Koch, S. (2018, November 16). Multibrief: Confronting religious bias with education. MultiBriefs. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/confronting-religious-bias-with-education/education

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Hate-spurred tragedies like the recent Pittsburgh synagogue massacre make religion-related aggression in the U.S. difficult to deny. However, the increase in the subtler harassment children face at school based on the religion their families practice can more easily slip below the radar.

Anti-Semitic incidents in schools jumped a staggering 94 percent in 2017 - with 457 incidents reported by the Anti-Defamation League - making K-12 schools the place where the most such incidents occurred last year.

Scott Levin, a regional director of the Anti-Defamation League shared in a recent Chalkbeat article that he considers such anti-Semitism in schools a bellwether for other hate incidents, such as those involving Muslim students, students perceived to be immigrants, or students of color.

Pushing back on culturally biased thinking

Teachers addressing current events spurred by hate like the recent Pittsburgh synagogue massacre as part of their lessons are featured in the article.

New York City social studies teacher Andy del Calvo shares that opening discussion on topics related to these events in his classroom, which roughly reflects the city's diversity, provides students an opportunity "to navigate the issues in a way that is deeply important for our democracy - especially today."

The authors note that it's tricky for teachers to examine these events in the classroom without being accused of pushing a political agenda. Still, the school system has an important role in confronting the thought patterns behind hate-fueled incidents including the bias incidents common to schools, which usually occur as verbal insults or graffiti but unchecked can escalate to hate crime as shown in the ADL's pyramid of hate.

"First of all, we just can't wait until an incident happens, and schools now need to practice building cultures of respect," said Maureen Costello in the article. Costello is director of Teaching Tolerance, a Southern Poverty Law Center project that offers anti-bias education resources.

For many districts there's room for improvement when it comes to offering a curriculum that explores diverse cultures in a non-biased fashion and preparing teachers to work with the challenging issues likely to emerge. Even more neglected in K-12 education are classes that teach about religions.

"It's pretty difficult to see how you can understand anything about contemporary human affairs without understanding their religious dimensions," said Diane Moore, founder and director of Harvard Divinity School's Religious Literacy Project in an article by Kelsey Dallas on teachers calling for increased religious literacy in education.

In the article, Jodi Ide, who teaches world religions at Brighton High School, says, "It is so important for students to learn about religion and be taught the basic foundations of major religions. Education has the power to eliminate stereotypes, bias and prejudice."

Even in higher education, religion is often missing notes, Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core, a nonprofit group that works with colleges on issues of religious diversity.

"In an era when colleges are expanding their engagement of diversity issues, and at a time when religion plays a central role in public life and global affairs, religion continues to be the dimension of diversity that many institutions leave out," he writes.

Controversy in terms of separation church and state

A key reason school systems at all levels traditionally shy away from including religious studies is to avoid problems associated with the misinterpretation of constitutional restrictions on religion in public schools.

A Pew Research Center survey showed that while 89 percent of adults in the U.S. understood that it's illegal for a public school teacher to lead students in prayer, only 36 percent knew that offering comparative religions studies in public schools is legal. A meager 23 percent were aware that studying the bible for its literary and historic qualities as part of a secular curriculum is also permitted by law.

"Any time we enrich the curriculum with religious studies, there's a potential for controversy," said Charles Haynes, vice president of the Newseum Institute and its Religious Freedom Center. The institute offers lesson plans and other resources for teachers.

Simply scanning the comments following articles on religion, including those cited here, demonstrates the extreme intolerance some readers possess.

Navigating religious discourse prepares students for real-world affairs

"Teachers can't be expected to provide an exhaustive overview of the world's religions in the context of a history or social studies curriculum, but they can train students to reflect on breaking news through a religious lens," notes Moore in the article by Dallas.

Martha Ball, a retired middle school teacher with extensive experience teaching about religion shares in the article that students who learn how to approach potentially controversial, religion-related topics with patience and respect are better prepared for the real world.

Next, we'll look at comparative religion courses that are flourishing at high schools in the United States.

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MultiBrief: Confronting religious bias with education

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Hate-spurred tragedies like the recent Pittsburgh synagogue massacre make religion-related aggression in the U.S. difficult to deny. However, the increase in the subtler harassment children face at school based on the religion their families practice can more easily slip below the radar.

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Save the Children Network truly does a great job addressing when to begin working with students regarding social norms. They believe, as early as adolescents, it is important to begin introducing equitable norms with students. Although, the reason I chose this article is for the background it gives in understanding all of the issue that surrounds gender biases and the harm that they cause.

How harmful gender norms create an unequal world for children. Save the Children. (2022). Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.savethechildren.org/us/charity-stories/how-gender-norms-impact-boys-and-girls

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How Harmful Gender Norms Create an Unequal World for Children

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Gender norms can cause harm and impact millions of girls and boys around the world, denying them basic human rights like health, education, income equality and a life free of violence.

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While a short article, it does a good job at identifying where the schools are seeing the most gender biases. Middle school through high school seem to be where the most biases come into play, where girls are selecting safe careers, as opposed to those that are considered outside of the box. Through this study, Griffin, suggest several actions that will draw girls out of the background and into leadership roles.

Griffin, H. (2022, April 20). Overcoming gender stereotyping in Education. A university for a changing world. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/projects/overcome-gender-stereotyping-in-education

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Developing Gender Equality Charter Marks in order to overcome gender stereotyping in education across Europe

Our project's premise was that gender inequalities in the workplace are maintained to some extent by subject choice decisions made in school by pupils aged 13-18. There is still a large gender bias in many subjects despite much work to promote individual subjects, especially with regard to girls.

Research by Biemmi in Italy shows that even when faced with unfettered access to various fields of study and careers, girls still 'choose not to choose', diligently funnelling themselves into those fields that have been traditionally assigned to women. Biemmi concludes that social imagery, fed by continuous messages from family and schools, is influencing choice. A hidden curriculum is imbued with implicit messages which often work against the educational goals that are explicitly pursued.

Research by the Institute of Physics in the UK concluded that 'school culture is a substantial factor in determining subject choice' and that gender imbalance in any one subject cannot be tackled in isolation to other subject choices. Hence the project's emphasis on tackling the environment in which pupils are making these choices.

Why a whole-school approach?

Research shows that a whole-school approach helps to ensure momentum and sustain change, and that schools find this approach useful where issues are complex and need to be supported by the entire school community.

Five main elements for the effective delivery of whole-school approaches became the main themes of the project: Leadership, Curriculum, Physical Environment, Attitudes and Relationships, and Community:

incorporating activities for the initiative across multiple areas of the school;

involving a range of stakeholders;

relating work to the wider vision or ethos of the school,

having strong leadership support for what is being promoted;

and integrating interventions into existing school practices.

This impactful research has implications for school cultures, teachers' attitudes and practices, parents, young people and local communities.

Gender equality training for trainee teachers

The research findings from this project as well as a follow-up Erasmus plus project with primary schools in 9 European countries have informed the development and delivery of training/workshops for trainee teachers and teacher educators in the UK and Europe.

View on YouTube

Publications

Tsouroufli, M. (2020). School related gender-based violence (SRGBV) in England: An Intersectional Analysis, Special issue 'Intersectional Aspects of SRGBV in Europe' Interdisciplinary perspectives to Equality and Diversity' (IPED Journal), 6(1).

Tsouroufli, M. (2020). 'Intersectional Aspects of School related Gender-based Violence in Europe' Interdisciplinary perspectives to Equality and Diversity' (IPED Journal), 6(1).

Tsouroufli, M. Redai, D. (Eds.) (2021). Gender Equality and Stereotyping in Secondary Schools: Case Studies from England, Hungary and Italy, London: Palgrave, Gender and Education series

Griffin, H., Belgeonne, C. Tsouroufli, M. Rédai, D. Guerrini, V. Sobieraj, A. Nagy, B. Mihalko, V., Lewis, L., Biemmi, I., Ulivieri, S. (2019). Final Report: Developing Gender Equality Charter Marks in order to overcome gender stereotyping in education across Europe

Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project

Related Research Group(s)

Partnering with confidence

Organisations interested in our research can partner with us with confidence backed by an external and independent benchmark: The Knowledge Exchange Framework. Read more.

Project last modified 20/04/2022

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Overcoming gender stereotyping in education

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Our project's premise was that gender inequalities in the workplace are maintained to some extent by subject choice decisions made in school by pupils aged 13-18. There is still a large gender bias in many subjects despite much work to promote individual subjects, especially with regard to girls.

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Confronting Bias Towards Socio-Economic Statuses

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Confronting Bias Towards Socio-Economic Statuses

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This article speaks to teachers of all grades, as it addresses biases towards lower income students. This article begins with a brief story, painting a picture of preschool teachers who adore a few students who dress in pretty dresses everyday. All the while they are ignoring another student who wears her brothers' hand-me downs. This was an eye opener, as I have biases that I did not know existed, at a minimum form pre-judgements of others based on their exterior. This article does a good job at addressing those biases and how to avoid them in the classroom.
Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2020, March). Addressing inequity with Anti-Bias Education: Learning about class and fairness. NAEYC. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/feb2020/inequity-with-anti-bias-education

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Jessica comes to school every day in sturdy jeans and T-shirts, but as soon as she arrives, she changes into the frilliest clothes she can find in the dramatic play corner, stuffing her home clothes into the back of her cubby. As the day progresses, she staunchly insists that the clothes she wears are her own clothes, worn from home. Jessica also begins taking clothing, usually pink, out of her classmates' cubbies, again tearfully insisting they are really hers.

Her teacher speaks with Jessica's teenage sister, who brings her to school each day. The sister reports that Jessica's clothes are hand-me-downs from her two older brothers. "We'd all like new stuff if we could get it," her sister says, "but Mom doesn't have money for that."

With that information in mind, Jessica's teachers begin paying closer attention to the situation in the classroom. A number of the 4-year-old girls from affluent families show up every day in new, trendy pink or lavender outfits and spend a lot of time swapping clothes, changing in and out of clothes, and playing in front of the mirrors. The teachers have jokingly labeled this group "The Pink Connection" and often compliment them on their new dresses, lovely outfits, and appearances.

With a sense of shock, the teachers realize that the problem isn't Jessica's-it's theirs. Jessica's sense of not being good enough, of class and gender shame, is coming from her experience at school-and, they realize it isn't a good environment for any of the children. They intentionally change their interactions with all the children, deemphasizing "new things" and stopping their comments on the children's appearances.*

*This vignette was shared by Nancy K. Brown, an early childhood teacher, director, and consultant.

The big picture: Economic class is real

Inequitable opportunities, privileges, and life experiences based on economic class deeply affect young children's lives. Although a family's economic resources do not determine how much they love their child or how skilled they are at parenting, a lack of those resources can make the fundamental necessities for their children's healthy growth and development (e.g., safe housing, nutritious food, regular health care) very difficult or impossible to get.

Classism, the system of economic inequity and bias against people with low incomes and those in poverty, is very real in the United States but is often not well understood. Millions of children face challenges due to the multiple consequences of poverty.

Poverty, particularly when it is deep and persistent, can impede children's ability to learn. It can contribute to poor mental and physical health. Children may have low energy due to lack of proper nutrition or suffer from environmental poisoning (e.g., from lead paint in their homes, toxic waste in their neighborhoods, lead in their drinking water). They may not be fully immunized, or they may have untreated chronic illnesses. They may live in neighborhoods with few parks, libraries, or public spaces or with high levels of violence. And they may be living in cars, on the streets, or in shelters.

In addition to experiencing the effects of their family's income insecurity, young children also absorb value-laden attitudes and beliefs about themselves and others regarding where and how they live, what they do and don't own, how they travel, what they wear, and so on. Explicit and implicit biases toward people with low incomes and those living in poverty tend to be negative, while biases about people with wealth are more likely to be positive.

Since classism most profoundly injures children in families with low incomes, it is important to critically analyze some of the biases their families face. One of the most widespread myths is that if people work hard, they will succeed and flourish. This myth ignores the realities of low-income work and of class privilege in education, resources, and contacts. Most people in poverty work very hard and yet remain poor. It is not unusual for adults in the family to hold more than one job, and even when both parents are employed, family income may still be below the poverty line. In America today, the single biggest predictor of economic success is the economic success of the family in which you are raised.

The value and importance of different kinds of work

Children learn about whose work matters from the curriculum in their schools; from their families; and from children's books, media and advertisements, videos, and toys. What they learn often emphasizes the work of people in professional and middle- to higher-income careers. "Community Helper" units in many curricula tend to focus on only a few types of work (doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers), ignoring the many other types of work that also support a community's quality of life (restaurant staff, farmworkers, store clerks, office staff, bus drivers). Children tune in to these messages about who matters, who is important, who is "real" and visible. The result for children from families who have lower income levels is often a beginning sense of shame and discomfort about themselves and their families.

"Princess, princess, I'm the princess," Selina sings as she puts on an elaborate costume in the dramatic play corner. "You can be the maid," she tells Shanice sternly. "You have to do everything I tell you." The teacher who hears her wonders what connections, if any, Selina is making between her play and the reality that her mother cleans houses for others.

At the same time, families with middle or upper incomes or in professional or management work may implicitly or explicitly communicate to their children a sense of entitlement (e.g., that they have a greater right to the material resources of the world) as well as a sense of superiority over families with lower incomes. Teachers report often hearing statements such as, "I got lots more toys than you did. I got a new trike and a new soccer ball and two new dolls and lots more! What did you get for your birthday?" and "You can't play with us because you do not have ___!" (fill in the latest, expensive, well-advertised toy).

Strategies and activities about economic class and fairness

Economic issues affect all children. The following suggestions will support all the children in your program, regardless of their economic backgrounds.

Create a welcoming and equitable learning community

As you pay attention to economic class issues in your program, instead of looking for what children don't know or what they are not able to do (a deficit approach to teaching), adapt activities to support the strengths children bring into your program.

Have the same high expectations for children from every family.

Pay attention to each child's unique approach to learning, knowledge, and skills, which is shaped by their specific life experiences. Does the child tend to use words to show what she knows, or does she demonstrate what she can do? Does the child expect adults to tell him what they want him to do, or to ask him (e.g., "It's time to set the table" versus "Would you like to set the table now?").

Create beautiful environments for all children. Fresh paint, live plants, and clean, bright cushions do not have to be costly. Ask for contributions from neighborhood stores (which can be surprisingly accommodating when they know it is for a children's program).

Be mindful of families' concerns about clothing. Make or buy aprons for children to wear during messy play, and make sure the paints you use are truly washable. (Purple is often particularly difficult to remove.) Thrift stores are wonderful places to pick up large long-sleeved shirts that children can wear buttoned up as smocks. Have children wear plastic ponchos during water play. Remember that it may be difficult for families with low incomes to purchase new clothes and washing clothes can require spending many hours (and dollars) in laundromats. Children outgrow their clothes in all income groups. Arrange an ongoing clothing swap where families can donate clothing their children have outgrown and take home what they want.

Use sensory materials that are not food. For example, use birdseed rather than rice or cornmeal at your sensory table. Make finger paint instead of using pudding or yogurt. String leaves and seedpods rather than pasta. This is important both for families with food insecurity and for families who have plenty and do not recognize how waste hurts others.

Foster non-classist assumptions and interactions

Counter the pervasive messages that people need to have possessions to be valued or even to be noticed. You have a responsibility to children of all economic backgrounds to combat this harmful message of entitlement.

Make a decision not to focus on children's new possessions during circle and sharing times. Encourage children to share information about experiences they had with their families. Invite children to bring in their oldest toy and talk about how they still play with it.

Encourage children to use toys and materials cooperatively. The approach employed in many early childhood settings-providing a quantity of the same item so children "won't have to share"-conveys the message that private ownership and exclusive use are more important than collaboration.

Make whole-class murals out of handprints or drawings.

Create a class quilt, with each child contributing a square.

Ask pairs or teams of children to do specific tasks together (setting the snack tables, cleaning up the block area). Celebrate the important work they do in a class book called We All Work Together.

Focus on justice rather than charity: be cautious of introducing activities to "help poor people," which can unintentionally convey messages of the superiority of the helper and the helplessness of the receiver. Frame activities as "making things fair" rather than "helping the poor." For example, asking children to contribute toys for "the poor" for a holiday or event may teach pity and lead children to question whether families with low incomes really love their children because they do not buy them toys. In contrast, children can contribute to a toy bank in the classroom throughout the year where children are able to exchange and choose toys they want.

If your program celebrates or studies holidays, use them to emphasize gifts of the heart rather than purchased gifts. Ask children about what fun activities their family did together rather than what gifts they received. Create an ongoing class book about people being kind to one another, titled The Best Gift of All. Help children dictate stories for it throughout the year, and read it frequently at circle times.

Create persona doll stories that help children recognize and challenge hurtful stories and behaviors that demean children from families who have low incomes. Acknowledge family strengths and skills for handling difficult economic realities in these stories. If you do not know much about families who cope with great economic challenges, talk to people in the community who do!

This article supports the following NAEYC Early Learning Program Accreditation standards and topic areas
STANDARDS 2: CURRICULUM; 6: STAFF COMPETENCIES, PREPARATION, AND SUPPORT; 7: FAMILIES
2L: Social Studies
6D: Ongoing Professional Development
7A: Knowing and Understanding the Program's Families

Photographs: © Getty Images

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Addressing Inequity with Anti-Bias Education: Learning about Class and Fairness

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Jessica comes to school every day in sturdy jeans and T-shirts, but as soon as she arrives, she changes into the frilliest clothes she can find in the dramatic play corner, stuffing her home clothes into the back of her cubby.

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This article does a truly wonderful job at laying out the realistic numbers of poverty stricken students. As in other articles, there are many great ways to adjust for students who are suffering from being in the lower-class. However, I truly decided upon this article was because of the facts it delivers to its audience. Outside of understanding how to treat our students, it eye-opening to understand the dynamics behind poverty.

Gibson, E. L., & Barr, R. (2017). Building a culture of hope: Exploring implicit biases against poverty. National Youth at Risk Journal, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.20429/nyarj.2017.020203

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This article pertains to teachers' biases regarding their students. It is a great resource for any educator of any grade level. Suttie (2016), does a great job in identifying ways teachers can ensure they are not passing along their biases to their students/applying them to those in their classroom.

Suttie, J. (2016, October 16). Four ways teachers can reduce implicit bias. Greater Good. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/four_ways_teachers_can_reduce_implicit_bias

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A friend of mine recently told me about an incident involving students at Berkeley High School. On the first day of classes, African-American juniors and seniors were being asked by their honors course teacher to show him their schedule when they entered the classroom. The teacher, who was white, apparently assumed the black students were lost and in the wrong room, and his gesture made them feel unwelcome and humiliated.

This is an example of implicit bias-a behavior that arises from subconscious associations, which may even contradict someone's explicit values. Implicit racial bias plays a role in many classrooms and schools with potentially devastating effects. In one recent experiment with preschool teachers, researchers found that when teachers were primed to look for behavioral problems while watching a classroom video with black and white children (none of whom were misbehaving), teachers gazed much longer at black children than white children, as if anticipating the behavioral problems would come from the black children.

In another experiment from the same study, teachers read a vignette about a behavioral problem with a preschooler randomly identified as a black boy, black girl, white boy, or white girl, and then were given details about the child's background or not. Providing the background information on the child increased the severity of suggested disciplinary actions when the race of the teacher didn't match that of the child, supporting the idea that we are more inclined to punish those who look different from us.

In fact, disciplinary actions are more likely to be perpetuated against African Americans-boys and girls alike-than any other group of students, regardless of the infraction. And while it's understandable that teachers would want to prevent disruptions in the classrooms and take actions to avoid them, some seem to have little idea of how to do that without turning to ingrained biases.

Of course, teachers are not alone in having racial biases. Their behavior reflects how social messages are hard to escape, even for people of color. But studies like these show how racial disparities can be perpetuated in classrooms, too. If left unchecked, this kind of biased treatment can haunt a student well into elementary school and beyond, making the promise of "schools as the great social equalizers" a false one.

The good news is that teachers can learn to combat their prejudice, even the implicit kind, if they become more aware of it and take steps to actively fight it in themselves. Here are some of the ways that might help educators treat all of their students with dignity and care.

1. Cultivate awareness of their biases

Teachers are human and therefore influenced by psychological biases, like the fundamental attribution error, when we assume that others who behave in a certain way do so because of their character (a fixed trait) rather than in response to environmental circumstances. In-group bias leads us to assign positive characteristics and motivations to people who are similar to us.

Biases like these are natural, used as cognitive shorthand for making quick social judgments in ambiguous situations, especially those involving people from unfamiliar ethnic or social groups. They become a problem when we're not aware of their impact on other people. And if we're part of a majority group with more social, economic, or political power than a minority one, then accumulated unconscious bias can be extremely destructive, limiting the life opportunities and hurting the well-being of the minority group.

Many researchers believe that becoming more aware of our biases can help us improve our interactions with others, decrease our sense of unease in interracial contexts, and make better decisions. Though most of this research has been done with other professional groups or the general public, the same lessons are likely to apply to teachers.

However, many teachers feel pressures not to cop to those biases, perhaps out of fear they will be accused of racism. This leaves them blind to the ways that biases work at an unconscious level. Pretending to be colorblind is not helpful and in fact adhering to a color-blind philosophy has been shown to increase implicit bias, at least in college students. Admitting that we are all subject to biases creates a safer space to examine them more carefully and to take steps to fight them.

2. Work to increase empathy and empathic communication

Empathy -the ability to understand another's perspective and emotions-is important in all human social encounters, including teaching. Yet, often teachers have little understanding of the communities where their students live and have trouble understanding their perspectives, leading them to treat these students more harshly.

One solution: learning about the lives of students and showing that you care. At least one study has found that actively trying to take the perspective of another person-as opposed to trying to be "objective"-increased one's ability to not fall prey to stereotypical views of others. Actively inducing empathy for another person has been tied to a willingness to consider environmental circumstances more closely when handing out punishments for misbehavior. And, one recent study has found that training teachers in empathy cut down student suspension rates in half.

Though perhaps more research has been done on empathy in other professionals (such as physicians and police officers), teachers may want to take note of the ways that they have learned to increase their empathy through a combination of stress reduction, learning how to manage difficult emotions, and practicing empathic communication. Treating students with kindness and consideration is a sure way to bring out kindness in them, too.

3. Practice mindfulness and loving-kindness

Mindfulness practices-such as paying attention in a nonjudgmental way to one's breath or other sensations-has been shown to decrease stress in teachers, which can indirectly have an effect on reducing bias. But according to some research, mindfulness may also have a direct effect on bias reduction as well.

In one study, young white participants who listened to a 10-minute audiotape with instructions in mindfulness showed less implicit bias towards blacks and older people than those who listened to a 10-minute discussion of nature. This suggests that nonjudgmental awareness, even when not specifically focused on reducing prejudice, can help reduce unconscious biases.

Loving-kindness meditation-a practice that involves consciously sending out compassionate thoughts toward others-may also help. In a recent study, the random assignment of a short-term loving-kindness meditation reduced implicit bias toward a targeted group, though it didn't decrease implicit bias for other groups not targeted by the meditation.

4. Develop cross-group friendships in their own lives

While it's important to take steps in the classroom, the relationships we form outside of the classroom can also have an impact on bias.

Cross-group friendships have been shown in several studies to decrease stress in intergroup situations, to decrease prejudice toward outgroup members, and to decrease one's preference for social hierarchy or domination over lower-status groups. These findings alone might encourage teachers to seek out cross-group friendships in their lives so that they can be more receptive to the diverse students they find in their classrooms.

Another reason for teachers to consider developing cross-group friendships is that they may influence their students to do the same. When people see cross-group friendships working out in positive ways, they tend to be more willing to engage in cross-group friendships themselves.

In addition, positive cross-group friendships can have contagion effects in other people within social groups, turning whole communities into warmer, more receptive spaces for cross-group interactions. All of this bodes well for teachers role-modeling the kind of behavior they want to see in their students.

Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean teachers should indiscriminately approach someone just because they are from a different racial group. Instead, teachers can reach out to colleagues at work, or get involved in activities or perhaps attend events where people with different backgrounds and perspectives come together for a common cause. Developing friendships can be one of the best ways to break down barriers of prejudice, and it's more easily done when people have some common interests.

Is this a lot to ask, given all the burdens our society heaps on teachers? Perhaps. Teachers should get more support than they do, and, ideally, school districts should make reducing implicit bias a priority backed up with money, policy, and training. Individual teachers can only do so much.

Luckily, the teaching profession tends to attract altruists who want to teach in a way that helps their students. By working at countering implicit bias in themselves, they can truly make a difference in the lives of their students, making them feel safe, cared for, and welcome in the classroom.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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Four Ways Teachers Can Reduce Implicit Bias

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We're all subject to bias. Here are tips to help teachers treat all of their students with dignity and care.

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Confronting Racial Bias Within our Content

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Confronting Racial Bias Within our Content

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In the article, it discusses how to address the racial biases that exist in our history. I enjoyed that the article addresses how to teach our students about our past, while encouraging them through discussion of resilience. This strategy can be utilized in any grade, as the article mentions movements to change the curriculum in grades K-12. This opens the door for teachers of all grades to hold developmentally appropriate lessons to teach and inform, in regards to the ability to those who were persecuted to overcome.

Gonser, S. (2021, March 19). Addressing race and racism head-on in the classroom. Edutopia. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/addressing-race-and-racism-head-classroom

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Teaching students U.S. history authentically requires educators to delve into race and racism, invite "complexity and hidden narratives" into the conversation, and give students the tools to navigate and make sense of "the truths that are difficult to reconcile with the messages of freedom and democracy," writes Emily Boudreau for Usable Knowledge, a Harvard Graduate School of Education publication.

"What does it mean to be living on land taken from Indigenous people? How can a nation recognize that many of its institutions were built and made possible by the labor of enslaved people?" Boudreau writes, referencing an inclusive vision of history that asks us to acknowledge the contributions of women, Black, Latinx, Asian, and LGTBQ people, for example. "Because conversations around these hard histories can be challenging, educators need to know how to approach the subject in considered, developmentally appropriate ways."

As schools, and the country, become more diverse, a growing number of educators are working to expand K-12 curricula "to include the narratives of people from a wider range of racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds," writes journalist Holly Korbey. Greater inclusivity in history, she writes, allows young people to "see themselves in the story of our shared past, they not only develop a deeper appreciation of the subject, but become more civically active."

Here are four considerations, culled from Boudreau's article and from our Edutopia archives, for teaching and engaging with the complex narratives surrounding American history.

Feature Stories of Resistance and Resilience

Historical narratives should strike a balance between examining racism and discrimination but also highlighting "the resilience and resistance of communities throughout history," so they're instilling hope in young people, Boudreau writes, but also correcting the narrow, often cursory view of U.S. history that glosses over important figures of resistance like César Chávez, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the disability rights activist Ed Roberts, and Kwame Ture, born Stokely Carmichael. It's an effort that calls on educators to "teach a more accurate history that commonly goes untold: the role of grassroots activists and women, nuanced portraits of leaders like Parks and King, and racial and social justice battles that link the past to contemporary issues of inequality," writes Melinda D. Anderson, a journalist.

"It's imperative that teachers not reinforce a milquetoast version of Black history that is anti-Black because of its erasure of painful truths," writes Rann Miller, an after-school program director. As a student, Miller learned about Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass. "I heard very little of Malcolm X, the FBI's campaign against civil rights leaders, the Rainbow Coalition put together by the Black Panther Party's Fred Hampton, or Hampton's assassination. I learned about the struggles of my enslaved ancestors, but not about Gabriel Prosser, Denmark Vesey, or Nat Turner."

Examine Primary Sources

Textbooks tend to gloss over large swaths of history, "without going into much depth or bringing the voices of those who lived through those times to the surface," writes Boudreau. It's up to teachers to bring those voices into the classroom via primary source documents "that tell the story of an event using the words of the people who are described by the curriculum."

It's important, however, to make sure these materials are developmentally appropriate-teachers can "redact or edit them so students can understand and engage with the texts," Boudreau suggests-and to give kids opportunities to discuss and process "feelings that come up as they learn about these histories." One way to do this is to check in with students via an anonymous Google survey. "A teacher can then validate those emotions-some people might feel angry or sad-but giving students a chance to process the emotions that come up is essential for us to move forward as a country and acknowledge racism," says Adrienne Stang, a K-12 history and social studies coordinator for Cambridge Public Schools.

Meanwhile, the effort to find and work with primary documents presents a valuable opportunity to teach older students how to carefully vet resources-a foundational, critical thinking skill that involves understanding the cultural context and values from which primary sources spring, and determining the credibility of resources. In social studies, for example, "vetting resources is important not just because we want to ensure students are learning from accurate, verifiable materials," writes Paul Franz, an educational researcher and former middle school teacher. "It's important also because the ability to ask questions about sources, bias, and context are at the heart of social studies education and are essential skills for thriving in the modern world."

Make Sure Kids See Themselves in Your Classroom

Books and curriculum should "reflect the diversity of our world and identities of all students," in the classroom, writes Boudreau. In the early grades, check in with families and caregivers to gain an understanding of students' backgrounds, suggests Stang, and make sure kids have opportunities to learn not just about the identities of students in the classroom, but also about diverse cultures and backgrounds that aren't reflected in the room.

And while school and classroom budgets may be tight, even small changes-like sharing one book that references a child's experiences-can make a difference, says second- and third-grade teacher Natalya Gibbs, who hangs posters that reflect her students' identities and experiences such as family and home life structures and languages, and offers skin-toned crayons so her students "can see themselves in all aspects of their classroom." Her approach changes each school year, depending on the students in her classroom. "It's about 'Who is this class? What do they bring?' I'm growing my curriculum based on the community of children that I have each year, which means learning about my students and their cultures and making sure that they're represented."

Teach Hard Histories in Other Classes Too

It's not just the job of history teachers to take on the complex discussions around race and racism. "Including curriculum and sources that deal with both hard histories and narratives of resilience and agency is the job of every teacher, not just those in the history department," writes Boudreau.

In STEM classes, for example, writes scientist Ainissa Ramirez, author of The Alchemy of Us, which showcases little-known inventors, particularly people of color and women, it's critical to "inform [students] about the past." In doing so, educators not only "demystify scientific advancements by revealing their messy historical reality; we show students how science is actually conducted; and we have the opportunity to spotlight scientists who have been written out of history-and thus invite more students into the world of science."

In English class, make texts from authors who represent a spectrum of racial, cultural, and gender perspectives available, and emphasize the contributions of often marginalized people to American history-Bao Phi's A Different Pond, R.J. Palacio's Wonder, and Malinda Lo's Ash, to name a few. "Teach students about the Africanisms in American English when discussing or teaching grammar," writes Miller, who recalls reading Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and William Shakespeare in English class, but never Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, or Toni Morrison. "Students should be introduced to texts by Black authors that speak to Black experiences, Black perspectives, and Black accomplishments. These authors remind children and adults that Black excellence is not confined to athletics and entertainment. How can we promote the academic excellence of Black children without introducing them to Black intellectuals-individuals they can see themselves someday becoming?"

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Addressing Race and Racism Head-On in the Classroom

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From featuring stories of resistance to making sure kids see themselves represented in the classroom, a few things to keep in mind when teaching American history.

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This is the first article that I have read, that I truly agreed with each aspect it suggests in order to confront bias against race. Each of the ten principles directly relates to legitimate ways to reach our students and make everyone feel safe. These principles are relevant for any grade or age, as it relates to creating safe spaces for all students to feel comfortable.
10 principles for talking about race in school. NEA Center for Social Justice. (2020, November). Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/10-principles-talking-about-race-school

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Advice

Creating space to talk about race can open powerful learning for you and your students. These tips can help you make race conversations normal, constructive and successful.

Background

Racial dynamics, disparities and divisions permeate our society, communities, schools and classrooms. Systemic racism is so deeply rooted in our history, culture and institutions that there's no escaping it. Visible or not, its impacts are ever-present.

Yet, discussions of racism are typically not part of our curriculum - unless we're teaching social sciences or literature, or highlighting a particular holiday or hero. And even then, the race content may often be lacking or lackluster.

Adding to this context is the fact that a majority of our public school students are students of color while only 18 percent of our teachers are teachers of color. This presents different challenges for white teachers and teachers of color when approaching issues of race.

Because racism is complex and contentious, many of us are afraid to even broach the subject.

Fear of opening a can of worms and making a mistake can be paralyzing. It often feels easier and safer to avoid the topic altogether. Instead of calling attention to racism, we too often wish it would just go away. But whether we choose to talk about it or not, racism is already in the building. And, the more we avoid it, the more it grows.

Silence and inaction reinforce the status quo. Avoidance speaks volumes - it communicates to students of color that racism doesn't matter enough to warrant attention and, by omission, invalidates their experiences, perspectives, identities and lives. White students, on the other hand, often see racism being accepted and normalized, without acknowledgement or accountability. And the lofty ideal of educational excellence and equity for all students, if it even exists at your school, may seem like a hollow commitment.

To advance real solutions, we need to address real problems. As teachers, we have "teachable moments," or opportunities to constructively and productively address race. But these opportunities need to be thoughtfully created, seized, planned and managed. We have choices when addressing matters of race. In our own classroom, we are the power-holder, the gatekeeper, and the standard setter. One choice is to unconsciously and passively perpetuate racism, while the other is to consciously and actively pursue racial equity.

You probably don't have to revamp your entire curricula or classroom practice. But there are many ways we can make room for addressing racial dynamics. Discussions in your classroom can even be steppingstones to addressing race in your school, school district and community. Creating the space to talk about race can open the way for some of the most powerful learning and change that you and your students will ever experience.

The following tips can help you make race conversations normal, constructive and successful. These skills are best learned through collective dialogue with others committed to addressing racial equity, as well as through lots of practice. When discussions of race and racism become normalized, the promise of equity can be realized.

1. Create a Welcoming Classroom and School

Each class has its own culture and learning climate. When you make equity and inclusion prominent priorities in your classroom norms, routines and environment, your students will feel a greater sense of belonging, safety and openness. Balance participation and learning opportunities.

The more you can form authentic relationships and connections with all your students and their families, the more you will understand them-especially those who typically face the most marginalization, such as students of color, LGBTQ students, students from low-income families, English language learners, new immigrants, and students with physical or learning disabilities. New research is beginning to find that teacher empathy can be a key factor in student success and the reduction of punitive disciplinary actions.

Create a supportive culture and hold an affirming space for all of your students, individually and collectively, by:

Using diverse curriculum materials, differentiated instruction methods and give students some choices to accommodate different interests and learning styles.

Contributing to the welcoming climate of your school. For example, excess surveillance often unfairly targets and triggers students of color due to prevailing patterns of racial bias, thereby undermining efforts to create a school climate that is inclusive and conducive to learning.

2. Root Out Biases and Barriers

Everyone, regardless of race, can have unconscious racial bias. Be willing to examine your own bias and the ways you may be privileged or unaware. Reflect upon all aspects of your teaching practice.

Ask yourself:

Could your curriculum, pedagogy, grading, classroom management or disciplinary practices be giving preference to some students while putting others at a disadvantage?

Are there any barriers to learning and success that some students may be experiencing?

What are the racial impacts of different policies and practices at your school and school district?

Then, look at available data to see if there are patterns of inequitable outcomes or unintended consequences.

Finally, invite observation, discussion and feedback from colleagues and students about routine practices in order to surface lessons and equitable alternatives.

3. Encourage Self-Expression

Give your students the ability and validation to bring their full racial and cultural identities into your classroom so they can be themselves and speak their truths. Trust their wisdom and show deep respect. Discussions can begin by giving students an opportunity to share their experiences, perspectives or stories. Identify and appreciate points of connection, as well as differences.

Give students permission to only share what they want. Don't put anyone on the spot or expect any individual to represent their racial or cultural group. Your students may be your best teachers about matters of race, each with unique experience and expertise.

4. Be Open Yourself

Be willing to share different dimensions of your own racial identity and cultural background. Be open about your experience with racial inequities and/or racial privilege and any efforts you've participated in to advance racial justice. How has your racial identity been both a strength and a challenge in your life? What have you learned along the way, what were your mistakes, and what are you still learning?

If you are white, you may be used to the privilege of not having to think or talk about race, especially your own. Push yourself to take some risks, which will likely lead to some rich learning. Your honesty and humility will help your students open up.

5. Engage, Don't Avoid

Racism is perpetuated by silence-and silence is complicity. Being "colorblind" often serves as a pretense to downplay the significance of race, deny the existence of racism, and erase the experience of students of color. Be willing to lead the uncomfortable conversations and turn them into teachable moments. Learn to break through your own discomfort to embrace the tensions and unknowns.

When racism needs to be addressed but is being avoided, make it your job to initiate and facilitate a constructive conversation. Don't put the burden on students of color to have to bring things up or do all the heavy lifting to help white students learn. Even if you don't feel confident or fully skilled, challenge yourself and be courageous. At the other end of the spectrum, you also don't want too heavy-handed about race, where the discussion feels forced or too narrowly framed. Instead, you want to strategically provide the space for students to bring up their own angles on an issue. Let go of perfection and expect some messiness. Like anything else, it gets easier with practice.

6. Create Opportunities for Discussion

Use current events, cultural happenings and local angles to spark relevant and meaningful discussions among your students. Pop culture (e.g. music, movies, sports, celebrities) is particularly engaging for young people, supplying continuous fodder for important race conversations. Keep abreast of race-related news sites or social media by people of color to get ideas for hot topics.

Discussions about race are often reactive, once blatant racism has occurred, and often not very constructive-with lots of blaming and shaming. Be proactive by creating planned opportunities for students to share stories and life experiences in ways that connect to your curriculum. You still may need to react, at times, to incidents of racism in your classroom-such as micro-aggressions (routine slights and insults)-but you can prepare in advance your process for addressing them so that you're not caught off-guard. You'll need to make your discussions developmentally appropriate, but students at all levels - even very young - are already aware of, and affected by, race.

7. Talk About Racism and Racial Equity

If you want to get real about race, you have to also be willing to talk about racism and racial equity. Here are some concepts that you can introduce to add clarity and context to your discussions:

Race is not simply an individual characteristic or cultural identity. More significantly, it is a social category and a power dynamic-a marker of a racial group's positional power in society. Racial identities are socially assigned, regardless of how you self-identify. While attention to diversity (variety) is important, it is even more critical to address equity (fairness or justice), since racism is fundamentally about power.

Systemic racism - inequities and ideas about race based on history, institutions and culture - routinely advantages white people and disadvantages people of color. Some racism is conscious and intentional, but a lot of racism is

unconscious and unintentional (also known as implicit bias). Racism can be intensified by other intersecting inequities, such as gender and class, thus race requires explicit, but not exclusive attention.

Racial equity (or racial justice) is the systematic fair treatment of all people, resulting in fair opportunities and outcomes for everyone. Racial equity is not just the absence of discrimination but also the presence of values and systems that ensure fairness and justice. Systematic equity, which affirmatively and continually supports and ensures the fair treatment of all people, is needed to supplant the system of racism.

Racism is experienced at many levels-internalized, interpersonal, institutional and structural. Interpersonal manifestations of racism get a lot of our attention because they are more visible and visceral. But they are often just the superficial symptoms of broader systems with deeper root causes. Engaging in a systems analysis, can help students identify deeper causes and generate options for solutions.

Racial equity is not just the absence of discrimination but also the presence of values and systems that ensure fairness and justice.

This can provide a productive path for your discussions, beginning with the sharing of personal experiences and observations of racism, then working through some analysis and arriving at proposed solutions and strategies to advance racial equity.

8. Establish and Enforce Group Norms

Since conversations about race can be difficult and divisive, establish some agreements before you begin the conversation. Allow your students to generate, agree to, and hold each other accountable to, their own norms. Display these agreements and refer back to them, as needed. Decide upfront on the goals and parameters of the conversation - what you are and are not going to address.

Example group norms are: honoring confidentiality, using "I" statements instead of "You" statements, focusing on actions and impacts rather than assumptions and intentions, participating fully but evenly, deeply listening, allowing disagreement, appreciating feedback instead of getting defensive, and always respecting each other.

Learning and using restorative justice practices, such as peace circles, can also be helpful for addressing harm or conflict. These practices can help bring real issues to the surface while also fostering healthy communication, conflict resolution and relationships.

9. Process is as Important as Content

If you expect a challenging conversation, take time to get centered and take some deep breaths together. Try to be fully present with each other, without any distractions. Pay attention not only to what is being said (or not being said), but also to how it is being said, and who is saying it (or who is not speaking). Expect to do more facilitating and process management, with the content of the conversation mostly generated in real time by your students.

You can invite students to lead all or parts of the conversation. This not only gives them more ownership of the content, but also helps them practice important skills. You can be ready to guide or mediate, if needed, but you don't always have to lead the discussion, especially if some of your students have more direct experience with the topic at hand.

Decide upfront on the goals and parameters of the conversation - what you are and are not going to address.

Even if there is disagreement, as long you've followed your group norms and everyone feels heard and respected, the conversation will likely be constructive and productive. Build in movement breaks, as well as time at the end for
appreciations and closure.

10. Model Your Values and Vision

Practice equity, inclusion, empathy and respect in your own classroom. Your actions, more than your words, will have the greatest impact on your students. They are looking to you for leadership and ally-ship. You can play a formative role in helping them build critical skills for navigating the complexities of race.

Talking about racism is just a start. Taking action is the biggest driver of change. Create opportunities and strategies to move from awareness and analysis to action and impact. You and your students can go beyond the classroom by advocating for equity in your school and school district. Speak up and speak out. Be intentional about supporting more voices and leadership of people of color. And be proactive by proposing bold and concrete solutions that embody the values and vision of equity and inclusion for all.

Racial Justice in Education Links

Myth

It's easier and safer to avoid talking about racism with students and colleagues.

Reality

Silence and inaction reinforce the status quo, and tells students of color that racism doesn't matter.

Speak up for racial justice

Stay Informed We'll come to you

We're here to help you succeed in your career, advocate for public school students, and stay up to date on the latest education news. Sign up to stay informed

Myth

It's easier and safer to avoid talking about racism with students and colleagues.

Reality

Silence and inaction reinforce the status quo, and tells students of color that racism doesn't matter.

Speak up for racial justice

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10 Principles for Talking About Race in School | NEA

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Creating space to talk about race can open powerful learning for you and your students. These tips can help you make race conversations normal, constructive and successful.