Small Bites Friday Five 10-1-21:
20-30m – Pull out your college reading skills and read pp. 1-20 of “Academic Discourse and the Formation of an Academic Identity: Minority College Students and the Hidden Curriculum” from John W. White of the University of North Florida and Patrick R. Lowenthal of the University of Colorado at Denver to gain context for and understanding of hidden curriculum.
15-20m – Familiarize yourself with the trauma experienced by community members of the non-dominant culture with this research article, “Challenging Definitions of Psychological Trauma: Connecting Racial Microaggressions and Traumatic Stress” from Kevin Nadal and Tanya Erazo and Rukiya King. Can you empathize?
10-15m – Explore terms and inclusive language in GLAAD’s reference guide, intended for journalists, useful for all. Chances are, if you are not a member of the LGBTQ+ community or someone who keeps up with race and gender linguistic changes, you may not be as sensitive to inclusive language standards as you should be.
5-10m – Use the above link and scroll down to the glossary of terms. An inclusive classroom begins with inclusive, validating language.
0-5m – Read Douglas Starr’s take on scientist Jennifer Eberhardt’s work on implicit bias. As the article’s pullquote says, “She is taking this world that black people have always known about and translating it into the principles and building blocks of universal human psychology”.
Archie Bunker, All American Hero
This week, I watched “All in the Family“, a sitcom from the early 1970’s (start at 8:30 and watch, if you have Amazon). I played a portion of it for my son and he had to ask, what year that was. When I told him, he wanted to know how it could seem so current? As the protagonist used degrading terms towards women, Blacks, Hispanics and liberals, it all sounded so familiar.
Sadly, half a century later, the arguments and issues are the same. The group with power and privilege is trying to hang on to that power and privilege. Before you click away, let me explain. Archie Bunker, a working class White male, really believed that America was for him and those who looked like him. Anyone else was seen as an interloper. Personally, being neither White nor male, this often feels like my world.
Equity and Access
Watching the news of redlining and redistricting reminds me that systems still hinder equitable access to wealth and education. Reading about voter legislation that makes voting harder for disenfranchised populations in many ways feels more like the 1960s than the 2020s. In short, there is still much work to do at the individual, community and systemic levels in and beyond our classrooms. How can we make the American Dream is accessible for all?
Make that Change
For those still trying to tackle the hard work we do in creating access and equity on our campuses, Finding Your Blind Spots, my upcoming Solution Tree book, can help. Before the December 3rd release, I will be going through each of the book’s guiding principles to help you transform your campus one small bite at a time.
Begin by using the resources above to create a learning environment that welcomes and validates every student. I’ll see you next week with more.