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FINDING YOUR BLIND SPOTS
Reflection to Action
1. What did you learn from your implicit bias test? 2. Was the outcome what you expected? Why or why not? 3. Based on what you learned, what is one thing you want to work on specifically? 4. What are three ways you can use what you learned about yourself to better your practice this week? Now that you have done the difficult work of critical self-reflection, it’s time to choose a goal that impacts your learning or even personal community. The activities in table 1.1 will give you some ideas about where and how to begin. Table 1.1: Sharing What I’ve Learned About Building a Sense of Belonging
Group
Activity
Littles (preK–grade 3)
Provide students with a crayon set that includes a variety of skin tones and shades, and have them do portraits of each other. Give students words to compare and contrast different attributes related to hair (brunette, braided, afro, blonde, natural, straight, curly), size (taller, shorter, bigger, smaller), and skin (beige, rosy, tan, peach, caramel, chocolate, dark brown). Contrast diverse physical attributes with things students have in common, like school, parents, teachers, love for ice cream, and so on.
Middles (grades 4–7)
Talk about the word discrimination and ask why students form groups that shut some students out. Ask students if their friends are more similar to them or more diverse. Talk about the whys behind their answers and why it’s important to interact with all kinds of people. Have them come up with an action plan to diversify their groups. Ask students to think about generalizations like “boys love sports,” or “girls love pink,” and have them bring up their own. Discuss how generalizations can be harmful to groups and communities.
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Now that you have your journal ready, go through the following questions and answer them thoughtfully and honestly. If you feel the need to put a lock on your journal or type in a protected file, do that. These notes should be private so that you feel completely comfortable being transparent. This should also be the place that you give yourself grace and permission to be flawed, as we all are.
