Facilitating Conversations on Respect & Inclusion

Today we are going to engage in meta-pedagogy, demonstrating how I teach (giving you some teaching tools), while also covering the content that we want to cover.  We are going to use the 5E model lesson plan: https://ngss.sdcoe.net/Evidence-Based-Practices/5E-Model-of-Instruction as well as some engagement strategies such as ‘write/pair/share’, polling in Zoom, and Padlet, as well and sharing content from some of my existing lesson plans.

Engage:

Pre-Poll: How comfy do you feel facilitating conversations about respect, diversity, equity and inclusion?

Case study  (see list of past events below) (Write/Pair/Share) 3 minutes to collect your thoughts (Write), 5 minutes in small breakouts (assign a scribe and a reporter) (Pair).  Add group entry to the Padlet: https://padlet.com/claporte/HU

You have prepared an amazing lesson on budgeting and money management for your Hullabaloo-U section.  The morning of class, a small group from an extreme religious organization uses megaphones shouting free/hate speech in Academic Plaza.  Primarily directed at minorities, immigrants, Asians, BIPOC, LGBTQ and women wearing “revealing” clothing (bare legs and bare arms), the group is intolerant of difference and shout explicit, violent threats of “eternal damnation” to those that do not conform to their ideals.  You can hear the students nervously discussing it as they enter the classroom.  You see that some students are visibly withdrawn from the conversation, some shaken/disturbed/upset/angry.  What do you do?

Explore 

(share part of write/pair/share): Whole Group conversation.  What would you do in this situation?  What is an inclusive classroom? What are your options when this happens?

Explain:  

How do I frame/tackle these discussions:

•  honest, caring, humble and brave

• we have established ‘class rules’ or ‘norms’ on Day One

• my heart rate (explain how you feel about having these conversations)... nervous, it's not easy...

• acknowledge differential impact on people in the room (rocks in the backpack activity) , https://sites.google.com/a/tamu.edu/claporte/diversity-activities?authuser=0

• might use the wrong words, and/or not have an answer and/or have to ask (dumb) questions (we are all human) --- but that shouldn’t be an excuse…

• AID – Active, Immediate & Direct

• because unless we start to discuss these things…

Elaborate: 

Why have these conversations? During these discussions…

• we learn communication skills, broaden our perspectives, personal & social responsibility, civil & civic engagement, gain confidence and instill a sense of belonging

• Student Learning Outcomes: https://catalog.tamu.edu/undergraduate/general-information/student-learning-outcomes/ 

• we use Critical Thinking https://sites.google.com/a/tamu.edu/claporte/critical-thinking-resources?authuser=0

• and Active Listening https://sites.google.com/a/tamu.edu/claporte/active-listening-activities?authuser=0

• Preemptive conversations about unconscious biases and stereotypes (PollEverywhere word cloud in response to word prompts e.g. teacher, student, firstgen, minority, white, black, LGTBQ, etc...)

• Resources on campus

  • Green Dot Bystander Training

  • Counseling & Psychological Services - Let’s Talk

  • DMS - CommUNITY conversations

  • Galveston: CLIDE 

Evaluate:

• Revisit breakout rooms and Padlet https://padlet.com/claporte/HU  Reflexive time to think about what you will do in your Hullabaloo-U section when something you don’t feel comfortable talking about arises.  Make comments or add new entries on the Padlet.

• Post Poll: How comfy do you feel facilitating conversations about respect, diversity, equity and inclusion?

DEI related things that have happened in the last two years...

2019

• #MeToo movement making huge impact: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/23/us/metoo-replacements.html

• Presidential Impeachment enquiry

• Brexit and other countries test democracy

• Hong Kong protests began

• College admissions scandal

• Fire at Notre Dame

• Opioid crisis

• Gun violence: 2019 had seen 369 mass shootings in the United States, including 28 mass murders.

• First all-woman spacewalk

2020

• Global Pandemic COVID-19 --- school closes and moves online

• Trump Impeachment trials

• Justice Ginsberg dies

• First woman VP: Kamala Harris

• Gun violence and gun crime has risen drastically, with over 19,000 people killed in shootings and firearm-related incidents in 2020. That’s the highest death toll in over 20 years, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA)

• George Floyd’s death

• Americans reckon with racist history --- on TAMU campus Sully statue

• Kobe Bryant and 8 others die

• Harvey Weinstein convicted --- convictions following #MeToo increase

• US left Paris climate agreement

2021

• Attack on the capital 6th January

• Pandemic continues (over 4 Million deaths worldwide)

• Mental health issues globally