Culture & Environment

6) Students develop a critical lens toward race, culture, and language to disrupt asSumptions and structures that harm learning and belongingness within the classroom learning community. 

Instructors have questioned and reflected on their own racial, cultural, and linguistic identities/positionalities, assumptions, and implicit biases related to STEM teaching/learning.

• University of Michigan, Center for Research on Learning and Teaching An Instructor's Guide for Understanding Privilege and Implicit Bias provide resources for examining positionality, assumptions, and implicit biases and require introspection.

• Read Creating an Inclusive Classroom from University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching and consider how to counter negative assumptions in your classroom practice.

Students have opportunities to reflect on, and share, their own racial, cultural, and linguistic identities/positionalities, assumptions, and implicit biases related to STEM teaching/learning. 

• Engage with the resources on the Anti-racist Pedagogy page from Wheaton College and make a concrete action plan to change.

• Multiple identities lesson from the Underrepresented Curriculum provides a lesson plan and associated resources to consider how multiple identities impact people.

Students learn about dominant racial, cultural, and linguistic characteristics and behaviors.

• Read Tema Okun’s article What is White Supremacy Culture? and engage with the characteristics to consider antidotes.

• Assign readings such as Black Genius, Asian Fail (McGee)

Students discuss alternatives to the white dominant culture characteristics/behaviors in the classroom.

• Use case studies to highlight impacts of marginalized groups in STEM.

• Read National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine paper, Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations and engage with the resources. 

Students build ideas of representation, belongingness, and critical consciousness through readings and assignments that center and problematize race, culture, and language in relation to learning objectives of course.

• White Supremacy Culture in Organizations Resources for addressing characteristics of white supremacy culture in organizations. 

• White Supremacy Culture Resources These resources address white supremacy culture from the National Education Association (K-12).