We found 15 results that contain "oppression"

Background
This is a group activity for students in an introductory course on race, gender, sexuality, disability, class stratification, and various intersecting identity categories. In this activity, students work in small groups to break down different aspects of systems of oppression related to the listed identity categories, like racism and/or heteropatriarchy. The activity pairs well with a number of readings, but here are some helpful suggestions:  The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, “Five Faces of Oppression” by Iris Marion Young, “Full-Frontal Morality: The Naked Truth About Gender” by Talia Mae Bettcher, and “Rape, Racism, and the Myth of the Black Rapist” by Angela Y. Davis. The following instructions are for a tree activity about The New Jim Crow. Note: the activity should be done after lecture and discussion on the book. 
 
Implementation

Put students in groups of four or five
Alternate assigning groups ‘Jim Crow’ and ‘Prison Industrial Complex’
Ask each group to draw a tree with roots, a thick trunk, branches, and many leaves
Ask each group to use references from the text to identify different ‘roots’, ‘tree trunks’, ‘branches’, and ‘leaves’ of Jim Crow or the Prison Industrial Complex.   
Provide examples of each part of the tree to get them started, e.g. a leaf of Jim Crow may be poll taxes, while a root may be racism and white economic anxiety.  
Allow 30-35min. Walk around and check in with groups about their trees asking why one thing is a leaf instead of a branch, weaving in relevant points from the previous discussion of the text, etc.
Reassure students that each tree will likely be different and that is wonderful. 
Ask groups to present their trees and the rationale for each piece. 
Tape the trees to a central wall/board separating ‘Jim Crow’ trees and ‘Prison Industrial Complex’ tress.
Ask students if they see similarities and/or differences between the two types of trees.
Prompt discussion about the relationship between the two types of trees according to Alexander.
Congratulate and thank students for their hard work. 
Ask students to reflect on what systems may look like if at their root were good things like ‘justice,’ ‘healing,’ ‘equity,’ etc.

Returning to Teaching Inclusively
Last week, Dr. Melissa McDaniels introduced inclusivity in the classroom, focusing on course curriculum design. This week we encourage you to extend this focus and think about how your identity influences the classroom environment.
 
This week, we want you to consider an alternative perspective about how you can make classrooms places where all students feel seen and heard. This perspective – that of “anti-oppression” – rather than inclusivity or diversity – will help you understand the role instructors play in creating classroom environments in which some students are oppressed and others are privileged. We recommend this lens because it focuses on the systems in which oppression operates rather than on differences themselves. Individuals differences can too often be used by educators (consciously or unconsciously) to privilege or oppress those they are teaching. Anti-oppression in the classroom begins with you. A later blog post addresses how student (rather than instructor) identities influence the classroom environment.
What is an Anti-Oppressive Classroom?
Anti-oppressive classrooms are those in which all forms of oppression are actively and intentionally challenged. Anti-oppressive classrooms attempt to directly address issues of power toward the fullest recognition of all individuals. As instructors, we have considerable power/influence over the classroom environment. How we assume that role and use that power will determine the boundaries and expectations for a non-oppressive classroom. As the instructor, you set the parameters. Your students will either be empowered or oppressed as a result of how you employ your identity in the classroom. This is why it’s important to begin the process towards an anti-oppressive classroom by reflecting on elements of your own identity.
Reflecting on Your Identity
Authentic self-reflection may not be easy, but is required if you commit to a non-oppressive classroom. This is a process…it involves steps. We can only start from who and where we are. To help you start your journey, we provide four questions to engage you in intentional thought towards becoming mindful of your identity.
Four Questions to Begin your Journey
(1) Are you aware of your identity statuses: sex, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age, ability, religion, socioeconomic status, national status, language, etc.?
Answering this question is the first step toward a non-oppressive classroom in that you become aware of your identity statuses so that you can understand their meaning and how they intersect. (For instance, you’re not only Latino or White …you’re a [Latino or White], heterosexual, cisgender (insert other identity statuses here) male.)
(2) Have you acknowledged/do you understand what those identities mean to you? 
For instance, do you know what it means to be white racially if you identify as racially white? Answering this question allows you to understand who you are, so that you can begin to address the privileges (or lack thereof) associated with your identity statuses.
(3) Have you accepted the privileges (or lack thereof) that comes with your identity? 
Have you internalized why this matters? Answering this question allows you to deal with reactions you may have while accepting your identity statuses (such as defensiveness, guilt, powerlessness, responsibility, ownership), so that you can embody your identity in a true and authentic way.
(4) Do you actively engage your identity within your teaching? 
How do you situate or position yourself in the classroom? Now that you have become aware of, acknowledged and accepted your identity statuses, you must critically consider what actions you can take to address your privilege (or lack thereof) in the classroom.
We Are All Works in Progress
These issues are complex. Remember, you can only start from who and where you are. To create a non-oppressive classroom environment, it’s imperative that instructors commit to becoming conscious of their own identity and the impact identity has on teaching and learning.
 
Additional Resources
Case, K.A. (Ed.). (2013). Deconstructing privilege: Teaching and learning as allies in the classroom. New York, N.Y.: Routledge.
 
Johnson, A. G. (2006). Privilege, power, and difference. Boston, Mass: McGraw-Hill.
 
We’d like to know: Who and where are you on your identity journey? What have you done to engage your identities in the classroom? Share your experiences (both successes and challenges) with us in the comments section below or via social media using the hashtag “#iteachmsu.”
 

 
Originally posted at “Inside Teaching MSU” (site no longer live): Shellgren, M. & Mo, S. Cultivating Inclusive Classrooms: Being Mindful of Your Identity. inside teaching.grad.msu.edu

In our Spring 2015 blog post, we discussed anti-oppressive classrooms (learning environments where all forms of oppression are actively and intentionally challenged) and the importance of considering instructor identity (specifically that how you employ your identity can empower and/or oppress students). We use the word anti-oppression because it specifically targets unjust treatment in learning environments. We may often think of an example of oppression in the classroom as a blatant act, such as a student using overtly racist language. However, when you think of oppression in the classroom we want you to include subtle forms of oppression in your definition – such as students interrupting one another. We introduced a 4-step process of self-reflection on your identity, which we put forth as necessary to create and maintain anti-oppressive learning environments. For this blog, we want to continue the journey on inclusive, anti-oppressive learning environments, but with a focus on student identities.
Continuing to Teach Inclusively
Let’s begin with a brief thought experiment. Take a second to view the two photos above. Starting with the photo on the left, ask yourself how you view the students in this class? Do you view them as a homogenous group? A diverse group? As a note, we are intentionally not defining these two terms here to enable you to work through this thought experiment using your own conceptualizations of homogenous and diverse. Next,  think about how you would teach this class. Would your approach (curriculum, chosen pedagogy, assessment methods, other)  to teaching the class on the left differ from your approach to teaching the class pictured on the right?
 
In this blog, we will think about the reciprocal nature of student identities and classroom learning environments. ? In doing so, we will promote the idea that we must be mindful of all student identities (both that which is visible and that which is not) in order to create and maintain learning environments that are anti-oppressive. For instance, if you view students as homogenous, you may repeatedly use certain teaching methods or make certain assumptions which reinforce systems of power in your classroom (thus creating an oppressive learning environment). But in seeing students as a diverse group, teachers can begin to diversify their assumptions about learning and develop a repertoire of anti-oppressive teaching methods that can optimize the learning of all students.
Why Student Identity is Important: A Conversation with the Data
Does identity in the classroom matter to students? In our conversation with a second year undergraduate female in the sciences at MSU, the answer was overwhelmingly, “yes.”  She was able to provide us with a useful perspective, as identity is very rarely an object of study or discussion in the typical science class. As someone who conceptualizes identity as,“Who you see yourself as[…], how you feel about yourself, and where you think you fit in the world,” she told us that identity was rarely overtly talked about in her classes. When asked whether she thought identity mattered in the typical science classroom at MSU, she said, “…no. You’re much more of a number or a student ID to them than you are a person.” However, when asked whether she wished identity was overtly addressed, she replied, “Yes, definitely…I wish that you were able to build relationships and express who you were[…] I feel like when you’re just being talked at, the professor doesn’t understand who you are as a person and they don’t understand where you’re coming from, like what you’re good at, what you’re not good at.” She also reported that she thought identity “most definitely” matters for a life as a scientist and future scholar. As the conversation came to a close, she added that when identity is directly addressed in the classroom, you get to know fellow classmates and the instructor better, and that with increased awareness and understanding of the identities present in the classroom, different viewpoints and experiences were respected, leading to decreased prejudice.
 
It became clear as we spoke to the student that intentionally addressing identity in the classroom isn’t just an epistemological position that we hold as instructors – students also really want identity to be explicitly addressed and recognized and not be something that is rendered invisible in the classroom.
 
We learned that purposefully and directly addressing identity in the classroom can:

     increase student engagement and improve student performance
     build community
     accommodate student learning preferences
     actively engage all social identity statuses (such as gender, ethnicity, disability, etc.)
     and help members of the learning environment overcome prejudice

We found the insight of the student’s perspective on identity to be a pleasant surprise, but we were also astonished by the depth of her insight into how intentionally addressing identity can impact a learning environment, particularly given that she is not asked to think about identity in the classes she describes as typical of her major.
 
This student’s viewpoint, though one in a student body of over 50,000, also echoes the literature on student identity in the classroom. It has been reported, for instance, that students who had a firm understanding of their identities had higher self-esteem and lower levels of depression (A. Elion, K. Wang, R. Slaney, and B. French, 2012); stronger academic performances, such as higher GPA’s (T. Chavous, D. Hilkene Bernat, K.Schmeelk-Cone, C. Caldwell, L. Kohn-Wood and M. Zimmerman, 2003); and a reduction in negative social attitudes, such as sexism (K. Case, 2007). While these studies showed the benefits of actively engaging student identity in the classroom, they focused on one aspect of identity, such as race. If we commit to developing an anti-oppressive classroom and address all student identities, then imagine how great the potential outcomes could be.
 
Let’s return to our thought experiment and to the words homogenousand diverse. When we look at the picture on the left, we may think that group of students is homogenous because we view that group as having one identity, such as race (i.e. “All my students are white, therefore they constitute a homogenous group”). Comparatively, if we look at the picture on the right, we may view that group as diverse because we see that group as having different types of one identity, such as race (i.e. “Not all of my students are white, therefore they constitute a diverse group”). However, if we move beyond thinking of identity as representing one aspect of self, but rather all, we will come to realize that all groups of students in every learning environment are necessarily diverse due to the fact that they are made up of infinitely complex individuals, each of whom will differ on at least one individual difference/aspect. Thus, in order to develop anti-oppressive learning environments, we must define concepts like homogeneityand diversity as related to all identities and not one.
Reflecting on Student Identity
Now that we’ve thought about why students’ identities are important in the classroom, we can begin the process of reflecting on students’ identities. To help you start the journey, we provide four questions to engage you in intentional thought towards becoming mindful of your students’ identities. After each question, take time to think about what strategies you could use in your classroom, lab, etc. We offer a couple of potential strategies that could be utilized in developing an anti-oppressive learning environment.
Four Questions to Begin the Journey
(1) Are you aware of all student identity statuses: sex, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age, ability, religion, socioeconomic status, national status, language, etc.?
Answering this question is the first step toward a non-oppressive classroom in that you become aware of the student identity statuses so that you can begin to understand their meaning and how they intersect.
Suggestions:

Administer a survey before the start of the term (where you could, for instance, allow students the opportunity to share about their cultural background, make you aware of preferred nicknames or pronouns, etc.)
Have students record how they pronounce their names for a pre-semester D2L assignment

(2) Have you acknowledged/do you understand what student identities mean to students? 
Answering this question allows you to understand who students are, so that you can begin to address the privileges (or lack thereof) associated with student identity statuses.
Suggestions:

Establish discussion guidelines with communication norms and expectations
Facilitate discussions and assignments    that allow students to relate course material to their experiences.

(3) Have you accepted the privileges (or lack thereof) that comes with student identities? 
Have you internalized why this matters? Answering this question allows you to deal with reactions you may have while accepting student identity statuses (such as defensiveness, guilt, powerlessness, responsibility, ownership), so that students can embody their identities in a true and authentic way.
Suggestions:

Recognize unfair treatment when it surfaces
Have open and honest dialogue with the students regarding privilege and oppression

(4) Do you actively engage student identities within your teaching?
How do you situate or position yourself in the classroom? Now that you have become aware of, acknowledged and accepted all student identity statuses, you must critically consider what actions you can take to address privilege (or lack thereof) in the classroom.
Suggestions:

Provide a variety of course material, references, and examples that reflects all of the student identities.
Use Identity-specific or targeted activities, like the Class Race.

For more strategies, see our workshop slides on the Inside Teaching website (coming soon!).
 
We are all works in progress
Teaching to who and where your students are is an essential part to anti-oppressive learning environments. Committing to this endeavor, however, takes constant reflection and revision. We hope this blog will help you begin the process.
 
Additional Resources
Barber, S. A., Ricker-Wilson, C. Kumashiro, K. K., Wong, P. L., and Richardson, E. (2004). Preparing teachers for anti-oppressive education: International movements. Teacher Education 15(3), 257-275.
 
Case, K. (2007). Raising Male Privilege Awareness and Reducing Sexism: An Evaluation of Diversity Courses. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 31:426
 
Chavous,T. Hilkene Bernat, D., Schmeelk-Cone, K., Caldwell, C., Kohn-Wood, L., and Zimmerman, M. (2003) Racial Identity and Academic Attainment among African American Adolescents. Child Development. Vol. 74, No. 4 (Jul. – Aug., 2003), pp. 1076-1090
 
Elion, A., Wang,K., Slaney, R., and French, H. (2012). “Perfectionism in African American Students: Relationship to Racial Identity, GPA, Self-Esteem, and Depression.” Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology18(2):118-127.
 
Kumashiro, K. K. (2000). Toward a theory of anti-oppressive education. Review of Educational Research, 70(1), 25-53. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/214114515?accountid=12598
 
Okun, B. F., Fried, J., and Okun, M. L. (1999). Understanding diversity: a learning-as-practice primer. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.
 
Spradlin, L. K., & Parsons, R. D. (2008). Diversity matters: Understanding diversity in schools. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
 
Teaching Inclusively. (2005). Mathew L. Ouellett (Ed.). New Forums Press: Stillwater, OK.
 
We’d like to know: Where are you on this identity journey? What have you done to engage student identities in the classroom? Share your experiences (both successes and challenges) with us in the comments section below or engage with the discussion on Twitter by tweeting @InsideTeaching with the hashtag #iteachmsu.
 

 
Originally posted at “Inside Teaching MSU” (site no longer live): Mo, S. & Shellgren, M.. Teaching to Who and Where Students Are: Being Mindful of Student Identity. inside teaching.grad.msu.edu

When considering anti-oppressive classrooms (learning environments where all forms of oppression are actively and intentionally challenged) it is important to consider instructor identity (specifically that how you employ your identity can empower and/or oppress students). We use the word anti-oppression because it specifically targets unjust treatment in learning environments. We may often think of an example of oppression in the classroom as a blatant act, such as a student using overtly racist language. However, when you think of oppression in the classroom we want you to include subtle forms of oppression in your definition – such as students interrupting one another. We introduced a 4-step process of self-reflection on your identity, which we put forth as necessary to create and maintain anti-oppressive learning environments. In this card, we want to continue the journey on inclusive, anti-oppressive learning environments, but with a focus on student identities.
 
Four Questions to Begin the Journey

Are you aware of all student identity statuses: sex, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age, ability, religion, socioeconomic status, national status, language, etc.?

Answering this question is the first step toward a non-oppressive classroom in that you become aware of the student identity statuses so that you can begin to understand their meaning and how they intersect.
 
Suggestions:
Administer a survey before the start of the term (where you could, for instance, allow students the opportunity to share about their cultural background, make you aware of preferred nicknames or pronouns, etc.). Have students record how they pronounce their names for a pre-semester D2L assignment
 

Have you acknowledged/do you understand what student identities mean to students?

Answering this question allows you to understand who students are, so that you can begin to address the privileges (or lack thereof) associated with student identity statuses.
 
Suggestions:
Establish discussion guidelines with communication norms and expectations. Facilitate discussions and assignments    that allow students to relate course material to their experiences.
 

Have you accepted the privileges (or lack thereof) that comes with student identities?

Have you internalized why this matters? Answering this question allows you to deal with reactions you may have while accepting student identity statuses (such as defensiveness, guilt, powerlessness, responsibility, ownership), so that students can embody their identities in a true and authentic way.
 
Suggestions:
Recognize unfair treatment when it surfaces. Have open and honest dialogue with the students regarding privilege and oppression
 

Do you actively engage student identities within your teaching?

How do you situate or position yourself in the classroom? Now that you have become aware of, acknowledged and accepted all student identity statuses, you must critically consider what actions you can take to address privilege (or lack thereof) in the classroom.
 
Suggestions:
Provide a variety of course material, references, and examples that reflects all of the student identities. Use Identity-specific or targeted activities, like the “Class Race.”

At this point, most educators have likely heard about “inclusive classrooms.” We want you to consider an alternative perspective about how you can make classrooms places where all students feel seen and heard. This perspective – that of “anti-oppression” – rather than inclusivity or diversity – will help you understand the role instructors play in creating classroom environments in which some students are oppressed and others are privileged. We recommend this lens because it focuses on the systems in which oppression operates rather than on differences themselves. Individuals differences can too often be used by educators (consciously or unconsciously) to privilege or oppress those they are teaching. Anti-oppression in the classroom begins with you. 
 
What is an Anti-Oppressive Classroom?
Anti-oppressive classrooms are those in which all forms of oppression are actively and intentionally challenged. Anti-oppressive classrooms attempt to directly address issues of power toward the fullest recognition of all individuals. As instructors, we have considerable power/influence over the classroom environment. How we assume that role and use that power will determine the boundaries and expectations for a non-oppressive classroom. As the instructor, you set the parameters. Your students will either be empowered or oppressed as a result of how you employ your identity in the classroom. This is why it’s important to begin the process towards an anti-oppressive classroom by reflecting on elements of your own identity.
 
Authentic self-reflection may not be easy, but is required if you commit to a non-oppressive classroom. This is a process…it involves steps. We can only start from who and where we are. To help you start your journey, we provide four questions to engage you in intentional thought towards becoming mindful of your identity.
 
Four Questions to Begin the Journey
 

Are you aware of your identity statuses: sex, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age, ability, religion, socioeconomic status, national status, language, etc.?

Answering this question is the first step toward a non-oppressive classroom in that you become aware of your identity statuses so that you can understand their meaning and how they intersect. (For instance, you’re not only Latino or White …you’re a [Latino or White], heterosexual, cisgender (insert other identity statuses here) male.)
 

Have you acknowledged/do you understand what those identities mean to you? For instance, do you know what it means to be white racially if you identify as racially white? Answering this question allows you to understand who you are, so that you can begin to address the privileges (or lack thereof) associated with your identity statuses.

 

Have you accepted the privileges (or lack thereof) that comes with your identity? Have you internalized why this matters? Answering this question allows you to deal with reactions you may have while accepting your identity statuses (such as defensiveness, guilt, powerlessness, responsibility, ownership), so that you can embody your identity in a true and authentic way.

 

Do you actively engage your identity within your teaching? How do you situate or position yourself in the classroom? Now that you have become aware of, acknowledged and accepted your identity statuses, you must critically consider what actions you can take to address your privilege (or lack thereof) in the classroom.

Topic Area: Student Success
Presented By: Jesse Beal, Heather Shea
Abstract:
In this interactive, data- and practice-informed presentation, we will explore LGBTQA+ student success as a vital component of University student success efforts. Due to the lack of data on traditional student success metrics (persistence, retention, time to degree, and graduation) for LGBTQA+ students, LGBTQA+ student success work must be creative, collaborative, cross-disciplinary, and expansive. We will show how developing LGBTQA+ inclusive policies and practices supports student success and increases a sense of belonging. We will share the impact of implementing LGBTQA+ inclusive data collection practices on understanding student success on other campuses. We will explore the mental health challenges LGBTQA+ students face due to LGBTQA+ oppression, how these challenges have intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, available mental health support services, and promising practices for intervention and support. We will also discuss ways in which each of us, as educators, can make a real and tangible difference for our LGBTQA+ students. The ability of LGBTQA+ students to learn, develop, and succeed is inextricably tied to their sense of belonging and the support provided to them by the University to face and overcome challenges. This session will provide an introduction to theories of LGBTQA+ student success, as well practical application, creative solutions, and methods of intervention.

Topic Area: DEI
Presented by: Patrick Arnold
Abstract:
Diversity education increasingly takes an anti-racist, anti-sexist, and trans-inclusive orientation, and aims to highlight the dynamics between power, privilege, and forms of oppression which permeate many of our institutions and create conditions of discrimination and marginalization. Extensive scholarship has emerged on the theoretical frameworks, teaching methods, and the impact of diversity education within settings like university courses or DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programming. Educational and psychological research has studied anti-racist diversity education as a form of intervention: A central purpose of anti-racist education, after all, is to increase understanding of bias, and promote ways of ending systemic racial discrimination (Lynch, Swartz, & Isaacs, 2017). Naturally, then, it is common to evaluate the effectiveness of diversity education by measuring change in relevant attitudes, beliefs, or implicit biases of the participants of these interventions. However, diversity education is important not merely because it can be an intervention on existing bias, nor is the only appropriate audience for this context subjects who display such biases. In this pilot study, we explore more expansive data on the impact of diversity education, collected via a large intro course covering diversity in sex, gender, and current social justice issues like #BlackLivesMatter. Importantly, we find that diversity education is particularly impactful on the sense of belonging the students feel toward the university and its community, and especially for students of color enrolled in the course. We argue that further research is needed on diversity education as also an affirmation of belonging in our institutions.
Ingrid Lynch, Sharlene Swartz & Dane Isaacs (2017) Anti-racist moral education: A review of approaches, impact and theoretical underpinnings from 2000 to 2015, Journal of Moral Education, 46:2, 129-144, DOI: 10.1080/03057240.2016.1273825 

As a member of the SEISMIC Collaboration, MSU employees have the opportunity join the conversation surrounding DEI in STEM. These conversations are open to all. Upcoming events include:
 
Using Religious Cultural Competence in Evolution Education (ReCCEE) to Create a More Inclusive and Effective Scientific Community
Wednesday, October 14, at 12 p.m.
Speaker: Elizabeth Barnes, Middle Tennessee State University
 
While the majority of people in the world are religious, the majority of scientists are not, and this difference can cause culturally based barriers to effective science education. For instance, despite decades of evolution education research in the United States, almost one-third of introductory college biology students still do not think life shares a common ancestor and this is often due to a perceived conflict with their religious beliefs. In my studies, I find that college science instructors report not knowing how to address religious beliefs when teaching evolution and religious students report that science instructors have negative attitudes towards religion which is a barrier for their learning of evolution. I will describe how we as science educators can use Religious Cultural Competence in Evolution Education (ReCCEE) to reduce students’ perceived conflict between religion and evolution and create more inclusive evolution education for religious students. Further, I will discuss how such efforts may disproportionately benefit students of color and women, who affiliate with religion at higher rates than white men.
Zoom Link: https://umich.zoom.us/j/93300696091
 
But is it really ‘just’ science? Engaging critical race theory to unpack racial oppression with implications for Black student science engagement
Wednesday, October 21, at 12 p.m.
Speakers: Terrell Morton, University of Missouri
 
Disseminated through the culture of science (i.e., norms, values, beliefs, and practices), is the underlying message that there is but one “universal truth” regarding what is or what counts as scientific knowledge, research, and general practice. This culture and subsequent message have implications for who is recognized as being a scientist, or a validated member of the scientific community, and the process by which one gains such recognition. In noting the distinct, racialized experiences of Black students in science, this seminar introduces Critical Race Theory as a framework for attending to the prevalence, permeance, and impact of structural racism embedded within and manifesting through the culture of science, while also detailing the implications of structural racism in and through science on Black student science engagement. 
Zoom Link: http://asu.zoom.us/j/92158713296
 
Are you interested in giving at talk related to DEI in STEM? If so, please reach out to Ryan Sweeder (sweeder@msu.edu) to be added to the potential speaker list.