Title:
A chance at birth - Faculty reflections on their social positioning in higher education classrooms
Abstract:
We used a faculty development workshop activity called 'Chance at Birth' to help faculty better understand the ways in which social structures inform access and opportunities broadly, and specifically to higher education. Prompts were given post activity to elucidate brief reflections from participants on the immediate emotions elucidated by the activity. After 55 iterations of this activity at several campuses and academic conferences, we used a grounded theory approach to elucidate themes from the brief reflections. Participants largely focused on the ways in which the activity highlighted their own privilege, lack thereof, and/or comparison with the perceived lot of others. Most responses fell into the nebulous category of perspective taking - where general statements of equality were posited, without deeper reflection on their own positioning, or the implications for students and their positioning within the same social reality. I'll discuss the implications of these findings to the extent that an immediate post-activity reflection of this nature provides, and contextualize it within the broader concept of humanism as a core element of inclusive teaching practices.
Bio:
Bryan Dewsbury is an Associate Professor in Biology and the Associate Director of STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University. His research program focuses on broader social and equity questions related to discipline-based education research. Specifically he is looking at the role that bias, stereotypes and identity constructs play in relationships (with other students, with teachers etc.) from K-12, and also how those relationships affect student engagement and learning outcomes.
Thursday, 3/24/2022, 2-3 p.m.
Bessey 109 or via zoom (https://unl.zoom.us/j/212107342)