Domonique Crosby

What biases do I hold today? Now that I recognize these, it is my mission to

This is intended to be a 50 workshop.
Material Needed:
5 large pieces of paper
Tape
Markers
Round stickers
Paper for participants
Welcome: Welcome students to workshop and do introductions with one another. Have
students state names, years in school, and reason for participating in the conference.
Give a brief introduction of self.
Opening Discussion (5 mins)
The workshop will begin with a discussion of how everyone comes from different
backgrounds and brings with them different messages and thoughts about things. As
weve grown and evolved in our identities through the course of our lives, so have the
opinions we have of the messages we received from our various communities of
practice (family, school, media, religion, peers/friends, and colleagues). Messages that
we held strongly when we were younger we may now reject. Nevertheless those
messages have influenced our experiences and the way in which we experience others
who are similar and different from ourselves.
Activity (15 mins)
Participants will reflect on the messages they received growing up. Understanding what
their communities of practice have taught them certain things and how they have either
internalized or rejected these messages. Participants will engage in an activity in which
they post up stickers on a spectrum that represents whether their communities of
practice agreed or disagreed with a certain concept. Communities of practice are
identified as the people who raised you, K-12 schooling, your friends, and the media.
The following statements will be used:

People of color do not go to college.

Men are supposed to provide for their wives.

People with disabilities deserve pity.

White people should do something to make up for how theyve treated people of
color.

People are only victims if they let themselves be victims.

Individual Reflection (5 minutes)

The following reflection question will be used:

Do you still believe some of the things you were taught? If yes, which ones?

How do these messages show up in your daily life?

How do these messages affect how you interact with others?

Large group discussion (10 minutes)

Questions for the discussion are as follows:

Do you see patterns in the ways the dots are placed?

How did your communities of practice agree or disagree on these issues?

What is it like for you when your communities of practice disagree about any of
these messages? Is someone willing to give an example of this and talk about
what it is like?

How might different messages make it difficult to hear and understand the
experience of someone who comes to you to talk about discrimination they have
experienced?

Follow up Discussion (5 minutes)

Leave time for students to state what they felt the purpose of the activity was.
After a few responses, state that the purpose of the exercise was to help students focus
on the different kinds of messages they may have received that could affect the way
they look at issues of diversity. It will be emphasized that it is important to realize that
when we are dealing with any person, they bring with them ALL of their communities of
practice, and all the messages they have received from these communities.
We will then transition into what to do with this information. There will be a connection
with the fact that people bring all of these messages with them to the want to create a
better world. Explain that having biases does not make them a bad person, but it is
important to recognize the impact these biases have on how they interact with other
students.
Ask the following questions:

How do these biases hinder you from making the world a better place?

What do you need to do to ensure that you can still make a difference in the
world despite your biases?

Action Plan (5 minutes)

The purpose of the closing activity is to get students to think about how they come in
with biases about other groups despite being in marginalized groups. This activity will
allow them to think about what they need to do in order create change.
Give each student a piece of paper with the following sentence on it and ask them to fill
in the blank.
Recognizing my biases and preconceived notions of others and the system I need to
_____________________ in order to make positive change in the world.
After two minutes to write thoughts, have students read their sentence aloud to
everyone.
Closing (5 minutes)
Thank students for their participation and ask them to fill out a short evaluation of the
workshop.
Inform participants that a formal evaluation for the workshop will be sent to their emails.