What Has Bias Got to Do with It? Recognizing Impact of Stereotypes and Reducing Bias in Education

2/6/2019

Stephanie Itle-Clark, EdD, CHES - Founder and President, Academy of Prosocial Learning (APL)

Bias is a dirty word in humane and prosocial education. We do not want to support bias in any form, and we want to help our learners find and end injustice. But if we are not open to recognizing our own implicit biases, we may be perpetuating exactly what we want to end. A big challenge for educators in today’s increasingly complex and global world is developing a personal awareness of how unconscious bias impacts daily decision-making and how microaggressions and stereotypes influence the way we interact with learners. In this session, you will learn why the brain tries to grasp onto stereotypes, discover how to recognize and reflect upon personal bias, and begin to establish ways to override these stereotypes.

About our Speaker:
Stephanie Itle-Clark received her BS in Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, MEd in Educational Curriculum and Development from Wilkes University, and EdD in Educational Leadership from Fielding Graduate University where she focused on the impact of humane education professional development for teachers. She also holds Certified Humane Education Specialist (CHES) credentials. Prior to founding the Academy of Prosocial Learning, she taught in both private and public education sectors and was the Director of Learning at The Humane Society of the United States. She specializes in humane pedagogy and supporting educators as they develop lessons that infuse humane and prosocial education into the standards-based curriculum in order to increase learner growth in the cognitive, affective, and behavioral domains. She is a current board member of the Humane Education Coalition, the Association of Professional Humane Educators, and the United Federation of Teachers Humane Education Committee.

Links and Resources:

Academy of Prosocial Learning

Unconscious Bias Article

Greater Good Article

18 Comments

Chick Barnes

2/6/2019 09:40:34 am

What an eloquent, relevant, and visually effective presentation on bias awareness. I appreciate Dr. Itle- Clark’s emphasis on mindfulness, and empathy as a life skill to be expanded upon through attention, awareness, and purposeful exposure to new stories.

Stephanie Itle-Clark

2/6/2019 10:00:36 am

Thank you for attending the session, Chick. Through exposure to new experiences we can definitely support growth in empathy for all beings and the planet we share.

Maggie Lantzy

2/6/2019 09:46:55 am

Stephanie, thank you for another great presentation! In Denver we have the BSL on pit bulls so animal bias is a hot topic in our area. I appreciate that you gave us a list of tools for making the brain shift! I also wanted to say I appreciated what you said yesterday in the panel discussion about not only creating an overarching definition, but a framework for HE. I think that will help differentiate true HE programs, and programs masquerading as HE just to have animals as pets or make money (e.g. side of the road "take a picture with a monkey" type venues.). I always enjoy learning from you so thank you again for sharing!

2/6/2019 10:04:53 am

Maggie, thank you so much. BSL is a perfect example of a societal bias and one where self-fulfilling prophecy is a problem.

I look forward to working with you and the other amazing professionals in the field to craft the framework. You bring up an excellent example of why we need to develop it.

2/6/2019 11:27:24 am

Thanks, Stephanie! I am happy to contribute in any way I can!

Judy Crumpton

2/6/2019 10:01:09 am

Hi Stephanie, This session really made me stop and think about the issue of stereotypes and bias and how important it is to recognize them. Very, informative! Thank you!

2/6/2019 10:15:50 am

Hi Judy, and thank you for attending the session. As educators we have two pieces to keep in mind: 1)The stereotypes we may have formed and how that impacts our learners and 2) The stereotypes others come to our programs holding. It can be uncomfortable to think about our own stereotypes, but when we do it helps us break them down and become better at outreach and education. I look forward to continuing the conversation about this with professionals like you!

Carlette Jewell

2/6/2019 11:43:50 am

Great session, Stephanie! I keep bringing the topic of bias into our staff meetings to relate it to the way we provide customer service internally and externally, and the way compassion fatigue can erode our efforts. This has really improved staff buy-in of our programs, and demonstrates the way our programs relate to the bigger mission of the organization. Thank you so much for these resources!

2/6/2019 01:51:05 pm

Definitely! If one expects the worst and looks for the negative, that is what one will find. And this does erode compassion for those we serve. I would love to connect, as I have been working on a session about the importance of empathy for clients and how it helps organizational brand (and increases compassion satisfaction).

Kim Korona

2/6/2019 03:56:53 pm

Hi Stephanie, your session was incredible! I think everyone needs to see it - educators and the general public alike. When we understand how our brain works, and ways that we can shift our brain's thinking, we can work toward preventing bias toward both people and other species. This is information everyone needs to know. And yes, it is essential that we integrate empathy into all that we teach! Thank you!

Stephanie Itle-Clark link

2/6/2019 05:08:08 pm

Thank you, Kim. It means a lot to read your post and I am glad you enjoyed the session. I think recognizing the "invisible filing system" and how it impacts our actions connects really well with the session you presented.

Ingrid Norris

2/6/2019 07:05:37 pm

Stephanie,
Was so excited to see this topic on the agenda! Did you get the slow down thinking from the book, Thinking, Fast and Slow? After being introduced to implicit bias in a class on social change, I went to the Harvard site and took some of the tests myself. Illuminating. I have been helping to work with voters before Humane Lobby Day here in SC through zoom training and role playing to recognize their bias and possibly those of their representatives in order to best achieve a dialogue that hopefully leads to change for Animals in our state. Thanks for this new material, loved the way you covered it!

2/7/2019 01:14:56 pm

Hi Ingrid, thanks for attending and sharing the book title. I actually have not yet read that one, but it is on my list. Similar messages of slowing our reactions and thinking are in a lot of the readings and research I have come across.

It is wonderful that you are doing so much reflection and training so that your conversations with neighbors/community members can be most effective. I love the application!

And for anyone who is interested in taking the self-assessment of personal implicit bias, Harvard offers the free resource Ingrid mentioned https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html. It is private and eye opening.

Jennifer Keys

2/7/2019 11:12:10 am

What a magnificent presentation, Stephanie! Shining a light on our own biases and truly evaluating where we are coming from will significantly improve the way we are sharing the humane message. Thank you so much for talking about this topic!

2/7/2019 01:17:37 pm

Thanks very much, Jennifer. Your statement is, in my humble opinion, so true. When we can recognize our own "pool of data" and recognize how ours may vary from the pool of another, it helps us build bridges and conversation. And this will help us to create the best world possible!

2/7/2019 01:21:02 pm

For those interested in some of the free resources on this topic:

1. Project Implicit - https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit Here you can find a few free self-assessments that let you learn about personal feelings and possible hidden stereotypes/biases about social attitudes, mental health, and even food!
2. Blind Spot book -http://blindspot.fas.harvard.edu/

2/7/2019 03:55:47 pm

I have found these interesting as well:
The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias, Dolly Chugh
Every Single Cognitive Bias in one Infographic
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/every-single-cognitive-bias/
Not that we can be free of them, only aware of them and working toward making choices in alignment with our conscious values and aspirations.

Or how just adjusting a game (stacking the deck:) (let’s say like “Awkward Moment” to include a majority of ‘on-topic” moment cards pertaining to social biases) increases player’s perspective-taking abilities (Kaufman &Flanagan, 2015) and framing the name of a game by using a description that diverts attention away from the game’s intent” is key to ensuring a game’s impact.
Little things like this we can do to address implicit bias😊

2/7/2019 07:49:45 pm

Awesome, thank you!!

HUMANE SUMMIT 2019