For this week, we were to take two random objects, and put together a 2 minute presentation about our topic/question using the random objects.
My two objects were a high heeled Bratz Doll boot and a picture of a dancer in a backbend.
Using these objects I decided to frame my topic in the context of implicit and unintentional biases that affect Black girls in education. My 2 minute presentation is as follows.
In today’s society, we often find that it is hard to place ourselves in other people’s lived experience. For example, many people don’t realize that Black girls make up 16 percent of girls in U.S. public schools, but they make up 42 percent of girls’ expulsions and more than a third of girls’ school-based arrests.
Implicit and unintentional biases affect students ability to learn in today’s schools by not creating a positive learning environment . Black and Latinx girls’ expulsion rates were reduced by 75 percent when teachers used a more empathetic mindset. The fact that students of color are not allowed to express themselves, and often have to bend over backwards to have their opinions heard in today’s schools is problematic.
While strides have been made in addressing implicit and unintentional biases in education, we still have a way to go in leveling the playing field in education. It is my goal to use these situations in an interactive narrative to immerse people in new situations.