Students assess examples of media (catalogs, magazines, books, etc.) to consider who is (and isn’t) represented, explore the impact of lack of diversity in media, and realize their own rich experiences with diversity.
Recommended for grades: 4 and up
Time: 45-60 minutes
Victoria Chiatula, Ph.D., is an educator, consultant, scholar, and the CEO & Founder of EdPro International, an Educational Management Organization. For Dr. Chiatula, education is a vocation and a life calling that has given her the opportunity and charge to empower others to create positive change. She serves, leads, and advocates for equity and access…
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Zoe Weil is a blogger for Psychology Today (PT), and twice a month we share her blog posts here. Enjoy! As a 98 lb. white woman with small bones, I am a poster child for osteoporosis. Plus, I have a family history of the condition. My mother had a spontaneous sacral fracture at age 83…
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by Marsha Rakestraw News headlines remind us daily that racial injustice and violence and discrimination against Black people (and other people of color) continue to thrive, and the impact on people of color, especially children and families, is significant and long-lasting. With school systems in the US made up largely of white teachers, many schools…
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by Cathy Potter In 1990, Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop published an essay about the importance of providing young readers with diverse books that reflect the “multicultural nature of the world” in which we live. In the essay, Dr. Bishop coined the phrase “Windows, Mirrors and Sliding Glass Doors” to explain how children see themselves in…
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Find resources (lesson plans, videos, articles, etc.) for teaching and learning about issues related to intersectionality. Curated by the Institute for Humane Education.
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by Marsha Rakestraw In November 2017 California announced that it is adopting “LGBT-inclusive” history textbooks for grades K-8. It is the first state in the US to do so. Some schools may try to ban or discourage talk about homosexuality or about families with gay parents, but the fact is that there are a growing…
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by Marsha Rakestraw We all have biases. We’ve heard many times that those biases are an evolutionary adaptation that helped us survive, but even after these thousands of years, we haven’t yet learned to recognize and overcome many of our unconscious (and conscious) biases related to race, gender, disability, age, geography, and even species. Research…
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by Marsha Rakestraw All of us have a variety of characteristics that contribute to who we are: our gender and ethnicity. Our income level and beliefs about religion/spirituality. Our sexual orientation and level of able-bodiedness. Our geographic location and age. And so much more. Each of these characteristics can influence both our level of privilege…
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by Marsha Rakestraw Even we adults struggle with our identity, so imagine how challenging it is for children, in a world full of mixed messages, stereotypes, and media and cultural pressures. Celebrating identity is a powerful and vital part of raising healthy, compassionate, thriving young citizens. Here are 5 children’s picture books that celebrate identity….
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