All humans are biased. It is part of how our nervous system is wired to survive. Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. Each of us acts on our implicit biases, often without realizing it, and mostly without understanding where they came from.
Unless we take the time to both reflect on and interrupt our own biases as well as consider how stereotype threat might impact ourselves and our community, we unconsciously create the conditions for intolerance and fear. Fostering an inclusive mindset means learning to recognize the existence of invisible, negative bias that creates injustice and draws us out of alignment with our values of connection, equity, interdependence, and inclusion.
In this workshop, you will:
- Learn what implicit bias and stereotype threat are and understand through brain research how bias and stereotypes are learned and ingrained.
- Unpack the AMAZEworks Conditions for Belonging and Anti-Bias Education frameworks for addressing identity, difference, and bias in communities, organizations, and classrooms.
- Understand the importance of using and creating inclusive language, norms, and practices across all identities, including race, ethnicity, culture, class, gender, sexual orientation, faith/religion, and ability.
- Explore examples of inclusive language, norms, and practices through discussion, problem solving, and role-playing.
Event Details
Refreshments: Coffee, tea, and a light snack will be provided.
Parking: Parking is available. Please pick up a parking pass at the front desk.
Speaker Information
Rebecca Slaby, executive director, leads AMAZEworks in working with schools, communities, and organizations to create equity and belonging for children and adults. She gives workshops on Anti-Bias Education with a focus on cultural responsiveness, bias, identity and stereotype threat, and intercultural communication and conflict. She developed the AMAZEworks secondary curriculum and revised the elementary curriculum. With a M.Ed. from DePaul University, she has 15 years of experience teaching middle school humanities and social studies and was the diversity coordinator for Friends School of Minnesota, working on issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice on institutional, state, and regional levels. She has been a racial justice facilitator for the YWCA Minneapolis since 2015. She has presented at the Overcoming Racism, Minnesota Education Association, NAEYC, MnAEYC, and S Equity Summit conferences and teaches a course on equity-based pedagogy at the University of Minnesota.