Representation in teaching materials

 “I ask for the movement to continue, for the movement to grow, because last week I got a phone call from Altoona, Pennsylvania, and my election gave somebody else, one more person, hope. And after all, that's what this is all about. It's not about personal gain, not about ego, not about power. It's about giving those young people out there in the Altoona, Pennsylvanias, hope. You gotta give them hope.” -- Harvey Milk

Representation matters. Harvey Milk knew this well. He knew the power of seeing someone like yourself in positions of authority. He knew, too, how diverse representation helped to break down stigmas and negative stereotypes. Finally, he understood the profound alienation experienced by those who don't see themselves reflected favorably in positions of privilege. These are truths that are felt by anyone belonging to an underprivileged segment of society.

As a neurodivergent member of the LGBT+ community, I have experienced this, too, so I work hard to be inclusive in my teaching materials. However, it's not easy. Often, I'm under extreme time constraints to create new lectures, videos, test questions, assignments, etc. In a crunch, the temptation is always to take the top image from a quick Google or Unsplash search so you can move on quickly to the next graphical element. All too often, though, those images don't reflect diversity. Rather, they tend to reflect implicit or explicit societal biases.

Representation is also difficult when selecting class readings. Often canonical texts were created in less enlightened times. As such, you have to take extra effort to supplement these texts with more representative materials. But even when you have carte blanch to select whatever readings you want, it can be difficult to find representative readings. For instance, when I was teaching narrative writing, I struggled to find stories that were inclusive and that illustrated the specific writing lessons I needed to cover each week. 

Finally, I've found that increasing representation can feel like a game of whack-a-mole. Just when I feel good about, say, improving the number of visuals that challenge gender stereotypes, I notice that the people represented are predominantly white. Once I improve representation of ethnic diversity, I notice that I don't provide any representation for students with disabilities. Or LGBT+ inclusion. Or neurodivergence. Or body positivity. Or...

Still, I try and, each semester, I feel like I get better. It takes a lot of effort, but I know, again from personal experience, just how important it is.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash