IGC 697: Addressing Implicit Bias in the K-12 Classroom

Instructor: Casey Rekowski

Format: This is an online course that takes place remotely and all coursework is completed asynchronously. There are no zoom sessions. This is a one-week intensive. A full graduate course will be completed in one-week, so please allow ample time to complete assignments during the week.

Course Description: As defined by Merriam Webster, implicit bias is “a bias or prejudice that is present but not consciously held or recognized.” Implicit bias is learned from the messages, attitudes, and stereotypes of our daily lives. We can learn how and teach our students how to “debias” what stereotypes and prejudices media and culture makers have continued to perpetuate in news and popular culture. Most of our decisions and actions occur without our conscious thoughts.

There are hundreds of biases being made by your students before they enter your class, during your instruction and once they leave your classroom. Knowing how implicit biases affect our everyday behavior and those of our students can help us become the agents who foster a healthy & safe environment where students feel comfortable having discussions about bias.

This course will help you find ways to address biases in your teaching practice and help encourage mindfulness of the risks of implicit bias as well as establishing procedures that can help us avoid acting according to biases that are contrary to our conscious values and beliefs.

This course is aligned with the MA State Frameworks.

Addressing Implicit Bias in the K-12 Classroom - IGC 697