Antibias ELA Strategies

 It is crucial, now more than ever before, to design and implement antibias instruction into ELA classrooms. An antibias education learning environment ensures that diversity is valued, stereotypes are challenged and social justice is promoted. In an ELA classroom, we can do this by praising and modeling critical thinking, empathy, and respect for diverse perspectives. There are many ideas that are relevant when designing an antibias ELA classroom. One of the most important things to consider is the texts that are being taught in the classroom. In order to achieve a classroom that values diversity, challenges stereotypes, and promotes social justice is to teach diverse texts from a wide range of cultures, time periods, and perspectives. Choosing diverse texts also allows you, the educator, to model what these behaviors look like in a classroom setting. When choosing texts, also consider the connection that these texts may have to your students' lives and communities. If we are able to choose books that students can identify themselves in, we make the content relevant and meaningful to them. This follows the idea that has been important to me and which was built on during Chapter 5 of Tricia Ebarvia's Get Free, "All students benefit when they have the opportunity to have authentic 'mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors' in the curriculum (page 208). On the following page (209), this idea was built upon by the scholar, Dr. Reese, who brings up the concept of "curtains." Dr. Reese describes curtains as, "a way to acknowledge and honor the stories . . . that are purposefully kept within Native communities..." While we want to teach multiple perspectives and bring in diverse experiences, we must also be respectful to the communities that we bring to light within the classroom. We do not want to do any harm to students who may feel singled out during our reading. 

When we discuss an antibias classroom, we must also consider how students work together to achieve this. While the educator(s) must also be working together, we should encourage students to work together in group projects. Group projects are a way to promote teamwork, communication, and respect for everyone's viewpoint. After working in groups, we can also model and have students participate in peer review. Peer review offers students a chance to get feedback from their peers, but also for the people giving feedback to learn from the presenter. A good peer review will also create a supportive learning environment. It's important that if we ask our students to do something, we model what the behavior looks like. If we want to use the Praise, Question, Polish method for peer review, it's crucial that teachers also participate to show what this looks like. 

If we are to ask our students to think critically, we must model what that looks like. One of the first things I consider when thinking critically is asking questions! Show what this looks like when reviewing something. Make sure your students feel comfortable to ask thought-provoking questions about the texts and about their experiences and their peers' experiences. This will also engage students in learning about their biases and to challenge their preconceived thoughts or ideas about a culture. When students ask questions about their bias, it may be important to ask everyone in the class to identify their own biases and to challenge their biases in the class readings and in their social media feed. 

I used to think that composition was just another word for writing, but composition encompasses much more than that. When I think of composition now, I think of all the aspects that go into creating anything. Whether it be music, art, or writing, you are combining your knowledge to create something never before seen to this world. It's incredible to think that all humans have the power to do that. When asking students to share their work or to talk out in class, it's important to our classroom culture to support students who use multiple languages and dialects. There is no "correct" English. I notice that many ESOL seem nervous to speak out in class because they may use the wrong word or may not know how to say something in English. If we are to teach antibias and bring in diverse experiences, we must value those students who may not have had English as their primary language. When it comes to students creating in the classroom, we also must show and represent many genres. Poetry, drama, nonfiction, and social media, these are all samples of composition that can be explored in a classroom and serve as an example for students wanting to create in those genres that are talked about in classes. When teaching these different genres, you could incorporate the topic of audience and/or purpose and who these people were writing for and how can the students change their communication depending on their audience or purpose.

Composition is a key factor when considering antibias ELA instruction. Composing allows students to reflect on their experiences, learn from their peers, and expand their ideas. Composing also allows the chance for students to understand and learn their own biases and to learn how to understand people with different ideas. When considering composition in classrooms, we must model the behaviors we want our students to exhibit so that they can understand what we are asking of them. If we want students to be collaborative, we need to show what that will look like, when we are talking about peer review,  we should be peer reviewing and providing feedback with the students (and because that is part of the job!). Students learn more from feedback than their grade.

Have a wonderful week, thanks for reading!