Challenging Your Biases
Being anti-racist means challenging your biases.
An individual’s assumptions and judgements can create inequity in the way people are treated. Bias can have an impact on decision making about many things, such as hiring practices, student assessments, and leadership opportunities — to name only a few.
Implicit biases are formed over a lifetime, but everyone can change their biases. This process takes time and intention.
Reflect on ways that you can challenge and change your biases:
- How can you interact and connect with more people who are different from you? This includes acknowledging and understanding their lived and living experiences, but without expecting them to educate you.
- How can you build your understanding of new perspectives, as well as ways of knowing and cultural practices that are different from yours?
- How might you be part of more diverse conversations?
- How might you strengthen your active listening skills to better understand the perspectives or lived and living experiences of others?
- Can you consider gaining new insights by reading or watching things that are different than what you normally engage in?
- What can you do to support honest conversations with students and colleagues when a biased comment is made?
- How can you help to create respectful spaces for learning and sharing in schools or districts?
Reflection
Being anti-racist means:
- Reflecting on your past and present biases
- Being accountable for your thoughts and behaviours
- Considering how you can apply the principles of anti-racism to your actions
Based on what you have learned about biases, think of an example of a bias you have at work or in your personal life that you can now recognize. What can you do to change this bias and perception as you go forward?
