The Challenges of Overcoming Our Unconscious Biases Online
Diversifying my Twitter Feed
The Developing World Libraries Module was my favourite from the course. It helped show me how blinkered and limited my understanding of teacher librarianship was. Given that, I purposely set out today to diversify my twitter feed to include under-represented voices. In addition to adding many fantastically interesting people to my Twitter Feed, I also learned a few things along the way that I would like to share with you.
1. I started out by using the search term 'teacher librarian' and then adding a further specific topic of interest e.g. 'teacher librarian' and 'Kenya' or teacher librarian and 'LGBTQ'. The results in some cases were quite limited. This may be in part because there are large systemic barriers (in terms of cost and educational gatekeeping) that may artificially limit the pool of people who can or choose to become teacher librarians.
2. These search terms also made me reflect on my own biases. I was picturing education as being led by a university trained teacher librarian. But this is incredibly limiting. Education is a process that we all do all the time. When I revised my search terms to "Indigenous Education" or "Autism Education" I got a much broader selection of people and opinions. So, the whole purpose of this activity was to reduce my unconscious biases and to diversify the array of opinions that I can learn from. And from the very first moment I began this task, my unconscious biases had a powerful limiting effect on my learning. Coming to terms with our own biases is incredibly challenging!
3. Twitter itself tends to reinforce biases. When I chose to follow one account, Twitter would then suggest to me similar accounts to follow. So, again even in the process of trying to diversify my Twitter Account, I was being streamed back into selecting relatively homogenous accounts.
Twitter users, themselves, are also not representative of their society. In the U.S., for example, Twitter users are younger and more Democratic than the average American, and 10% of all Twitter users are responsible for 80% of the tweeted content (https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/04/24/sizing-up-twitter-users/). In many countries, with far more limited access to the internet, the people tweeting are likely to be even less representative of the view of the 'average person'.
4. When I also looked at the new accounts that I added, I became aware of another problem. Following only two accounts of Teacher Librarians in Zambia, for example, is dangerous. These two accounts will give me an incredibly narrow view of the educational experience in Zambia. A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. This is best illustrated by the Dunning Kruger Graph below. My scattershot approach to adding a few new people to my twitter feed could very easily place me at the peak of Mt. Stupid if I am not humble enough to realize how profoundly limited my knowledge of the world is .
5. I went into this activity thinking that I would add a greater diversity of opinions to my twitter account and that this would be a good unto itself. What I came to learn by the end of the activity was an even more powerful good. I realized how incredibly challenging overcoming our own biases is. I realize that I must actively and consciously set aside time to examine how my unconscious biases affect the way that I teach. Please find below my Works Cited and a selection of some of the new Twitter Accounts I added to my feed. Thanks for reading!
Works Cited
Wojcik, Stefan, and Adam Hughes. “How Twitter Users Compare to the General Public.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center, 7 Jan. 2021, https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/04/24/sizing-up-twitter-users/.
International Focused Education Twitter Accounts
1. Adedayo Arowolo
@frefredee
2. #AccessToInformation is a human right
@librarian_nkem
3. Sushma Sakpal
@SushmaSakpal
4. GlobalLiteratureinLibrariesInitiative
@GlobalLitin
5. AfricanLibraryProject
@AfricanLibraryP
6. Hagwelele Allan
@Hagwelele_Allan
7. Library and Information Association of Zambia
@Liazzambia
LGBTQ Focused Education Twitter Accounts
8. Anitra Rowe Schulte
@anitraschulte
9. Nicole Clark
@NicLClark
10. Annie MLIS
@dharmascholar
11. Christopher Hunt
@ExLibrisMrHunt
12. Diamond Book Shelf
@DiaBookshelf
13. Kristin Rogersdotter
@KRogersdotter
14. Jane Leder
@janemleder
15. Kelsey Bogan
@kelseybogan
Differing Abilities Focused Education Twitter Accounts
16. Ziyue Chen
@zzzyuair
17. Glory Fink
@GloryFink
18. Penka
@pope_penka
19. Laura Wheeler
@wheeler_laura
20. Rebecca Large-Swope
@SwopeLarge
21. Kristin PLue
@Kristin_Plue
Indigenous Focused Education Accounts
22. Debbie Reese
@debreese
23. Peel District Indigenous Department
@PDSBIndigenous
24. Nick Bertrand
@NickBertrand9
25. Troy Maracle
@TroyMaracle
26. Jerica Fraser
@JericaFraser
27. Jolene John
@ACLJolene
28. Dr. Jenny Kay Dupuis
@JennyKayDupuis
Hi Soren,
ReplyDeleteYour blog was very interesting.It is very true that social media can lead us down different paths and sometimes Facebook and Twitter can be limiting. But I think that sometimes, if we connect with other professionals from all over the world, we can gain a lot of knowledge and learn so much from each other. Will you use your Teacher Librarian Twitter Account to post general information for your students/staff? I have heard that many teacher librarians use Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to keep the school communities connected, but this is also an excellent way to connect with other teaching professionals.
Best wishes,
Sonia
Hi Soren,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the accounts that you found. I will be checking these out! Your experience with Twitter's search results gives important insight to the way web indexing can also enforce biases. This is an especially important consideration for teacher-librarians and something we should keep in mind when teaching information literacy lessons.
Your post did a great job articulating the way that social media surrounds as with like-minded people. We need to be mindful that this creates a heightened sense of "the other" and significantly skews our views. I admire you for taking the time to examine and challenge your own biases. I am inspired!
-Keri
I appreciate how you have actioned your learning from your last blog post. You are considering important ideas. By expanding your PLN to include a wide range of voices you model how important it is to examine unconscious bias. Your list of Twitter accounts is a good takeaway for your reader.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am very aware of how sites like FB and Twitter reinforce biases with the content they share, I never really considered the implications with this in terms of my own professional reading. I think you are correct that it is important to try and find people to follow from around the world to help us broaden our views. In this way, we can see far more perspectives and help us to face our unconscious biases. Thank you so much for sharing the list of people to follow on twitter!
ReplyDeleteHi Soren,
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting and thought provoking read. Taking the time to explore these accounts like you did is an important step and such a great idea to model for your students. I would imagine our students will often not be aware of their own bias unless prompted to think about it like you did. Thanks for sharing those accounts!
Erin