Education 2.0 & 3.0

In the United States, we have a primary and secondary education system that is unequal because of historic and contemporary laws and policies. American schools continue to be highly segregated by race, ethnicity, and social class, and that segregation affects what students have the opportunity to learn. Well-resourced schools can afford to provide more enriching educational experiences to their students than underfunded schools can. When students take standardized tests, they answer questions based on what they’ve learned, but what they’ve learned depends on the kind of schools they were lucky (or unlucky) enough to attend.

by Cathryne Lillian Milburn

by Andrew Roush

This Teaching Idea provides facts about the new coronavirus and allows students to explore instances of discrimination related to COVID-19.

MIT grad student Joy Buolamwini was working with facial analysis software when she noticed a problem: the software didn't detect her face -- because the people who coded the algorithm hadn't taught it to identify a broad range of skin tones and facial structures. Now she's on a mission to fight bias in machine learning, a phenomenon she calls the "coded gaze." It's an eye-opening talk about the need for accountability in coding ... as algorithms take over more and more aspects of our lives.

Governor Ron DeSantis’s anti-critical-race-theory legislation is already changing how professors in Florida teach.

"Anti Asian-American hate crimes, harassment, and bullying have been on the rise nationally, and as educators we have the responsibility of having to address the recent events with our students, with our colleagues, while at the same time, we may be looking for ways to process and educate ourselves. 

There are many organizations that have already compiled strategies, research, and personal perspectives that we hope will help you. "

This summer, the Global Centre for Pluralism, in partnership with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, offered virtual professional development sessions for Canadian teachers on how to have conversations about race in the classroom.

By Naomi L. A. Smith, Assistant Library Manager and part-time Library student at UCL (@LibrarygirlN). This blog post is based on an essay originally produced for INST0021 Managing Information Organisations module for the MA Library and Information Studies at UCL.

Although Black Lives Matter (BLM) is making more and more of us re-question our privilege and think about discrimination and Western power structures, this exploration needs to also extend to our workplaces. Librarians must recognise that rather than challenging systems of oppression, academic libraries have historically contributed to it by favouring white cisgender male authors at the expense of all others. Similarly, the membership figures of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) confirm there is under-representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME ) staff in the library and information science sector.

Emily Boudreau

Sad. Tired. Exhausted. These are words that barely begin to describe how Black people, across this nation feel. So, what role can the education community play in bringing about change, healing, and racial equity? #mentalhealth #georgefloyd #blacklivesmatter #education #school #killermike

IFLA has submitted a response to a call from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism concerning the impact of new technologies, sharing experience and highlighting the need to respect the key library value of equal access to education. 

By four years, children have already begun to internalise bias and stereotypes. Yet research shows teachers and parents are often uncomfortable or unsure about talking to children about cultural difference.