We will be uncomfortable at times as we consider perspectives and experiences that are different from our own as well as various forms of identity-based harm we may have perpetuated directly or indirectly. Identifying when and why our discomfort arises helps us to move through it constructively.
In this unit, we ask you to think about moments when you experienced or caused identity-based harm. This might bring up uncomfortable feelings. What emotions accompany that discomfort? If someone harmed you, would you want an apology? If you harmed someone else, how might you offer an apology? As you reflect, we invite you to consider how emotions affect people’s capacity to take action with empathy.
Some of the content in this curriculum includes topics that could be uncomfortable for some. As you engage with this content, we encourage you to take care of yourself in whatever way works for you.
This unit aligns with the following standards and concepts:
Learning For Justice
- Identity 3: Students will recognize that people’s multiple identities interact and create unique and complex individuals.
- Diversity 6: Students will express comfort with people who are both similar to and different from them and engage respectfully with all people.
- Justice 11: Students will recognize stereotypes and relate to people as individuals rather than representatives of groups.
- Justice 12: Students will recognize unfairness on the individual level (e.g., biased speech) and injustice at the institutional or systemic level (e.g. discrimination).
- Justice 13: Students will analyze the harmful impact of bias and injustice on the world, historically and today.
- Action 18: Students will speak up with courage and respect when they or someone else has been hurt or wronged by bias.
Critical Consciousness
Critical Reflection: A social analysis and moral rejection of societal inequities, such as social, economic, racial/ethnic, and gender inequities that constrain well-being and human agency. Those who are critically reflective view social problems and inequalities in systemic terms.
CASEL 5 Social Emotional Learning Competencies (Equity Elaborated)
Self Awareness: Involves understanding one’s emotions, personal identity, goals, and values. This includes accurately assessing one’s strengths and limitations, having positive mindsets, possessing a well-grounded sense of self-efficacy and optimism. High levels of self-awareness require the ability to understand the links between one’s personal and sociocultural identities and to recognize how thoughts, feelings, and actions are interconnected.
Self Management: Requires skills and attitudes that facilitate the ability to regulate emotions and behaviors. This includes the ability to delay gratification, manage stress, control impulses, and persevere through personal and group-level challenges in order to achieve personal and educational goals.