Jennifer Green, Ed.D Teacher Education Department

Weber State University / Ogden, Utah

Using Protocols to Facilitate Sensitive

Conversations about Diversity with

Undergraduate Students

Context for this Study

● Historically, Weber State University served as:

○ Weber Stake Academy (1889 -1933)

○ Weber State Junior College (1933 -1964)

○ Weber State College (1964 -1991)

○ Weber State University (1991 -present) ■ a comprehensive regional university with a community

college mission

■ under LDS (Mormon) church ownership until it was turned

over to the state in 1933 https://www.weber.edu/AboutWSU/history.html

https://www.uen.org/utah_history

Purpose of the Study:

...to examine the effects of protocols on participants'

awareness and sensitivity to diversity issues in American

society and schools.

Protocols are structured processes and guidelines for

conversation that are recommended for the following uses in

the field of education:

● o n p r a c t ic e

● fo r c h a n g e

● with t e xt s

● t o wa rd e q u it y

Why use protocols? According to the National School Reform Faculty, protocols are

“Like guardrails along a highway...under the leadership of a trained

coach, (protocols) provide guidance and a safe place for honest

and useful feedback.” (nsrfharmony.org)

McDonald et al (2013) explain the ironic effects of protocols in this

way: “Under the right circumstances, constraints are liberating.” (p. 1 )

According to Robin DiAngelo (2018), originator of the theory of White

Fragility, “Refusing to engage in an authentic exploration of racial

realities erases (and denies) alternate racial expression.” (p. 86)

Other quotes from DiAngelo to consider incorporating:

● While implicit bias is always at play because all human beings have bias, inequity can occur simply

through homogeneity; if I am not aware of the barriers you face, then I won’t see them, much less be

motivated to remove them. Nor will I be motivated to remove the barriers if they provide an

advantage to which I feel entitled (xiii)

●

Demographics

According to College Factual (2019), WSU

is “on par” with the national average in

terms of diversity in the student body.

Study Participants:

Students in two separate

sections of my course,

EDUC 3205: Culturally

Responsive Teaching for

Preservice Elementary School

Teachers

N = 34

Female = 92% / Male = 8%

Hispanic = 18%

White = 82%

Matching the protocol to the task ● Protocols were used during most class meetings.

● Particular consideration needed to be given when

the conversation had potential to be complex.

● I needed to “constrain” the conversations with rules

so I could set their voices free.

● We will take a close look at three protocols in

particular and examine the results of the study.

● Other resources on handout.

Protocol #1: Marvin’s Model

● Prior experience: Students took Harvard’s online IAT

on skin tone (Project Implicit)

● Objective: to debrief or facilitate rapid communication

● Procedure: ○ Form groups of 4 -5 people

○ A question will be asked / 30 seconds to think.

○ Each person speaks for 20 -30 seconds.

○ Others just listen; do not respond.

○ Next question.

○ All discuss: What have we learned? What do we need to unlearn?

Data from Marvin’s Model

● Alive Reading 1

● Whole class debriefing:

○ The Latinx students came to the realization that they do this

WITHIN their own culture and families.

○ Other students talked openly about racist family members and

how to deal with that in family gatherings.

○ We then discussed bias vs. prejudice and the importance of self -

awareness.

○ The conversation segued well into watching a CNN report on

the Doll Test from the 1940s and its relevance today.

Protocol #2: The Tuning Protoco l

● Prior experience : Most students attended the

keynote speech at the WSU diversity conference by

Jane Elliott, racial justice educator, who is well -

known for her brown eyes/blue eyes experiment in

the late 60s.

● Her aggressive style had offended many in the

audience; I decided to use the Tuning Protocol to

debrief and explore her message.

The Tuning Protocol Procedure

Objective: to generate honest, direct, and respectful feedback in order to TUNE our values and perspectives through listening to others’ diverse and candid perspectives.

Guiding Question: Was Jane Elliott’s message communicated? Did she have an impact on the Weber community? How and why?

Let’s reflect together, alternating WARM and COOL comments.

First, we need to all gain an understanding of how she presents her message about power

and prejudice. Please just watch, no commentary until we use the protocol.

Data from the Tuning Protocol

● Whole class debriefing:

Stu d e n t s a lt e r n a t e d wa r m a n d c o o l c o m m e n t s fo r

t h e m o s t p a r t , t h o u g h o c c a s io n a lly t h e y n e e d e d

r e m in d e r s .

Le t ’s lis t e n t o a fe w o f t h e ir c o m m e n t s t h a t

d e m o n s t r a t e t h e jo u r n e y th a t t h e y a r e o n to wa r d

u n d e r s t a n d in g .

Protocol #3: The Final Word ● Objective: to expand the interpretation of a text

by encouraging the emergence of diverse

viewpoints and voices.

● Later in the day, we were going to critique social

studies textbooks.

● I needed them to consider the cultural bias and

lack of counter -narratives in curricula.

The Final Word Procedure ● Read t h e e xc e r p t fr o m Tr e vo r No a h ’s m e m o ir . H ig h lig h t o n e o r two

q u o t e s t h a t r e a lly r e s o n a t e with yo u .

● Pr e s e n t e r A reads the phrase o r s e n t e n c e a lo u d a n d reflects o n it fo r

2-3 m in .

● Reflect back . Go a r o u n d th e c ir c le a n d e a c h lis t e n e r r e fle c t s b a c k fo r

o n e u n in t e r r u p t e d m in u t e . Do n o t in t e r p r e t o r e va lu a t e (From what

you said… I can see that… I hear you saying that...I think you feel that )

● Final Word: The presenter has one minute to react to what was said.

● Repeat with next person and different phrase.

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Data from the Final Word

● Alive Re a d in g 2

● Wh o le c la s s d e b r ie fin g :

● Ma n y t h e m e s a r o s e , s u c h a s : ○ Th e p o lit ic iza t io n o f h is t o r y; Am e r ic a a lwa ys h a s t o lo o k “g r e a t ”

○ Th e t e n d e n c y t o s u g a r -c o a t t h e fa c t s

○ O u r a b ilit y t o s t u d y t h e t r a g ic h is t o r ic a l e ve n t s in o t h e r

c o u n t r ie s (t h e H o lo c a u s t wa s m e n t io n e d ), b u t n o t th e h o r r o r s o f

s la ve r y a n d we s twa r d e xp a n s io n

● O n e yo u n g s t u d e n t s u m m e d u p t h e t h in kin g o f

m a n y in t h e c la s s ve r y we ll a n d in q u it e a

p a s s io n a t e wa y, a s h e a r d h e r e :

Results of the Study ● Observational and anecdotal data demonstrated that

students had made progress in terms of self -

awareness and understanding.

● What did the hard data say?

● Paired sample t -tests compared individual responses on all

pre - and post -survey questions.

● A small p value ( ≤ 0.05) on almost all questions led me to reject

t h e n u ll h yp o t h e s is .

● In e s s e n c e , t h e c la s s (a n d o u r u s e o f p r o t o c o ls ) h e lp e d

t h e m t o g r o w in m a n y wa ys ...

What did the hard data say? Statistically significant growth for these pre - and post -

survey questions:

● rate your level of knowledge about diversity

● your opinion of the importance of the content of this course

● your level of preparedness to teach children who are culturally and

linguistically diverse from you

● how comfortable are you talking about issues related to cultural,

linguistic, ethnic, and religious diversity

The one question that resulted in a decreased mean: ● how open - minded do you consider yourself to be

Lessons Learned ● We le a r n e d a lo t fr o m o n e a n o th e r .

● It ’s n o t t h e d e s t in a t io n t h a t m a t t e r s , it ’s t h e

jo u r n e y.

● O n e s t u d e n t t o ld m e s e ve r a l m o n th s la t e r , in a

jo kin g wa y, “Th a t c la s s r u in e d m e ! I’ll n e ve r lo o k a t

t h in g s t h e s a m e wa y a g a in .”

● I a s ke d 15 o f t h e s t u d e n t s , wh o I a m t e a c h in g a g a in

t h is s e m e s t e r (lit e r a c y c o u r s e ), “Wh a t we r e t h e b ig

t a ke a wa ys fo r yo u ?”

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Feedback?

Thanks so much for attending!

Stay in touch:

jgreengersh@gmail.com