Positionality statement
Self-reflection in your syllabus: positionality statement
Positionality statements are increasingly common in the context of inclusive teaching. This is where you, as a lecturer or course coordinator, reflect on how certain choices you have made in the syllabus are linked to your own socio-cultural and disciplinary perspectives. You can draft a positionality statement and publish it in your course handbook or on Canvas, or discuss it with your students during the first session.
Whether you choose to share a statement at all, and how much you reveal in it, is of course entirely up to you. But what is positionality, and what questions are important when reflecting on your teaching design? What sort of topics belong in a positionality statement?
What is positionality?
A lecturer’s positionality refers to their specific worldview – such as personal beliefs, socio-economic status, cultural background and disciplinary practices – which may influence the choices made in the syllabus. In academia, the importance of self-reflection by the researcher is already more widely recognised, but teaching also benefits from transparency regarding the relevant perspectives that have guided course design. This is because all sorts of power dynamics – both explicit and implicit – can come into play when choosing the subject, defining learning objectives, selecting reading material, and determining teaching methods and assessment techniques. A positionality statement allows you to be transparent about this: it encourages openness and mutual communication, thereby increasing inclusion in your teaching.
Know your implicit biases
We are often unaware of the prejudices we carry with us: everyone has them, and it is impossible to go through life completely free of prejudice. However, it is important to reflect on the kinds of prejudices that negatively affect your duties and responsibilities as a teacher.
An overview of the most common implicit biases that can influence teaching
- Affinity bias implies that we are more positive in our judgement of people who are similar to us (i.e. with whom we have or feel an affinity: this can be very broad);
- The halo effect occurs when our first impression of someone is very positive (or negative) and this impression continues to influence our judgement for a long time;
- Perception bias arises when certain stereotypes influence our perception (think, for example, of gender, age, ethnicity, social class, etc.);
- Confirmation bias means that decisions and conclusions about people are based on personal experiences and expectations;
- Finally, in groupthink, collective consensus carries more weight than critical thinking: the group’s opinion then takes precedence (Gordon, 2022).
The hidden curriculum
Diversifying your syllabus begins with careful reflection on your attitude as a teacher and on the so-called ‘hidden curriculum’: this is a set of conventions that are taught without any explicit intention (Martin, 1983) – unofficial and unwritten rules that, alongside the official curriculum, help determine what students learn.
Questions you can ask yourself in such a reflection
- How is ‘knowledge’ defined in your field: who decides what constitutes knowledge, and do you make room in your reading list for less dominant voices?
- What do you base your learning objectives on?
- What does your ideal student look like, and what value do you place on certain behaviours?
- Do any implicit biases influence the design of your course?
- What kind of group atmosphere do you want to cultivate, and is this reflected in your syllabus (activities, assignments, student-teacher relationship)?
Even without an explicit statement, self-reflection is still recommended when designing your course: “Reflecting on your positionality as an instructor can be a powerful strategy for student success, especially if you think about how your lived experiences shape what you do in the classroom and how those actions may or may not be supporting the success of students in your class who often have very different lived experiences” (Harrington, 2020). Effective self-reflection during your course design can therefore lead to greater academic achievement for your students!
Social identity wheel
It is becoming increasingly common for lecturers to explain their choices and approach in the course syllabus using a social identity wheel exercise. You may also choose to discuss this during the first seminar.
The following points may help you develop such a statement
- Which social identities do you identify with (e.g. ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, social class, religion, the presence or absence of physical or mental disabilities, etc.)? How do these individual aspects influence the way you teach?
- What training and experiences have I gained? How have these shaped me professionally, and do they have an impact on whether or not students can relate to my teaching style?
- How do I ‘know’? In which academic discipline am I trained, and what role has my discipline played in perpetuating or reinforcing social inequalities? How do I myself contribute to this as a researcher/lecturer?
- Which aspects of my identity, experiences and worldview influence my educational philosophy, course design, teaching methods and research? (Harrington, 2022)
Bronnen
- Gordon, S. (2022). “Unconscious Bias,” Linkedin.com, https://www.linkedin.com/learning/unconscious-bias-14822310?trk=course_title&upsellOrderOrigin=default_guest_learning.
- Harrington, Ch. (2022). “Reflect on Your Positionality to Ensure Student Success,” Inside Higher Ed, 25 Januari 2022, https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2022/01/26/successful-instructors-understand-their-own-biases-and-beliefs-opinion.
- Martin, J. (1983). “What should we do with a hidden curriculum when we find one?” In Ed. Giroux, H. and Purpel, D. The Hidden Curriculum and Moral Education. Berkeley, California: McCutchan Publishing Corporation: pp. 122-139.
