Mirrors & Windows

August 14, 2019

Silently think about what you are seeing.

Consider the following:

“No student acquires	“Learning never knowledge in the	takes place in a abstract; learning is	vacuum; it is always always personal.”	contextual.”

-	Emily Style - Curriculum AS Window and Mirror

“Mirrors & Windows” - Emily Style 1988

➢Amirror reflects your own culture and helps you build your identity.
➢A window is a resource that offers you a view into someone else’s experience.
➢ Discuss how you have experienced mirrors and/or windows in your education.

Why are mirrors important?

➢People feel valued ➢Sense of belonging
➢Supports positive identity development ➢Increased engagement in academics
○ Learning is always personal!

Why are windows important?

➢ Helps us develop understanding about the wider world. ➢ Creates a shared understanding and appreciation.
➢ Traditionally differences have made us uncomfortable. ○ “Color Blind”- thinking that ignoring differences of

race, gender, region, class, etc. creates the best classroom climate.
○ “Partial Seeing” - problem if we want to create a classroom that serves ALL students adequately.

Why windows are important?

Shared humanity -“Glancing through the window of another’s humanity, we can see our own image reflected in the glass of their window. The window becomes a mirror!” - Emily Style

Balanced Education

Knowledge of	Clarification of both self and	the known and others.	illumination of
the unknown.

Are students getting a balanced diet in your curriculum?

“Traditionally curriculum gives white males many mirrors to look in, and few windows which frame others’lives. Women and men of color, on the other hand, find almost no mirrors of themselves in the curriculum;for them it is often all windows.”- Emily Style

W & M are not just for English & Social Science!

Math & Science
NASA’s Hidden Figures: Women You Need to Know

The movie "Hidden Figures” celebrates the African-American women who worked as NASA's "human computers." Learn more about these unsung heroes who made it possible to send Americans into space. JULIE SCHWIETERT COLLAZOUPDATED:JUN 21,

2019ORIGINAL:JAN 4, 2017

P.E.& Art

How can you start to create more Windows & Mirrors for ALL students?

★ Highlight important people to your subject

★ Posters / Visual representations in your classroom ★ Class Discussions about student experiences
★ Share YOUR story throughout the year

★ Find articles, current events, video clips, etc to supplement curriculum ★ More ideas?

Human Family by Maya Angelou

More Information & Resources

● Teaching Tolerance - Tolerance.org

● Nationalseedproject.org - Curriculum As Window and Mirror article by Emily Style
● Weareteachers.com/mirrors-and-windows/