Explore Personal Bias with a Free Online Assessment

This year MSEA’s partnership with the non-profit First Book offers resources to help educators understand and learn how to address the unconscious bias we all carry, plus classroom resources to explore cultures and heighten awareness and tolerance.

These resources follow last year’s focus on social-emotional learning and the important, free Trauma Toolkit, the most downloaded resource in the extensive First Book library. The new downloadable handbook is called “Unconscious Bias: An Educator’s Self-Assessment.” It’s a deep dive every educator should take to discover biases that may affect their work.

The assessment includes a free, confidential 10-minute online assessment from Project Implicit — a product of researchers from Harvard, the University of Virginia, and the University of Washington. If you join the more than 1 million people (in over 20 countries) who have taken the assessment, you’ll likely reveal bias in yourself you may not have noticed or expected.

It’s all about awareness, reflection, and intentional exposure to areas that pop up for you. The self-assessment works like this:

1. Discover areas where you may hold an unconscious bias using Project Implicit.

2. Learn how to address your bias by exploring your

own personal narrative, or story, that may have informed your bias.

3. Learn how to disarm your bias by looking for more than one way to interpret a situation or interaction.

4. Use the power of books and other media to gain exposure and insight into the lives, experiences, and stories of those against whom you may hold a bias.

Don’t miss a chance to celebrate diversity! Download First Book’s free calendar to help foster cultural competence with your students. Visit the First Book Marketplace for more great free resources for your events and activities!