Learning and Unlearning: Coordinating Cultural Competency Training for Information Professionals

1. Learning and Unlearning: Coordinating Cultural Competency Training for Information Professionals Carrie Hanson, Donna Langille, Paige Stewart, Emma Wilson MISt Candidates, McGill University OLASC 2019

2. https://www.flickr.com/photos/gforsythe/7211160284

3. We acknowledge the land we are meeting on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

4. About us • Master of Information Studies students at McGill University • We are white settlers living on the unceded territory of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation • Most of us are cisgender women • All of us are able-bodied • Most of us identify as queer

5. Learning Outcomes By the end of this presentation, you should be able to… • Define cultural competency and explain why cultural competency is important to LIS • Implement cultural competency training in your own institutions

6. Overview • An introduction to cultural competency (30 mins) • An overview of the cultural competency training (40 mins) • Accessibility and Anti-ableism • Gender and Sexuality • Anti-Racism in Practice • Questions and discussion (15 mins)

7. What is cultural competency? (5 minutes)

8. “All too often the library is viewed as an egalitarian institution providing universal access to information for the general public. However, such idealized visions of a mythic benevolence tend to conveniently gloss over the library’s susceptibility in reproducing and perpetuating racist social structures found throughout the rest of society” (Honma, 2005, p. 2).

9. What is Cultural Competency? 1 2 3 Individual Societal Organizational Understand how ethnicity, social class, and oppression contribute to group identity, coping skills, and problems encountered by minority groups. Identify how group and organizational factors impact individual and group development. Question how inequity is upheld within social systems and structures. (Boyle and Springer, 2001)

10. Intersectionality Gender • A black feminist critique published in 1989 by Kimberlé Crenshaw • Identities (race, class, gender, etc.) overlap and oppression is compounded • Where they overlap are called intersections Nationality Sexuality Racial Identity Ability Adapted from Meryem Benslimane, 2018

11. Reflections • Does any part of your identity impact the way you navigate daily life? Do you suppress or hide any of the identities? • How may your intersections (the way your identities overlap) differ from your neighbours?

12. Anti-Oppression A practice that requires individuals to critically examine power imbalances inherent in society in order to develop proactive strategies for creating a more egalitarian environment, free from discrimination (Strier, 2007). Image: Jim Forest, 2013, https://flic.kr/p/eipn1y

13. History • The concept was first developed in the 1980s in the field of social work, and later in counselling psychology(Green, 1982). • In recent years, an interest in further developing these competencies in other disciplines formed a resurgence in articles published on this topic (Suh, 2004).

14. What has been done in LIS? • In LIS scholarship, the term emerged in the 1990s in debates about the importance of services for minority groups in the United States (Mestre, 2010). • The current focus on diversity in libraries suggest that cultural competence is now an essential, incomplete, ongoing activity (Overall, 2009; Cooke, 2009; Mestre, 2010).

15. Debates in Scholarship • Variance in language • Cultural humility • Cultural safety • Not an end point • Not an individual issue, but institutional • Manifestation of neoliberalism

16. Why Cultural Competency? • 85% of librarians are white • 81% of librarians are women • Helps staff and users • Libraries are not neutral • A start, not a solution https://datausa.io/profile/soc/254021/#demographics

17. What can Cultural Competency Training look like? • Lots of things • Constantly changing with environmental and systemic landscape • “Dating” your community(Cecilia Feltis in Jaeger et al., 2015) • Partnerships with community members • “Nothing about us without us!”

18. Cross cultural knowledge and skills ACRL Diversity Standards Organizational and professional values Cultural awareness of self and others Research Professional education and continuous learning Development of collections, programs and services Cross-cultural leadership Service delivery Language diversity Workforce diversity Organizational dynamics http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/diversity

19. Examples of cultural competency training in libraries • Lazarro et al. (2014): Cultural awareness of self and others; cross cultural knowledge and skills • Guessing games (perceived vs. real demographics), intersection exercises, talking with each other • Hypothetical professor's access to power • Voluntary brown bag lunches with community members

20. Examples of cultural competency training in libraries • Andrade and Rivera (2011): workplace and language diversity, cross-cultural leadership • Three surveys over six years • Non-dominant culture workers rated interpersonal justice and work-unit conflict the worst • Implementing a diversity definition; entry/mastery level competencies; integrating cultural competency into position postings, descriptions, interviews

21. Examples of cultural competency training in libraries • Serving Diverse Teens @ Your Library: service delivery, collection development, outreach • Awesome wiki for serving youth • Hip ideas like podcasting • Functional ideas like collection development resources for a variety of very specific groups • There’s always room for more growth https://wikis.ala.org/yalsa/index.php/Serving_Diverse_Teens_@_Your_Library

22. Workshop Timeline Grant Writing Initial Planning Three Workshops June August October December September July May November Reflection and Debrief Written Proposal Logistics and Promotion

23. Task Division & Grants • Non-hierarchical division of tasks • Applied to three funding sources for grants from McGill to provide speaker honorariums, print outs, and light snacks and drinks from; • PGSS Project Fund • SIS Student Group Funding • Dean of Arts Development Fund

24. Promotion • Postering • Facebook event • Classroom announcements • School and professional email listservs • Community collaborations

25. Our Experience • Three 1-2 hour workshops lead by members of the community or experts • Accessibility and Anti-Ableism • Gender and Sexuality • Anti-Racism • Attended by mostly McGill LIS students, but some professors and librarians

26. Our Workshops • Focused on cultural awareness of self and others, changing professional values, spaces, collections and communication dynamics to be more welcoming, and service delivery to diverse populations • But, things were missing • Active learning is better • Surveys for feedback, see example at: • https://bit.ly/2FE0yJi

27. Accessibility and Anti-ableism Training Rachel Desjourdy Access and Inclusion Officer, Office for Students with Disabilities at McGill Claire Burrows PhD Candidate, Researcher-in-Residence at Concordia University

28. Ableism and Accessibility Overview • 2 hours, 14 attendees • The goals of the workshop • Disability in context - being aware of your community • Disability theory • Medical vs social model

29. Language Exercise

30. Privilege I have never been told how expensive I am to include. When I apply for a job, I do not have to worry about whether or not to disclose my status with regard to disability. I can access all things shared by friends on social media.

31. Accessibility in Libraries • Lack of research • Most research on web and online accessibility for visual disabilities (Hill, 2012) • Very little on academic libraries and disability theory • “Rely on the expert”

32. Feedback What was your favorite part of the workshop? • “The topic itself isn’t touched on in classes so I’m glad people w knowledge came in to help with making me more aware of the language I use” What can we improve for next time? • “More on LIS applications / tips?”

33. Gender and Sexuality Training Meryem Benslimane • Equity Educational Advisor in Gender Equity and LGBTQ+ education Michael David Miller • McGill Liaison Librarian for French Language and Literature, Economics and LGBTQ+ Studies

34. Gender and Sexuality Overview • 1.5 hours, 15 attendees • Online resources • Collection development • Space • Community engagement • Language

35. Golden Rules • This is an inclusive space • Talking about equity may bring uncomfortable conversations • Feel free to ask questions • The goal is to learn, not be the expert • What is said here, stays here • We have limited time Adapted from Meryem Benslimane, 2018

36. Vocabulary Exercise (5 mins) • Straight • Bisexual • Gay • Queer • Lesbian • Asexual • Pansexual • Gender identity • Cisgender • Transgender • Intersex • Non-binary • Two-spirit Adapted from Meryem Benslimane, 2018

38. Library Specific • Gender neutral washrooms • Collection development • October 2018: LGBTQ+ History Month Book Display • Online resources for privacy • Community engagement • Wikipedia edit-a-thons • Getting on Twitter, reading • Research (Library Juice Press Series on Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies) Adapted from Michael David Miller, 2018

39. Feedback What was your favorite part of the workshop? • “Inclusive language - it was extensive” • “The resources provided” What can we improve upon for next time? • “Have some hands on exercise about inclusive language usage”

40. Anti-Racism in Practice Workshop • Shanice Yarde(Equity Educational Advisor in Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity) • 2 Hours • 10 attendees • Feedback was very positive

41. Ground Rules • Land acknowledgement • Check your privilege • Ask questions Adapted from Shanice Yarde, 2018 Image: All_Womankind, 2018

42. White Fragility • A defensive reaction from white people to “racial stress” • “Whites are taught to see their interests and perspectives as universal, they are also taught to value the individual and to see themselves as individuals rather than as part of a racially socialized group.” • “White Fragility doesn’t always manifest in overt ways; silence and withdrawal are also functions of fragility.” (DiAngelo, 2011, p. 54- 67)

43. Vocabulary • Race • Ethnicity • Nationality • Culture • The Culture Iceberg • BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Colour) Adapted from Shanice Yarde, 2018

44. Microaggressions • “...brief, everyday behaviors that communicate hostile or derogatory slights and insults directed towards a marginalized group.” (Ettarh, 2014) • http://lismicroaggressions.tumblr.com/, @LISmicroaggress

45. Implicit Bias • The unconscious and conscious stereotypes that we ascribe to others (Hathcock, 2018) • Combating implicit bias(Hathcock, 2018) • Name instances of whiteness. • Underlying assumptions or stereotypes must be identified. • Reframe thinking and develop alternate ways of acting.

46. Group Exercise (5 minutes) Discuss in groups: • What are some examples of how racism shows up in the library? • How can we challenge it? Adapted from Shanice Yarde, 2018

47. Feedback What was your favorite part of the workshop? • “Brainstorming in small groups / ways to challenge racism @ McGill and in LIS” • “Discussing and learning about applied strategies” • “Getting to learn about anti-racist practices in a safe, compassionate space”

48. Conclusions • Training should start in LIS programs • Needed at the individual, organization, and societal level • Requires lifelong learning and unlearning

49. 1 2 3 Organizational Individual Societal Understand how ethnicity, social class, and oppression contribute to group identity, coping skills, and problems encountered by minority groups. Identify how group and organizational factors impact individual and group development. Question how inequity is upheld within social systems and structures. (Boyle and Springer, 2001)

50. References Boyle, D. P., & Springer, A. (2001). Toward a cultural competence measure for social work with specific populations. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 9(3-4), 53-71. Center for Community Organizations. (n.d.). “The Oppression Tree.” ”Retrieved from https://coco-net.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/TheOppressionTree-1-1.pdf Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1(8), 139-167. Cooke, N. A. (2016). Information services to diverse populations. Oxford: Pearson Education. DiAngelo, R. (2011). White fragility. The International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 3(3). Ettarh, F. (2014). Making a new table: Intersectional librarianship. the Library with the Lead Pipe, 378-93. Honma, T. (2005). Trippin’over the color line: The invisibility of race in library and information studies. InterActions: UCLA journal of education and information studies, 1(2). Levi, A. (2009). The Ethics of nursing student international clinical experiences. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 38(1), 94-99. Mestre, L. S. (2010). Librarians working with diverse populations: What impact does cultural competency training have on their efforts?. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 36(6), 479-488. Morehart, P. (2018, June 25). Battling racism below the surface: Interactive session sheds light on bias in the workplace. American Libraries. Retrieved from https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/battling-racism-surface/ Overall, P. M. (2009). Cultural competence: A conceptual framework for library and information science professionals. The Library Quarterly, 79(2), 175-204. Strier, R. (2006). Anti-oppressive research in social work: A preliminary definition. British Journal of Social Work, 37(5), 857-871.