The Privilege Walk Exercise - Westport Middle School - Home
Learning Goals (adapted from activities developed by Tira J. Young at Azusa Pacific University)
The goal of this activity is to increase the understanding of privilege amongst the participants by presenting the facts; that each student has most likely been in a situation where privilege affected their life in one way or another, both positive and negative. We need to remember that learning is the process of acquiring attitudes and values through experiences or changes of behavior. Research shows that students gain more out of a learning experience or environment when they are actively involved in the learning process. Therefore, this workshop is designed to be a cooperative learning experience, based on five key points about learning:
Learning is an active, constructive process.
Learning depends on rich contexts.
Learners are diverse.
Learning is inherently social.
Learning has affective and subjective dimensions (Klecker, 2003).
Outline for the Privilege Walk Workshop
Set up
10 You will need a room that is large enough for all participants to stand in a single file line, shoulder to shoulder. Move desks to the side so that there is room for participants to walk from the center of the room to the front or back.
11 The facilitator should determine a line (likely a row of floor tiles) that will serve as the middle of the room so there is equal distance to the front and to the back. The students should stand behind the line, so when the sentences are read aloud, the students will walk forward to go over the line for the privilege walk, or stay behind the line and take steps back on the privilege walk. Each step depends on the participants’ responses to the sentences that are read aloud by the facilitator.
12 The total estimated time of this exercise including discussion is 1 hour.
Exercise
14 Before you begin, tell students that this exercise is to help them understand more about themselves, their students, and their peers. They may feel uncomfortable at times but that discomfort will help them benefit from the lesson.
15 Ask participants to line up shoulder to shoulder along the line in the middle of the room.
16 Instruct them to listen carefully to each sentence and, take the step required if it applies to them. Remind them that this workshop is not a competition. It is about learning more about themselves and others.
17 Remind them that this exercise and the room it is being held in is considered a safe environment, and that all participants should remain silent throughout the process.
Now, start this workshop by asking one question at a time pausing until students have made their movements.
1. Please move one step forward, if you are right handed.
2. Please move one step forward, if you ever took a family summer vacation out of town as a child.
3. Please move one step forward, if you are a male with athletic talent.
4. Please take one-step back: If your ancestors were forced to come to the USA not by choice.
5. Please take one-step forward: If your parents took you to art galleries, museums, or plays as a child.
6. Please take one-step back: If you have ever been called names because of your race, class, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.
7. Please take one-step forward: If your family ever had a maid, gardener, or nanny growing up.
8. Please take one-step back: If you were ever ashamed or embarrassed of your clothes or your home growing up.
9. Please take one-step back, if you had to get a job before graduating high school to help contribute to family finances.
10. Please take one-step forward: If at least one of your parents has a college degree.
11. Please take one-step back: If you were raised in a neighborhood, where there is frequent crime, gang, or drug activity, etc.
12. Please take one-step back: If you ever tried to change your appearance, mannerisms, or behavior to avoid being judged or ridiculed.
13. Please take one-step forward: If you studied the culture of your ancestors (prior to the United States) in school.
14. Please take one-step back: If you went to school speaking a language other than English.
15. Please take one-step forward: If there are more than 50 books in your house growing up.
16. Please take one-step back: If you ever had to skip a meal or were hungry as a child because there was not enough money to buy food in your home.
17. Please take one-step back: If one of your parents was unemployed or laid off, not by choice.
18. Please take one-step forward: If you attended private school or sleep-away summer camp.
19. Please take one-step back: If your family ever had to move because they could not afford the rent.
20. Please take one-step forward: If you were expected to attend college by your parents.
21. Please take one-step back: If you were raised in a single parent household or by a family member/guardian who is not your parent.
22. Please take one-step forward: If your family owned the house where you lived growing up.
23. Please take one-step forward: If you were ever offered a good job because of your association with a friend or family member.
24. Please take one-step forward: If you ever inherited money or property.
25. Please take one-step back: If you had to rely primarily on public transportation at any point in your life.
26. Please take one-step forward: If you can be stopped/questioned by police without worry that you are being singled out because of your race.
27. Please take one-step back: If you were ever afraid of violence because of your race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.
28. Please take one-step back: If you were ever been sexually harassed or cat-called by a member of the opposite sex.
29. Please take one-step back: If your parents did not grow up in the United States.
Processing
a. Ask participants to remain in their positions and to look at their position in relation to the line and the positions of the other participants.
b. Ask students to think quietly about the following questions:
i. What happened?
ii. How did this exercise make you feel?
iii. What were your thoughts as you did this exercise?
I. Questions
a. Start the question, answer session by going around the room, and have each student share one word that capture how they are feeling right now. If they do not want to share, have them say, “pass”.
b. Would anyone like to share more about their feelings?
c. How did it feel to be one of the students on the “back” side of the line?
d. How did it feel to be one of the students on the “front” side of the line?
e. Were there certain sentences that were more impactful than others?
f. Do you think our society gives value and opportunity fairly to everyone?
g. What have you learned from this experience?
h. What can you do with this information in the future?
II. Summary
Remind participants that privilege in our society is often something given to individuals without their request. The point of this activity is not to make anyone ashamed or guilty. Instead, the goal is to help each one of us be more aware of how we are privileged and oppressed. It is likely that all of us believe in fairness and equality but there are systems in place that prevent that from being a reality. Each one of us must use the power we have to help one another. This means employing equity in the classroom and society and empowering our students to have a positive self-identity and confidence.
Reflection
Students: Please rate the following questions
I learned more about myself in relation to the issue of privilege and race.
|Strongly Agree |Agree |No Opinion |Disagree |Strongly Disagree |
|5 |4 |3 |2 |1 |
The Privilege Walk Workshop challenged me.
|Strongly Agree |Agree |No Opinion |Disagree |Strongly Disagree |
|5 |4 |3 |2 |1 |
The Privilege Walk Workshop provided me with some insight about the different privileges people had growing up.
|Strongly Agree |Agree |No Opinion |Disagree |Strongly Disagree |
|5 |4 |3 |2 |1 |
I was comfortable sharing my opinion and experiences about privilege.
|Strongly Agree |Agree |No Opinion |Disagree |Strongly Disagree |
|5 |4 |3 |2 |1 |
The Privilege Walk Workshop helped me to realize the effects of privilege.
|Strongly Agree |Agree |No Opinion |Disagree |Strongly Disagree |
|5 |4 |3 |2 |1 |
I am not ashamed about the privileges I had or did not have growing up.
|Strongly Agree |Agree |No Opinion |Disagree |Strongly Disagree |
|5 |4 |3 |2 |1 |
I am more likely to appreciate the different types of privileges granted to me because of my experience in this exercise.
|Strongly Agree |Agree |No Opinion |Disagree |Strongly Disagree |
|5 |4 |3 |2 |1 |
I feel that I received valuable resources that can help me apply what I learned in my classroom.
|Strongly Agree |Agree |No Opinion |Disagree |Strongly Disagree |
|5 |4 |3 |2 |1 |
I feel comfortable performing a similar activity in my advisory group this school year
|Strongly Agree |Agree |No Opinion |Disagree |Strongly Disagree |
|5 |4 |3 |2 |1 |
Resources
Books
White Like Me by Tim Wise
Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? By Beverly Daniel Tatum
We Can’t Teach What We Don’t Know by Gary R. Howard
The Other Wes Moore by Wes More
Other People’s Children by Lisa Delpit
Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol
Excellence through Equity by Alan M Blankstein
Organizations/webpages:
Fairness Campaign
Showing Up for Racial Justice- Louisville Chapter
JCPS Diversity, Equity, and Poverty Office
Gay-Straight Alliance
PBS Learning Media:
Practices:
School-wide consistent expectations, ensuring we don’t give more wiggle room to children who are often well-behaved for misbehaviors
Strong parental engagement, specifically with parents who have not reached out to you previously to promote engagement with parents who may be discouraged or lacking confidence
Promoting fair treatment among students. Addressing bullying immediately and thoroughly.
Differentiating for both behavior and understanding, being mindful of students who need “a little extra”
Working to improve school culture and classroom culture to be more inclusive
Bringing up concerns of inequity that may be present in policies and expectations
Culturally significant curriculum choices in literature selection, role models presented, wording of word problems, etc.
Using of appropriate terminology and language when discussing race, ethnicity, gender, sex, LGBTQ and related topics.
Knowing how your transgender students identify and the names they wish to use, which may be different than the names listed on your roster.
Teaching students how to safely interact with police officers and what their rights are when being pulled over, questioned, detained, and/or arrested
Educating students about academic opportunities and availability of scholarships or summer programs and college. Many of our students don’t realize all of the scholarships/grants specifically available to economically disadvantaged individuals
Valuing student voice and what each student can share from their experiences to the classroom
Appreciating student diversity and aiming to teach the “whole child.” This means we try to adjust our teaching to benefit individual students not simply catering to what an “8th grade math student” or “6th grade ELA student” needs
Encouraging student involvement
Incorporating heritage, history, social justice, and fairness into the curriculum. PBS has excellent resources for EVERY subject and grade level that incorporate these topics as well as the JCPS Diversity, Equity, and Poverty office webpage.
Speak with students about local and national news to broaden their perspectives and horizons.
Use translation software/programs to ensure all parents can understand materials sent home
Providing parents with opportunities to engage with the school community and communicating those opportunities in a way that reaches each and every parent otherwise the same parents will slip through the cracks every time and always be unintentionally excluded
Never tolerating students to use degrading remarks involving race, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.
Understanding the different between intentional/active and unintentional/passive racism and how each affects our society and our students
Consistently improving knowledge of our practice, our students and ourselves. This means becoming more self-aware of our own prejudices and judgements. The Achievement Triangle by Gary R. Howard (featured in his book We Can’t Teach What We Don’t Know) may help put a concrete representation to this idea
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