The outcomes of our Standard Practices Survey suggest that as a group, we'd like to be doing more to incorporate attention to diversity into our consulting practice. In order to help us work toward this goal during fall quarter, please select an independent professional development activity, on your own or in collaboration with others. Here's a brainstormed list of possible activities:
- write up one or more cases with explicit attention to the role of diversity and how it was addressed in the consulting process
- select some reading material (or a lecture, video series, etc.) which will help you improve your consulting in relation to diversity and inclusiveness
- select an individual to interview or interact with during the quarter (for example, someone from the Curriculum Transformation Project, GO-MAP, or Multicultural Education) in order to help you develop your consulting skills in relation to diversity and inclusiveness
- participate in an internet discussion list on issues of diversity, or raise diversity-related questions on another list that you typically participate in
- keep a consulting journal reflecting on your interactions with clients; review and reflect on how diversity was addressed (or not) in the consulting process
- record (on audiotape or videotape) your interactions with a client; review and reflect on how diversity was addressed (or not) in the consulting process
- work on a case collaboratively (co-consulting, or peer observation of your consulting); meet with colleagues to discuss how diversity was addressed (or not) in the cases
- work with colleagues to role play handling particular case situations; meet with colleagues to discuss how diversity was addressed (or not) in the cases
- develop a consulting portfolio providing evidence of how your consulting practices incorporate attention to diversity and inclusiveness
These suggestions are just to get you started. Feel free to propose something else if it will be more useful for you. Whatever you choose, make a decision by September 15 so that it doesn't get put off until the quarter becomes less busy in late November. I'd like to post a list of everyone's choices so that you can have the chance to interact with people about their projects during the quarter if you like.
On our next Staff Day (January 9), be prepared to present a brief reflection on what you did and what you learned from it. The purpose is not to provide a comprehensive presentation of everything you did, but to give colleagues a sense of what they might learn by trying something similar in the future.
