Inclusion in education is of the utmost importance. In a time where there are people of all different kinds of ethnicities, backgrounds, sexualities, and even more all converge together – especially in an educational context where they are still young –  prioritizing diversity can have a huge impact on development. As it was said in this week’s reading by Shelley Moore and Leyton Schnellert, “This paradigm shift, however, is long overdue and we need to start matching our goals of education to the goals and expectations needed to meet the current demands of our society.” (Moore, Schnellert 2017: 9). This paradigm shift that the authors are referring to is the shift in thinking that prioritizes inclusive and diverse environments whereas before the focus was on complying with the collective whole. Although there have been great strides in making environments more inclusive; communication tools seem to be a largely forgotten aspect of this new way of approaching education. There is quite a bit of mandatory training about how to be inclusive and aware when talking to someone in person, but much less sharing of important information about inclusion in an online context. Just because there is less content for how to navigate inclusion online, however, that does not make it any less of a relevant topic to evaluate.

When looking at the common ways of communicating online such as email, messaging, video calls, etc, one way to help create a more inclusive environment is by including your pronouns. Because not every person is cisgender (meaning their gender corresponds with their birth sex) and thus might not use the pronouns that someone else may assume they go by – they will put their pronouns in their name on Zoom or in their email tag to make sure they’re not misgendered. A step towards inclusion is cisgender people doing this as well because it helps normalize the concept of people saying their pronouns and it not being an assumption based on how they present themselves. Small, conscious choices like this done by every person can greatly affect facilitating a more inclusive environment when communicating with students and with other educators. If students are more used to saying pronouns or knowing that there are pronouns that they wouldn’t immediately assume onto a person – that helps contribute to dismantling harmful gender roles and stereotypes as well. Making sure there is space for all people to be comfortable and to feel as though they’re not being judged or singled out actually benefits every person because it fosters an environment of better communication and safe sharing.

In considering my own PLN and the way it functions. I believe in some ways it is quite diverse. There are a multitude of different ethnicities and genders and sexualities, but I do believe it to be lacking in differences of something like religion. Essentially everyone I know is either an atheist or Christian, with the exception being me who is Jewish – so that is an area where I could work to encourage more diversity. Hearing from a variety of different voices versus just my own helps me think about things in ways I had not considered, and that is the biggest benefit of a diverse PLN. I certainly am someone who can sometimes be so focused on speaking my own thoughts, that I start not hearing other peoples. So in constructing my PLN it has been a time of growth and learning as I remind myself that I am not the only voice in the room, and sometimes rather than speaking my own truth, it is better to amplify others. Through the readings and videos from this week I am reminded once again that for however educated I feel there is always more to learn, and moreso there is always more to unlearn. We are products of the environments we grow up in, and just because I grew up in an environment that did not prioritize inclusion that does not mean I should perpetuate that narrative. Rather, this content is a reminder that I must continue to be self-aware, approach situations with empathy, and understand that my voice is not always the necessary one to be heard.