ACHE 2018 Concurrent Sessions
“From the Inside Out”: Museum Educators Facilitating Adult Learning on Touchy Topics Like Race
Session Description
It is undisputed that the topic of race remains “difficult,” in a U.S context, and educators facilitating such conversations are often tasked with the double role of managing resistance and emotions from their learner-participants, and their own sometimes challenging, personal reactions. The purpose of this session is to report preliminary findings from a case study examining how focused training on an empirically based self reflective tool has influenced the way museum educators facilitate potentially difficult talks surrounding race. Many adult educators hesitate, avoid or fear authentic conversations on race because it can be so emotionally laden. Gaining insights from the use of a tool built to strengthen emotive capacity is important to helping others alleviate similar concerns. Want to build your "emotive" skills in talking about a touchy topic like race/ethnicity? Come join us!
Primary Presenter
Kayon Murray-Johnson, University of Rhode Island
Brief Bio
Dr. Murray-Johnson is an Assistant Professor at the University of Rhode Island, and lifelong adult educator keen on motivating learners toward excellence in scholarship. With over fifteen years of combined experience in teaching, and instructional design, her work experiences span both the United States and Caribbean regions. Accordingly, her current research and training interests include effective facilitation strategies for difficult classroom conversations on race/ethnicity, the teaching and learning experiences of culturally diverse adults, and cultural responsive instructional design strategies.