A Thousand Tiny Cuts: Overcoming implicit bias to promote belonging
Session Abstract: This session guides Choral directors to identify biases they hold while providing a framework and resources to restructure their practices to ensure an equitable environment to promote belonging. This session focuses on race/ethnicity, LGBTQIA+, and ableism. Teachers will be active participants through interactive polls, guided conversation, and critical analysis of the media they consume. Teachers will leave this session able to: define bias and forms of discrimination; analyze phrases, actions, and practices common in the Choral profession and identify their harm; develop and implement a framework to correct bias via diverse pedagogical, classroom, and personal resources.
Jairo (Alex) Rivera
Bartlesville High School
Alex Rivera (he/him) is a Vocal Music Director at Bartlesville High School (Oklahoma). Rivera is in his 9th year of teaching. He serves as the DEIAB chair for the Oklahoma Choral Directors Association (ACDA). He has served on the OkCDA Junior High All State committee and has served as a clinician for many honor choirs across the state of Oklahoma. In 2017, he received the OkMEA (NAfME) Outstanding Young Music Educator Award. He and his wife Callie are foster/adoptive parents, and they love to spend time with their 3 kids and 2 cats.
