Benefits of a positionality statement
Sharing a positionality statement can have a significant impact on students and on the overall learning community, including:
- Helping students feel more connected to and comfortable engaging with their instructor
- Modelling vulnerability, perspective taking and self-awareness as it pertains to academic discourse
- Creating space for students to discuss their own identities and experiences, and how these have influenced their perspectives and ideas related to academic material
- Establishing conditions that foster critical analysis on how worldviews are formed and influence our subjective experiences of academic ideas
Feel free to start small and share what you are comfortable with, where it feels relevant and appropriate to do so. As you do this more often and witness first-hand the way it influences the learning environment, sharing your positionality with more vulnerability will feel more natural and worthwhile.