Join us on Wednesday, March 8 (6-7:30pm ET) for a webinar on Engaging with Genetic Disability and Difference (register here). This program is part of a series for middle school, high school, and undergraduate educators on Exploring Difference in the Biology Classroom. pgEd and our colleagues at the Center for ELSI Resources & Analysis are organizing this program to bring together educators and researchers for conversations about the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of genetics. The first hour will include short presentations from leading disability scholars, Dr. Kara Ayers and Dr. Joel Reynolds, with ample time for Q&A. The final half-hour will be a discussion about classroom integration strategies.
For more info about this program, see below. If you have a chance, please share this invitation with anyone who you think would be interested.
Exploring Difference in the Biology Classroom: Engaging with Genetic Disability and Difference
Date: Wednesday, March 8 (6:00 - 7:30pm ET)
Register Today!
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkdu6rpj0pGddeg1UntqbinVxW931xjsuq
Agenda: 6-7pm ET Expert Panel / Q&A
7-7:30pm ET Discussion: Classroom Integration Strategies
Audience: Open to everyone. Geared especially for middle school, high school, undergraduate biology educators
Program Description:
Language in biology and medicine can frame disability as a deviation from what is normal, acceptable, and welcome – a framework that can extend into classrooms. However, importing terms like “disorder” or “mutation” from these fields can reinforce assumptions that disabled people are less capable, less valuable in society, and less independent compared to people without disabilities. What ideas or messages are we sharing in our language about biological differences? Reflecting on this question is the first step toward addressing barriers to student engagement, preventing potential harms, and creating more inclusive classrooms.
In this session, two leading disability scholars, Dr. Kara Ayers and Dr. Joel Reynolds, will provide an introduction to the evolution of disability language, discuss current trends, share insights from their work in clinical settings, and identify practices that can support inclusive education and engagement around disability and difference. The program will focus on evidence-based, pedagogical approaches that affirm the dignity, humanity, and agency of disabled and neurodiverse people and support them to learn, grow, and flourish. This session will include:
An introduction to disability and how it shapes the ways that people experience and navigate the world
Terminology and best practices for talking about disability, neurodiversity, and other forms of difference
Ample time for Q&A with the panelists
Live captioning services will be provided by a certified Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) captioner and available via closed captioning.
After the session, participants are invited to join pgEd for a 30-minute discussion about resources, experiences, opportunities, and hurdles for including this content in the classroom.
About the Series: Exploring Difference in the Biology Classroom is a virtual series of ELSI Conversations for Educators, organized by the Personal Genetics Education Project (pgEd.org) in partnership with the Center for ELSI Resources & Analysis (elsihub.org), to bring together educators and researchers for conversations about the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of genetics.
To stay tuned on future events in this series: join pgEd’s mailing list.