Create a blog post on inclusion in a professional setting of your choice – reflect on how social media can play a role in helping you establish messaging and themes that are inclusive and diverse. 

Reflecting on my time as a teacher, I can see just how important it is for education to be inclusive and diverse. As a schoolteacher, you have a classroom of 18-25 students from culturally different backgrounds, different home lives, and who all have different abilities, interests, and skill sets. As a teacher, you are only one person and can’t know how to do everything and help everyone. That is why PLNs can be so important in providing inclusive and diverse learning to students. Using social media, teachers are able to create PLNs with other educators to find different ways to help students with diverse learning needs or how to work with students with different skill levels. Teachers can also find resources and videos that teach about different cultural backgrounds or have a similar story to one or many of your students to make them feel included, accepted, and understood in your classroom.  

In the context of employment, having a PLN that is public and engaging requires risk assessment and policy understanding. Consider the following: 

  • How does social media engage in communications? 

As a teacher, having a PLN on social media can be extremely beneficial in engaging with other educators, sharing ideas and resources, and improving education for all students. There are many educators working hard to make sure all students feel included at school in their learning communities and are being supported by their teachers in the right way. Using social media allows teachers from all around the world or on a smaller scale, such as a school or district, to educate themselves and others with great ideas and theories. 

  • How does social media challenge communications? 

Social media is public, and people can have conflicting ideas about content that is shared online. People need to be aware that what they share on social media allows people to judge and critique their work as well as their opinions and views. Teachers must also be aware of how much they share online and if they are being cautious to keep students and their information safe. When working with children, there is the added risk and policies surrounding what you can post and share regarding what is happening inside your classroom to keep students’ information safe. These things put barriers in the way of social media communication between teachers.  

  • Is it inclusive? 

Yes, it allows teachers from all different backgrounds to come together to share ideas on how to make the classroom and education even more inclusive, beneficial, and engaging for all students. It allows different theories, methods, and experiences to be heard and shown in different classrooms. And allows teachers to be supported through challenging situations.  

  • Does your PLN amplify the views of others? 

PLNs among teachers allow different voices to be heard, different views to be seen, and different methods to be used. Being able to hear from a large group of teachers from different races, cultures, and genders allows teachers to incorporate diverse knowledge and understanding into their diverse classrooms to enhance inclusion.  

  • The policies of employer social media communication expectations. 

As a teacher working with students and being part of the school community, you must be aware of what you post on social media personally and professionally. You are a role model to young children and, as such, need to be posting appropriate content online. Regarding student safety, teachers should not share any information about their students or school on social media to keep students’ information safe. Important information regarding students should only be shared over professional work email and not across other social media platforms.