How diverse is your existing Professional Learning Network?
Reflecting back on my V+R map in the last blog post, I found out that my PLN actually is very diverse in general. I have tried to grow my connections and interact with people both personally through social media and professionally using various platforms. Individuals that I have connected the most with are usually the ones who are my colleagues and managers in my internships, people I have met in the organizations where I have worked, and lots of peers I have met during my university career. This wide range of PLN has helped me immensely to learn from others’ experiences and use all of it to grow myself and form my opinions on various topics. I unknowingly started to expand my PLN in my industry (Software/Tech industry) and then just grew to expand in that direction.
In your PLN, are you learning from a variety of voices or are you the loudest in the room?
I believe that on most occasions I’m learning from a variety of voices. However, when I have a strong opinion and idealogy that I have formed with the help of my PLN, I become the loudest in the room. I’m constantly learning from my professors, industry professionals, seniors, etc. I believe everyone portrays their own distinct idea and thoughts in their own way which contributes to others PLN. Additionally, the feedback on their voices also reshapes their ideas. For myself, this happens in my courses where we students are given opportunities to voice our ideas and also provide constructive feedback to others. Overall, I would say a simple balance of being vocal in the voices and also being silent and learning from others has been very helpful for my PLN.
Do you participate in a silo of information sharing (similar themes or wide range of interests)?
I don’t participate in a lot of information sharing online on my social media. However, I professionally participate in discussions in my groups about topics I am interested in (using slack). I also share any type of information I find useful to my PLN through Linkedin or personal chat groups in social media. This helps me to understand others’ perspectives on the topic and also helps my PLN to gain more knowledge and information.
How can you use a diverse PLN to broaden your views of inclusion?
Inclusion is very crucial for me in my PLN. I realized this around the end of my first year. Having a variety of individuals in my PLN helps me to understand things from multiple perspectives. In my opinion, inclusivity is very important in strengthing individuals’ thoughts and ideas. It’s often said that when we are together, we become strong and grow ourselves. This amplifies when we add inclusivity to the equation.
In your professional setting of choice, do you think inclusion is actively embraced?
My professional setting is my work environment where I write software solutions to help people. I believe we strongly embrace inclusion in our company in all aspects. There are employees from different ethnicities and races, where the only important traits of the individual are their character and skills towards the job. Additionally, everyone’s voices are clearly heard and respected making sure that no one feels left out.
What is the learning outcome of your PLN and how are you ensuring your exposure to diversity and inclusion?
The learning outcome of my PLN is very straightforward, where the most important component of it is helping myself grow in my career and constantly learning new things. I always make sure to understand and carefully listen to a variety of different ideas from all my PLN to shape my opinion and learn from them. I socialize with my managers, supervisors, peers in my class, fellow peers I’m in contact with from my childhood and keep myself up-to-date with them. Along with that, I follow lots of influencers from social media and read articles about my industry to know to learn from others as well.
How has your thinking about inclusion and PLN evolved after reviewing the videos and readings?
After reviewing the readings and watching the videos for the week, I do have a bit more evolved thinking about what inclusion is and what our current status on it is. Moore & Schnellert’s chapter (2016) about Diversity and Inclusion and Shelly Moore’s video “The Evolution of Inclusion: The Past and Future of Education” (2018) were great resources for understanding what inclusion truly means. The images shown in the video about the evolution of inclusion say a lot by themselves. I believe a lot of environments are in the stage of Integration instead of Inclusion. However, they are slowly moving to the Inclusion stage in contrast with some other environments where Inclusion is practiced in a better way. My views about Inclusion are much more clear now and I believe in how we need to make Inclusion much more meaningful. “Breathing the same air is not enough” or being in the same setting is not always enough for everyone, we definitely need to transition to a more developed phase where we can let others participate in meaningful ways.
Attributions
Cover Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
References
One Without the Other: Stories of Unity Through Diversity and Inclusion Shelley Moore and Leyton Schnellert (https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/lib/uvic/reader.action?docID=4832579&ppg=6)
The Evolution of Inclusion https://youtu.be/PQgXBhPh5Zo
2 Comments
Hi Utkarsh, I liked what you said about inclusion being embraced in your professional setting. Sometimes I think in the corporate and tech world that inclusion can be simply performative and there is actually a lot of exclusion and discrimination so it is good to hear about progressive work environments in the tech world. I also liked the link you drew between inclusion and a better more full perspective of the world viewed through your PLN, I could not agree more.