Initial Publication Date: July 9, 2020

Book Club: Whistling Vivaldi

Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do, by Claude Steele

Overview

This book is a powerful summary of research findings related to stereotype threat, including how it impacts student learning and the evidence-based strategies for mitigating it. Here's a summary from the publisher's website: "Claude M. Steele ... offers a vivid first-person account of the research that supports his groundbreaking conclusions on stereotypes and identity. He sheds new light on American social phenomena from racial and gender gaps in test scores to the belief in the superior athletic prowess of black men, and lays out a plan for mitigating these "stereotype threats" and reshaping American identities."

We read approximately 1/3 of the book before each synchronous discussion. Before each meeting, each participant posts to a discussion board to prime the pump for our group discussion.

Discussion series goals

The goal of these meetings is for each participant to find strategies that they can implement. The book has many practical recommendations, all of them based on extensive research on stereotype threat.

Structure and format

Prior to the first meeting:

Read chapters 1-4. Participants send the discussion coordinator 3 questions they would like to discuss in our synchronous meeting. The discussion coordinator posts them (anonymized) to a password-protected web page before the meeting. (Alternatively, the discussion coordinator could send the anonymized list of questions to participants via email.)
- We anonymize the questions -- and tell participants in advance that we will do so -- to support participants in asking questions that they might be reluctant to pose publicly.

1^st meeting:

At the beginning of the meeting, the discussion coordinator reminds everyone that some degree of discomfort and concern about saying the wrong thing is natural; these discussions are an opportunity to learn.
- This message is based on research about what does (and what does not) promote honest communication about topics such as racial or gender-based stereotypes, as participants will learn from a later chapter. Thus, the message serves the dual purpose of promoting more honest discussion and also of modeling the use of evidence-based practices.
Group discusses a subset of the submitted questions. (The discussion coordinator chooses which ones.)

Prior to the second meeting:

Read chapters 5-8. Participants send the discussion coordinator 3 questions they would like to discuss in our synchronous meeting. The discussion coordinator posts them (anonymized) to a password-protected web page before the meeting.

2^nd meeting:

As in the first meeting, including reiterating the message that it is normal to feel some degree of discomfort in discussing the topics in this book and that the discussions are an opportunity to learn.

Prior to the third meeting:

Read chapters 9-11. Participants send the discussion coordinator 3 questions they would like to discuss in our synchronous meeting. The discussion coordinator posts them (anonymized) to a password-protected web page before the meeting.

3^rd meeting:

As in previous meetings, including reiterating the message that it is normal to feel some degree of discomfort in discussing the topics in this book and that the discussions are an opportunity to learn.

Timing

We scheduled 2-3 weeks between each of the 3 synchronous discussions in this series, to allow ample time for faculty members to read and digest the material and to formulate questions for the synchronous discussions.