How can you include social justice in diversity training?

1 Define social justice

Before you design or deliver any diversity training, you need to define what social justice means for your organization and your goals. Social justice is not a one-size-fits-all concept, and different groups may have different perspectives and experiences of it. You can use frameworks such as the Social Justice Standards by Teaching Tolerance, or the Four Dimensions of Diversity by Gardenswartz and Rowe, to help you understand and communicate the different aspects of social justice, such as identity, diversity, justice, and action. You can also consult with your stakeholders, such as employees, customers, partners, and community members, to get their input and feedback on your definition and vision of social justice.

2 Assess your current state

Once you have a clear definition of social justice, you need to assess your current state of diversity and inclusion in your organization. You can use tools such as surveys, focus groups, interviews, audits, or benchmarks, to measure and analyze your current policies, practices, culture, and outcomes related to diversity and inclusion. You can also identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges, and set realistic and measurable goals for improvement. You can use the results of your assessment to tailor your diversity training to your specific needs and gaps, and to monitor your progress and impact over time.

3 Choose your methods and content

The next step is to choose your methods and content for your diversity training, based on your definition, assessment, and goals of social justice. You can use a variety of methods, such as workshops, webinars, e-learning, coaching, mentoring, or peer learning, to deliver your diversity training. You can also use different types of content, such as case studies, scenarios, simulations, role plays, videos, podcasts, articles, or games, to engage your learners and illustrate your key messages. You should aim to make your methods and content relevant, interactive, and inclusive, and to address the cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of learning. You should also consider the diversity of your learners, and adapt your methods and content to their needs, preferences, and styles.

4 Facilitate dialogue and reflection

One of the most important elements of including social justice in your diversity training is to facilitate dialogue and reflection among your learners. Dialogue and reflection are essential for creating a safe and supportive learning environment, where learners can share their perspectives, experiences, feelings, and questions, and learn from each other. Dialogue and reflection are also crucial for challenging assumptions, biases, stereotypes, and prejudices, and for fostering empathy, understanding, and respect. You can use techniques such as open-ended questions, active listening, paraphrasing, summarizing, feedback, or debriefing, to facilitate dialogue and reflection in your diversity training.

5 Provide resources and support

Another key element of including social justice in your diversity training is to provide resources and support for your learners, both during and after the training. Resources and support are necessary for reinforcing and transferring the learning to the workplace, and for sustaining and enhancing the learning over time. You can provide resources such as handouts, checklists, guides, books, websites, podcasts, or newsletters, to help your learners review, apply, and expand their knowledge and skills. You can also provide support such as coaching, mentoring, peer learning, or communities of practice, to help your learners overcome challenges, share best practices, and celebrate successes.

6 Evaluate and improve

The final step is to evaluate and improve your diversity training, based on your definition, assessment, and goals of social justice. You can use methods such as surveys, tests, interviews, focus groups, observations, or metrics, to collect and analyze data on the effectiveness and impact of your diversity training. You can use models such as Kirkpatrick's Four Levels of Evaluation, or Brinkerhoff's Success Case Method, to help you evaluate your diversity training from different perspectives, such as reaction, learning, behavior, and results. You can also use the feedback and insights from your evaluation to improve your diversity training, and to align it with your changing needs and expectations.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?