Currently, my PLN is fairly diverse, as it consists of individuals from a variety of backgrounds. I am learning from many sources, and I am by far not the loudest in the room.

Improving my ability to speak up and share is something I am actively working on, because I know that my insights are valuable and could help others learn. The posts that others in this class shared have helped me understand that sharing my views may be very beneficial for others, and that it is important to contribute to the conversation rather than to just sit back and listen. Hearing from others and understanding their point of view is so important to me and something that I really enjoy doing. I value that I have the ability to soak up the wealth of knowledge from others and formulate my own opinions, but it isn’t fair (nor is it terribly helpful) to anyone else if I am only existing in these spaces as a sponge of information and not using my knowledge and experiences to help others grow.

Diverse PLN’s help to broaden the views of inclusion by bringing contrasting views and valuable insight to the table. There is endless information to be shared between people, and the more diversity that is within a PLN the more there is to learn. I truly believe that the pro’s outweigh the con’s when it comes to creating a more diverse PLN.

This weeks readings also furthered my understanding of inclusion and single handedly broadened my views of inclusion, and I really appreciated how it was described in One Without the Other: Stories of Unity Through Diversity and Inclusion by Shelley Moore and Leyton Schnellert. I thought it was really powerful when they wrote:

“and together we decided that the only way to ensure that there was no ‘other’ was not to make us all wavy, but instead to make us all ‘an other'”

Shelley Moore and Leyton Schnellert, One Without the Other: Stories of Unity Through Diversity and Inclusion

It’s such a simple, impactful explanation for a concept that so many people struggle to grasp. I think that this statement should be shouted from the rooftops for everyone to hear. This reading was very moving for me.