Representation in Online Courses: Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors

“Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience.” 
Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, 1990

Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop wrote these words about children’s books over thirty years ago, and they still ring true today. Dr. Bishop’s career focused on studying representation of African Americans in children’s literature, but her ideas have since spread to other disciplines. Swap “books” for “education,” and her framework becomes a valuable tool for online course design. Let’s break down each symbol and what it means for course design and for your students. 

Mirrors: A Chance for Students to See Themselves

A mirror is when a student sees their own background, culture, or experience reflected in the course content. When students don’t see themselves represented, they can feel like outsiders. This has real consequences for engagement, confidence, and completion. When evaluating your course, ask:

• Who is your student population? Will learners see people who look like them in the course materials?
• Are diverse scholars and experts included as central contributors, not just footnotes?
• Does the course make space for students to be seen and heard within their identities?

Windows: A Way to See New Perspectives

A course serves as a window when students encounter ideas or experiences outside their own. Online courses offer a unique opportunity here, because the student population may include learners from across the country or even the world. That diversity is an asset, but only if the course design honors it. Some questions to ask of your course:

• Are global perspectives included in the course materials, or does it default to one cultural viewpoint?
• Are there any gaps or biases in your existing content that a new reading or different example could fix?
• Does the course encourage students to look beyond their own experience?

Sliding Glass Doors: An Invitation to New Experiences

A sliding glass door extends the concept of the window by inviting students to step outside their own experiences and actively engage with perspectives unlike their own. It takes learning beyond theory and into real life. As you look at your course, ask:

• Does the course make the value of experiencing other perspectives clear? This may need to be explained, not just assumed.
• Does the course provide students with an opportunity to relate to others’ experiences?
• How can the course offer more opportunities to experience other perspectives?

Prisms: Honoring Intersections

Author Uma Krishnaswami proposes adding a fourth symbol, the prism:

“What if, in addition to mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors, some books worked like prisms? A prism can slow and bend the light that passes through it, splitting that light into its component colors. … Similarly, books can disrupt and challenge ideas about diversity through multifaceted and intersecting identities, settings, cultural contexts, and histories. … they can make us question the assumptions and practices of our own real world.”
Uma Krishnaswami, 2019

The idea of the prism pushes back against oversimplification. It challenges the idea that any person is defined by only one identity. Ask yourself:

• Is the course relying on stereotypes, or does it challenge typical assumptions? Remember that stereotyping can happen in a good-faith effort to be inclusive.
• Are students empowered to choose projects or topics that reflect their unique identities and interests?

Why It Matters, and How Magellan Can Help

Students who feel represented in their learning environment engage more, persist longer, and perform better. In higher education — where many students are already navigating systems not built for them — inclusive course design isn’t just an equity issue. It’s a quality and retention issue.

Representation is important to us at Magellan Learning Solutions. We offer course audits, consulting for faculty and instructional design teams, and full course development for institutions building inclusive online programs from the ground up.

Ready to build courses where every student feels seen and is challenged to see beyond themselves? Use the form below or email us to get started.