The Puzzle of life: diversifying the classroom
For Starters:
The world is a vast array of eclectic groups of people. These groups stem far beyond race, gender, orientation, and religion. Everyone is different. We do not live in a black and white world, instead, it is a puzzling world full of pieces. As educators, it is our duty to allow students to put together the puzzle of life. To be able to do this, firstly students must feel comfortable being themselves. Some areas may not be as "diverse" at first glance but allowing students to be who they are and to create an environment free of fear can allow the true diversity of humanity to show itself. You don't have to have diverse students to teach diversity. This is where the problems can be seen. It leaves students unprepared to meet students who are different than them and can lead to unknown prejudices and judgments. "Children with a diverse background may then feel unsafe and uncomfortable in a classroom when they don’t feel that their diversity is seen or valued. Racial, cultural, and gender differences are important factors in a person's identity, and it's extremely valuable for teaching to help students understand differences better."(WGU)
How not to teach diversity:
There are as many "wrong" ways to teach diversity as there are "right" ways. One wrong way is the "Colorblind" approach. Simply put, this means to pretend students are all the same, that you don't see them as a different race, culture, etc... but instead simply as just a human. While this may sound good on paper, many argue this in itself is a form of racism.
By essentially ignoring a person's race, gender, religion, etc... you are ignoring the harsh history of their struggles and eliminating their culture from the conversation. With that, you don't allow students to express themselves, and equally, you don't allow other students to learn and understand another's culture and heritage. "And if you can't talk about it, you can't understand it, much less fix the racial problems that plague our society."(Williams). History is dark and full of unimaginable brutality but it is also a beautiful struggle for those who were and in many cases still are considered different fighting for the right to simply live and breathe as themselves and not conform to the ideals of the masses. Students need to understand this to be able to understand and ultimately respect those who are different than themselves.
Another important aspect of diversity is some find it necessary to fill a day, week, or month with a specific diverse theme due to it being a national (insert diversity) day, week, or month. While it is great we as a culture have specific times dedicated to diversity that isn't enough, especially for those from diverse backgrounds. We need to find ways to incorporate diversity into everyday lessons. Share stories of women, queer, trans, Black, Asian, Latino, etc... as often as you can. History is full of amazing people; educators need to share their stories to inspire generations of students to come.
How to diversify the classroom:
Literature and Art:
There are millions of stories to be shared, from books to movies, paintings, poems, and even songs. It is important to allow students to hear, see and understand different cultures through literature and art. in my own personal experience, my Sophomore year of high school I remember listening to Billie Holiday singing Abel Meeropol's hauntingly beautiful song "Strange Fruit".
This song paints a shockingly real and disturbing image of the common lynching taking place in the Southern states during this time. While this is a rather advanced and mature example, the lesson is all the same. It is not enough to simply tell a person diversity is good and prejudice is bad, you need to show them, and not just footage but in history and how artists and performers expressed themselves. It is more than race, but religion, sexual orientation, gender, and even simple personal preferences and choices. It is all about allowing students to feel comfortable in being themselves. You may find it difficult to speak and educate personally on some diverse topics as you are not familiar with them, but that is ok. In cases like these, it is again important to allow students to read, hear, and see different accounts and stories. "Another great strategy is bringing in diverse speakers to add varying points of view and real-life context to different subjects"(Drexel University). I myself in the years outside of the classroom have learned of many amazing diverse historical figures and events, both horrifying and beautiful that I was never taught or exposed to in the classroom. Personally, I feel cheated, I feel the education I received left out so many valuable lessons to be learned. I can only imagine how those of diverse backgrounds must feel.
Discomfort(to an extent) is key.
The world today is full of information, some right, some wrong. It is difficult for students who want to be mindful of others to feel comfortable doing so. Make time to have these difficult discussions in the classroom. Ignoring real-world issues is unhealthy for the students and will not resolve the issues and questions they have with the world they live in. Many of the issues facing the world are extremely complex which can cause people to find easy solutions and explanations and to decide those are factual. This can create a chain reaction of unnecessary judgment. Instead, guide students into having fruitful conversations where they can debate and thus expand their way of thinking. In my United States history class, I had a wonderful teacher who each week would host a Socratic seminar. The idea was, that each week a student chose a topic, researched it, and would then present the topic along with their views.
The class would then peacefully debate the issue or topic. This allowed the class to witness how other people viewed the world, to see the many sides of the complex issues, allowing people to understand that we are all not alike. Our life stories bring us to different conclusions on the same issues. Many of us, even the presenters would enter the debate believing we had it all right and everyone else was wrong, however, this was rarely the case by the end of the debate. It allowed us to get a different angle of the same picture. "Regardless of how we feel as educators, our students are wrestling with their own questions and trying to make sense of what they may hear at home, what they may be taught in school, and what they may see on social media or on television. I believe it is our responsibility to help teach students how to engage in courageous conversations and civil dialogue."(TEDEd).
It comes down to the teacher and the students.
Delving into diversity and cultural heritage can be challenging and freighting. Don't be afraid to ask for help or even reach out and find persons of diverse backgrounds to be guest speakers for the class. Allow someone with the same backgrounds or experiences as some students or even if your class is not very diverse, having the conversation about diversity and allowing speakers to come and share their stories will build an understanding and empathy the students will carry with them.
Try to listen and have thoughtful conversations with your students as if they were an adult. Understand, listen and appreciate their point of view as you may find you can learn from them. "If you disagree with a student, try interacting with them as you would with an adult."(Marsh).
Below I have listed some sites that Western Governors University recommends for teachers looking to better diversify their classrooms.
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