Teachers, Perceptions, and Diversity

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear diversity in schools?

Physical diversity: Skin color, languages or accents, clothing fashion, talents or gifts, ability or disability, etc.

Cultural diversity: cultural practises, what is taught in schools, food, etc.

Emotional diversity: various emotional states and biological makeups of staff and children

I plead guilty, physical diversity is often recognized or discussed first in most communities including our school communities. I am not conveying that recognizing physical diversity first is a problem, merely revealing that diversity is complex and multifaceted. What this means for me, a first year teacher education student, is that diversity can never be “boxed up” and sold as the same item a year or ten from today. Diversity changes with time and the humans that make it so. As a teacher I must commit to a lifelong learning process for all areas of teaching including diversity.

In my research I wanted to uncover different perceptions of diversity found in schools. There are several view-points from which to interpret diversity in schools. Most prominent are the teacher and student perceptions. Other view-points include government departments, school administrations, and parents. All of these view-points make up the school community outlook. In this blog post I will briefly just explore the teacher’s view-point.   

Inclusion of diversity in schools, particularly in relation to Saskatchewan schools, rests largely on teachers. While there are additional aspects to the inclusion of diversity in schools such as policies, and legislation, a teacher has the greatest potential to let diversity grow and be evident in classrooms. Teachers are one of the greatest avenues by which children will learn diversity. A teacher realizes the potential of diversity in his or her class when self-examination occurs relating to diversity. “It [critical self-reflection] is important because educators set the tone and the direction of any schools program regardless of the formal curriculum based on their own beliefs” (Egbo, 2009). Critical self-reflection is beneficial to start early in a teaching career. It is beneficial to the school community, students, and self.

According to several references in the resource list, critical reflection on one’s own beliefs, culture, religion, and ethnic background in relationship to understanding diversity in schools should begin at the teacher candidate stage. Essentially there are two ways to filter ones misconceptions and stereotypes of what diversity is in schools when working towards a teaching degree: institutional, academic, or book knowledge and field experience or student practicums. Often the academic side helps a student become aware of our misconceptions, while the field based experience gives the student tools to use in a teaching career. Duarte and Reed discovered that all of the teacher candidates held stereotypical attitudes regarding minority children and minority neighbourhoods prior to their field placement and had very few strategies on how to address the needs of diverse learners. At the end of the field-base experience, the experimental group "offered clearly defined ideas, utilized real-life scenarios that would make learning experiences more meaningful; presented materials to accommodate different learning styles; utilized multicultural and diverse literature to focus on issues supporting the minority experience, and facilitated learning that included students' cultural background.”

Teachers are as diverse as their students. Students are wise enough to know and watch our differences as co-workers. The real impact teachers and staff can have on students in school communities is the chance to model healthy diversity. No two teachers are exactly alike and when conflict arises in teachers differences, throughout the school environment, are we wise enough to find common ground? Common ground accepts fairness not sameness (Lyons, 2010). When students see teachers respecting each other’s differences and moving forward on common ground, then a child will begin to grasp the meaning of diversity and its role in schools.

Wally

Diversity, put simply, has to do with differences.  It’s not hard to look around and see that people are different.  Genetics ensure that physical traits are randomly assigned, so even our DNA makes us unique.  Before we are born we begin developing into a unique person and even identical siblings, who share DNA, begin to develop differently.  Some people may share some characteristics, but never all of them.  No two people are exactly alike and from the very beginning of our life we are developing into our own unique person.  Our experiences shape us and make us who we are.  Our upbringing, our schooling, everything we do has some effect on who we become.  The culture we are born into plays a major role in who we are and the people around us shape our existence. 

There are infinite amounts of ways people can be different and these differences are often used to group people.  Culture, skin colour, background, economic status, religion, intelligence, education, sexual orientation, and gender identity are some of the ways people are categorized.  Lumping people into groups based on these things can lead to biased views of other people.  Many of the problems within society result from people’s inability to look at other’s differences in a positive way.  People, when looked at individually or in groups, cannot be exactly the same as other people so it becomes necessary to celebrate differences and invite diversity.  Being unique should not create difficulties for anyone and diversity should be celebrated.  Teaching methods should incorporate everyone and give each student a fair opportunity to learn.

It is not likely that all problems arising from people’s differences will be solved.  Intolerance and close-mindedness cause the problems, while diversity creates beauty and meaning.  Diversity breeds new ideas and leads to new improved ways of thinking.  As a teacher it is crucial to encourage diversity while trying to eliminate the hegemony and prejudice from the classroom, possibly further.  One of the major issues surrounding diversity in education is fairness.  If students don’t have equal opportunities, not all students can be expected to reach their full potential.  Educators need to respect each student’s differences and strive to cater to each student. 

Even at a molecular level we are different and as we grow, we become a unique individual.  Diversity, if misunderstood can create problems, so it is important to educate about our differences and teach others to embrace individuality.  People should not be given less opportunity because of who they are or any group they belong to.  All people are unique, deserve a chance to let their individuality shine, and to be who they are.

Matthew

Diversity Moving Forward

Diversity is an issue that will not be going away and as we've shown it encompasses a large number of issues.  This alone can be enough to overwhelm even the most stalwart educator.  However, there are ways to turn this diversity into something good for our students.  Anti-bias education can help us remove the barriers and obstacles while teaching students awareness and tolerance can help students become global citizens.

Our hope is to educate our students to be aware that our society contains many "isms" that hurt and harm people.  We don't want to scare them but empower them to search for change.  I would hope that by creating educated tolerant global citizens that our society can be changed so that we won't have to discuss the way diversity hurts students.  Then we could focus on the positives that having a classroom filled with diverse students creates a classroom filled with ideas, beauty and a wealth of knowledge to draw from.

Just like this blog is a place for us to share our ideas with one another, collect our individual experiences and research together our classrooms can be places for students from diverse families to share their ideas, experiences and beliefs.

Megan

Amazing Shots

I belive the photographer has captured a genuine essence of diverstiy in this video. The pictures are so real and alive with life expressions. Diversity is the richness of celebrating, accepting, and sharing humanities difference.

Wally

Diversity Powerpoint

Diversity PowerPoint

Here's a powerpoint that explains my view of Diversity.

Kim

Diversity in Babysitting!

Throughout my lifetime I have had the opportunity to babysit many different children. They have varied between the ages of six months and eleven years old, and of course there were some that were boys and some that were girls. During my experience of babysitting these children I learned that there are not two alike. Each child has their own thought pattern, sense of humour, discipline response, behaviour, personality, appearance, and etcetera. Even though all of these children were different in their own way, I loved them all the same. They all had their moments where they loved me and where they hated me because I wouldn’t let them do exactly what they wanted simply because I knew that it was not a good idea, but they did not understand this at such a young age.

Diversity of these children was evident when playing outside with them. There would be the children who would look for anything bad to do outside so that they could cause a problem, and there would be the children who would ask before doing anything that may cause them to get into trouble. There were also the children who wanted to play rough and there were the children who played quietly and gently. These characteristics always resulted in an interesting and sometime frustrating play outside.

Likewise the diversity in these children stood out when watching the television also. The family’s religion and beliefs were evident as some of the children would put on a show that had awful language and then some children were content watching cartoons. This mainly depended on the age level as a two year old obviously would rather watch cartoons whereas a twelve year old is at the stage where it is cool to swear and what not.

Babysitting these children of different backgrounds, races, beliefs, ages, genders, personalities, tempers and etcetera has taught me different ways to respond to children of all different types. This experience will benefit me greatly when teaching in a classroom as I have learned to deal with all different children. Although I am ready for the challenge of learning how to deal with the new types of children I will meet in my future endeavours of teaching.

Kim

Diversity Quotations

 “No single tradition monopolizes the truth. We must glean the best values of all traditions and work together to remove the tensions between traditions in order to give peace a chance.”
Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist Monk and Scholar

“The wave of the future is not the conquest of the world by a single dogmatic creed but the liberation of the diverse energies of free nations and free men.”
John F. Kennedy

 “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”
Judy Garland

“We may have come over on different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.”
Whitney Young, Jr.

“Ecidujrep is prejudice spelled backwards—either way, it makes no sense.”
Unknown

 “It were not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes horse races.”
Mark Twain

“Men hate each other because they fear each other, and they fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they are often separated from each other.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi

"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!"
Ralph Waldo Emerson

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
Mother Teresa

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
Eleanor Roosevelt

"The best index to a person's character is (a) how he treats people who can't do him any good, and (b) how he treats people who can't fight back."
Abigail Van Buren

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The rich are more envied by those who have a little, than by those who have nothing."
Charles Caleb Colton

Homosexuality is assuredly no advantage, but it is nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no degradation; it cannot be classified as an illness; we consider it to be a variation of the sexual function, produced by a certain arrest of sexual development. Many highly respectable individuals of ancient and modern times have been homosexuals, several of the greatest men among them (Plato, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, etc.). It is a great injustice to persecute homosexuality as a crime, and a cruelty, too...."
Sigmund Freud

Kim

This video shows how even though this group of dancers are not all the came culture or race they can work together to show their amazing talent! This is important as it seems in this day and age people communicate mainly with people of the same culture and race as they are when evidently this is not necessary. No matter what culture or race we are we can all get along! I live by the quote, "Where there's a will, there's a way!" :)

Kim

What Diversity Means to Me!

Diversity is the appreciation for each individual being able to be different from one another. In this world there are no two people who are exactly alike. There are people that are very similar and may appear to be identical, but this is impossible. Not only does it allow us to be our own individual, it allows us to be recognized for our own individual talents, personalities, appearance and the list goes on and on.

Diversity is very important when being looked at from the perspective of teaching. Each student in a classroom learns slightly different, behaves differently, responds to discipline differently and once again the list goes on. As a teacher, it is one’s responsibility to adapt to each student and help them be successful in their own personal way. Without diversity in a classroom there would be many unsuccessful teachers and students which is not what we are working towards. We all want to be successful and see each student be successful in their future endeavours!

Kim

Against Common Sense

While I was doing my research I came across this amazing book; "Against Common Sense" by Kevin Kumashiro.  In this book he discusses how to teach for social justice.  He begins by discussing the fact that common sense is not so common.  He says that many of the practices and perceptions we have about teaching and education are oppressive but that we can not see them because we accept them as common.  He challenges teachers to reject the common and examine all aspects of their classroom to see how they oppress students.  He says the moment that we are most at risk of doing harm is when we feel we have achieved equality because we stop looking for the ways we oppress.

Kumashiro then introduces the concept of "looking beyond".  Looking beyond is being will to deeply examine ourselves, our practices and our perceptions.  He writes.

" it means that we raise questions about the necessarily partial and political nature of whatever approach we take.  It means we examine how the things that we teach and learn can both reinforce and challenge oppression, or why we teach and learn only certain things in only certain ways, or what might be alternative ways of teaching and learning and their implications for reinforcing and challenging oppression" (p XL 2004) 

This is the crucial practice of reflection that teachers need to do.  We can not change what we do not acknowledge and Kumashiro challenges us to look deeply and acknowledge our own responsibility in creating oppression.  He helps us see that even when we think we are helping we might at the same time be hindering our students.  Knowledge is not neutral it is political and it operates in different ways for different students.  

As we move through the process of acknowledging that the things we have always held to be true and good might not be Kumashiro says that we will often come to a moment that he calls crisis.  It is deeply unsettling to find out that the things you believe to be true aren't but we must acknowledge this and work through it to achieve true learning.  Kumashiro believes that if our students and ourselves are not experiencing crisis we aren't learning.  It is only when the status quo is called into question and we acknowledge how this makes us feel can we shift our understanding.  He writes, "Learning involves looking beyond what students already know, what  teachers already know, and what we both are only now coming to know, not by rejecting such knowledge but by treating it paradoxically, that is, by learning what matters in society, while asking why it matters." (Kumashiro p32 2004).  

So then what is the goal of all this questioning is it to completely change the curriculum no so says Kumashiro.  He writes, "our goal is to take one lesson or topic or moment at a time, apply some theories of anti-oppressive education, and then see what teaching, learning and changes are made possible" (Kumashiro p58 2004).  For Kumashiro there is no finished product this is a process that will be ongoing throughout a teachers career.  Never will a teacher reach a place where they can say they have effectively created an anti-bias classroom.  This may sound daunting but in many ways it is exciting work.  We are asked to question everyday alongside our students, giving them the skills to become reflective citizens who are able to look for the hidden ways our society oppresses those who are different and begin the daunting task of addressing this.  As society changes what is labeled as different will change so the work begins anew.  

I am challenged by what Kumashiro writes to address diversity within my classroom not as something that can be fixed or dealt with but as a lifelong experience where I work to illuminate the structures that create such diversity.  To show my students that these structures exist but that we can move through them in unintended ways.  Everyday is a fresh slate to begin anew looking for ways to help my students and improve my teaching.  The work is hard and will never be done but it is meaningful work that while deeply unsettling will have results that I am not even sure I can predict.
Megan

Tucking Daughter's to Bed and Diversity

Have children, then you will understand diversity!  Not fully, but certainly a foundational understanding. I am not stating a person or persons cannot understand what diversity is without bearing and raising a child or children. Children are just one avenue to better see diversity. Case in point; I am tucking my oldest daughter, the “informant”, into bed after putting her sister to bed. The informant, love her to bits, is sharing and I (daddy) zone out. Typical, but really typical would have been to fall asleep instead I begin to think about diversity. Both girls need attention and love from me yet both go about getting my attention in such different ways. I narrow my thoughts to how an individual views diversity on various levels. My oldest two daughters could be seen as “snow whites” and I am thinking diversity is color. True diversity can be viewed from a physical level but let us not be so naïve to stop our understanding on such a level, diversity is so much more. Thank you to my beautiful daughters . . . Before I leave the bed I ask my little informant if she can tell me the same story tomorrow night.

Wally 

Working within Diversity

Last post I explained what I felt diversity was, this time I'm going to explore some of the methods I will use to minimize the negative effects of diversity on my students.  I have developed these ideas based on the research I have been doing but the ideas are my own.

1. Get to know my students and their families
The first step for me will be to truly get to know my students and their families.  Knowing their family will help me avoid stereotyping my students and will help me adapt the classroom to meet their individual needs.  Since I would like to work in early childhood this may take the form of home visits before the school year begins.  This would be a step in the pre-acceptance and would allow me a chance to get to know the child on familiar territory before they step into the classroom.  It would also allow me to address concerns the parents may have and begin to modify the instruction for this child.  It would also allow me to request a picture of the family together to use on the students locker so that their will already be a piece of their family included in the classroom on their first day.
2. Include families in our learning
It's important for young children to understand that differences exist but that this is normal.  There is incredible diversity even in family structure so having family members included in the classroom begins to show young students that diversity exists but that it isn't something to be scared of.  A lot of negative reactions begin in fear and ignorance.  This is a way of removing both of these barriers.  Asking parents to share family traditions which often have cultural roots is another way to explore the differences inherent in our society in a positive way.
3.  Pick Quality Material
As part of our classroom there will be a small reading library and I think it's important that the books represent a wide variety of families, cultural groups and opportunities.  A good book about firefighting would have both men and women of many cultures represented.  Books on family should cover a variety of different family structures.  The pictures and items I choose to display in the room should also be part of this.  The calendar shouldn't only show Judeo-Christian holidays, the display items could be from a variety of cultures, any pictures should show a range of activities and skin colours.  Outings would be planned to expose the class to many different ways of life, this could include visits to a farm, an office building and restaurant to show the range of different lifestyles.  It is important to talk about these differences.  Make the learning obvert by starting discussions about how different these people's lives are but looking for the core things that are the same.
4. Classroom rules
It is important to talk with students about behaviour expectations.  They need to understand that it's okay that they have differences but that it's not okay to treat others badly because of their differences.  Basic classroom rules like treat everyone nicely, take turns, include everyone can help by giving students a base to work from that models positive behaviours.  When problems come up it is important to talk with the students about why they said those things and how they aren't appropriate for our classroom.  Working to build community and respect within the classroom and giving everyone responsibility for creating this empowers children in positive behaviours.
5. Talk about it
This is probably the hardest step because we often want to avoid the uncomfortable topics especially in early childhood.  However, it is important that we begin the discussions about discrimination before they have time to settle into established patterns.  Many of the websites on the resource list have book lists that recommend great children's books to begin the discussion around a variety of topics.  There are many resources to help teachers have the tough conversations but we have to be willing to go there.  Beginning the discussion and then providing follow up support to parents so they can continue the discussion at home will help our students begin to view the world in a different way.
Megan

A note about Our Resource List

To the right you'll see a list of resources.  The purpose of this list is to compile articles, books and websites that we found particularly insightful or useful.  These are resources that we plan on coming back to for help and inspiration as we move forward in our teaching careers.  Please take a look and we invite you to share in our learning journey.

Megan

What is Diversity to Me?

Diversity is a fact of life in Canada and this is reflected in Canadian classrooms.   There are many facets to diversity including: gender, ethnicity, culture, and socioeconomic status.  Each child in a classroom comes from an unique family with their own beliefs, values, and culture.  This becomes an issue for teachers when they allow these differences become racism, sexism, or biases that affect the classroom culture and students learning opportunities.  How then do teachers ensure that their classrooms do not include these influences and that all students have a chance to succeed?  There are many ways to help students succeed and the hope is that as we create this blog we will also identify a wide range of strategies and resources to help us as teachers. 

However in brief there are some essential steps that a teacher must take to create a positive classroom culture.   It is important that teachers find strategies to examine their own beliefs in order to identify and hopefully address any biases they may have.  Teachers must then evaluate the materials they choose to use in their classroom to ensure that they are free from biases and represent a wide variety of life experiences.  The material should be multicultural, gender neutral, open to many diverse types of families and beliefs and above all well balanced.  This would then lead into active lesson planning where the teacher invites the students to explore their own backgrounds to embrace what is great about their families and to share this with their classmates in a safe environment.  The hope of this would be that every child would learn that families are different but that difference is good.  The teacher would also ensure that sexist, racist and biased behaviours are not tolerated in the classroom.  All together this forms what is referred to as anti-bias teaching.  This simple explanation makes this sound easy but this is actually quite hard work.  

Unfortunately our society does not treat everyone as equal and most of these beliefs are deeply hidden.  For children from other cultures everything about school organization in Canada can be foreign and intimidating.  For children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds there are many obstacles to learning and fewer opportunities to succeed in school.  Even today women do not earn the same as men and gender roles are still deeply ingrained.  Sexual identity is now more publicly debated but for those outside the hetero-norm there is great discrimination.  Children of colour or aboriginal background still do not achieve as highly as we know they can due in part to a system that doesn't address their ways of knowing.  For such a multicultural and diverse country we still have a long way to go in order to provide truly equitable and anti-bias education to all students.  This work begins with each teacher, it may not always be possible to change the whole system but it is possible for each teacher to change their own classroom.  

Megan

Sesame Street: We All Sing the Same Song

While we work on our first posts which will explore what diversity is and the role it plays in classrooms here is a small video from Sesame Street. This would be a good discussion starter in a classroom of younger children.