Diversity in the Classroom Gaby Dickson

Blog Post 4

Given your understanding of intentional and unintentional racism both through teacher-student interactions and curriculum development, how would you encourage diversity in the classroom?

Diversity in the classroom begins in the mind. Before students of various races are even introduced into a classroom environment, the teachers and administrators need to be trained properly to address diversity in schools. The video we watched of the five year old girl being arrested is the result of bad management. Just as police officers should be trained to handle situations objectively, teachers should be trained to do the same. Prejudice is what stops faculty from connecting with students and looking past the structural barrier they have been taught to accept. 

After teachers have been properly trained and are prepared to enter a classroom where their notions must be set aside in the event of an incident, more attention should be paid to student-student relationships. By ensuring a diverse group of students enters a classroom, where many races and ethnicities can be represented, administration is fostering connections between pupils. Assigning students seats is another way to ensure that students break from their friend groups and discourages tribalism in the classroom, allowing for students of different races to mix and get to know each other. 

Diversity is not confined just to the population in the classroom. The teaching material and curriculum should be modified to adequately represent diverse ethnicities, genders, and histories. History textbooks, for one, should give an account of history outside the white perspective. Books such as A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn give students the opportunity to feel their perspective is being accounted for in their learning. English too represents an opportunity for diversity. Students in classrooms benefit from reading books that are considered outside the norm, or at the very least are not all written by one gender or one race. Having students read seminal novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, for example, is a chance to talk about many aspects of diversity while still maintaining academic integrity. Teachers should lead more discussion-based classes to give students a voice to their opinions and ensure a rich and diverse debate that all students can participate in. 

Diversity in the classroom can cause problems and in some cases it exacerbates preexisting tribalisms and prejudices held by both students and teachers. However, it is necessary to expand the perspective of faculty and pupils and give all students a chance to have an inspiring learning experience. The current system just isn't working. It's time to try something else.