"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" - The Colossus (Statue of Liberty Poem)
When you think of Diversity, what comes to mind?
For me, the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of diversity is the Schoolhouse Rock Video “The Great American Melting Pot”. I remember watching this video many times on Saturday mornings. I grew up in a rural area with limited diversity and I think this video impacted my worldview at an early age.
I like this definition of Diversity from Queensborough Community College
“The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies.” Source
I used to think that is was doing my best by treating everyone as an equal regardless of how they were different from me, what some educators call "being colorblind." My mindset has changed and I’ve learned over the years that treating everyone the same is not necessarily the best path for all learners. Today, I do my best to consider how a person's differences impact how they see the world. It is confusing for me at times because I do not always have the knowledge to “walk in the shoes” of another person when my life experiences are so different, but I try to keep an open mind. Today I try to be both aware of and accepting of the differences I see and others.
I firmly believe that diversity should be recognized as a positive for all communities. A diverse community is a strong community, but I understand that there are issues and misunderstands that can result in diverse communities. People will say and do the wrong things, sometimes intentionally, sometimes by accident. I do my best to engage diversity in my classroom on a daily basis. I believe simple awareness is the first key to making diversity a strength for our learning environment. Eyes wide open.
Here are a few resources I've organized to support diverse learners in our classrooms. If you have any suggestions or ideas please consider adding them to this Padlet or in the comments below.
- Diversity Resources Document
- Diversity Mini-Lesson
- Diversity Action Plan
- Diversity Vocabulary Slide Deck
Diversity YouTube Playlist
