Running head: DIVERSITY

A Disposition for Diversity: Teaching in the 21st Century

Anna G. Saxton
Wesleyan College

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A Disposition for Diversity: Teaching in the 21st Century

When the word diversity is looked up in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it states that
diversity is the condition of having or being composed of differing elements (MerriamWebster), which is a vague definition for a seemingly simple word that is actually one of the
most complex ideas facing our education system today. This paper explores the idea of diversity
in the classroom, and specifically how diversity will be utilized in my own 21st century
classroom. It will explore the different ways in which a classroom can be diverse not only via
different races, ethnicities, and languages, but also in ways such as socioeconomic status,
physical and cognitive disabilities, sexual orientation, and learning style. In our increasingly
smaller world, it is important to ensure that diversity is something that is celebrated, rather than
swept under the metaphorical rug in order to provide the next generation with a much broader
world-view.
Race
When someone says the word diversity, most people automatically assume that they
mean racial diversity within a system, and this makes sense, since it is the most visibly dividing
force between people in our country, and has heavy historical baggage spanning longer than the
United States itself. Because of this, many people, especially white people, claim to be
colorblind, meaning that they claim to see people, rather than races. This sounds great in
theory when worded correctly, but the reality is that it purposefully turns a blind eye to the issues
faced by people of color. As Monnica T. Williams points out, White people can guiltlessly
subscribe to colorblindness because they are usually unaware of how race affects people of color

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and American society as a whole. and if you cant see it [racism], you cant fix it (Williams
2011). It is easy for the privileged race to simply ignore the problems of other races, but this
does not help people of color, this instead simply ignores their experience.
This is why classroom teachers must be attentive, supportive, and unafraid to celebrate
the different experiences of each different student across all races. This is of course much more
difficult than simply ignoring race and requires constant examination of oneself to question preexisting racial biases, but it is a vital key to racial harmony in the classroom environment and to
build a positive teacher-student-parent relationship. Frances E. Kendall comments on this process
of self-examination by saying, It is important to keep in mind that the goal of exploring racial
attitudes is not necessarily immediate attitude change but rather awareness of attitudes. It is
unrealistic to expect racial attitudes to change quickly (Kendall 1983 p.22-23).
Racial prejudices are some of the most deeply ingrained prejudices that we are taught by
society, especially white people, even if they want to deny it as much as possible. Growing up,
racial biases against anyone not white, especially against black people, were not always spoken
outright, but were always present. Except for my unfortunate white grandmother who grew up on
an extremely poor and rural farm in the middle of Jim Crow Mississippi. She was not afraid to
share deeply-rooted, unchallenged, and hateful opinions against any people of color, despite
being a delightful, quiet, and funny person otherwise. Her stark hatred has made me constantly
question what unrecognized hatred I hold in myself. I know that I am not completely free of all
racial biases I hold from being indoctrinated as a child through society and my grandma, but I do
know that I work hard to challenge and eliminate it with every racially biased thought that
occasionally enters my mind.

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My grandmothers obvious racism is most likely in part because she was never exposed
to the experience of people of color because of segregation laws of the time that kept white and
black children from going to school together. This changed with the Brown v. Board of
Education case in 1954, which made it illegal to have public schools segregated strictly by race
(United States National Park Service 2015). This case (that was actually a series of multiple
cases epitomized by just this one case) drastically changed the face of American education
forever by bringing forth racial diversity (United States National Park Service 2015).
Language, Ethnicity, and Culture
Other major societal dividers include language, ethnicity, and culture, because they can
be easily identified and any person who is different from the majority of English-speaking,
American-born, and of-European-descent people, can easily be ostracized, especially in a
classroom. Those who do not speak English are at an especially challenging disadvantage, since
almost all American public school classes, with the exception of language classes of course, are
taught exclusively in English. However, this does not mean that knowing a language other than
English is all bad, because as the authors of Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society
point out, language is much more than just a means of communication. It is used to socialize
children into their linguistic and cultural communities, developing patterns that distinguish one
community from another (Gollnick and Chinn 1990 p. 208).
Rather than fearing cultures that are different from our own for fear of the unknown, as is
a common American practice, cultures should instead be discussed and celebrated openly
amongst students in a controlled manner in order to give students a much broader world view. As
an elementary school student myself, my absolute favorite part of every school year was when
my school hosted Christmas Around the World. Each classroom on the hall was transformed

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into a different country, and by travelling to the different classes, we could learn about how
Christmas is celebrated across different cultures. We would listen to stories, make fun crafts, and
eat delicious food from around the world. I still get excited thinking about those times to this
day. It was an important part of my education because not only did it expose me to knowledge of
other cultures, but it got all the students actually very excited to learn about other cultures. It
contributed greatly to my thirst to travel. I believe that all students should have an experience
like this that ignites curiosity about other cultures, rather than fear. This way, students of different
cultures suddenly become interesting rather than ostracized. It is the job of the teacher to
exemplify this fervent curiosity to students.
Socioeconomic Status
Socioeconomic status is sometimes harder to distinguish from outer appearances, but is
still an extremely noticeable component to any classroom. It is an especially complicated issue in
the classroom because those with higher socioeconomic status may make fun of those of lower
socioeconomic status. This can be a tricky situation for teachers because socioeconomic status is
much more personal and therefore cannot be as openly discussed as things like culture and
language. Perhaps the best a teacher can do is find which students of higher privilege mock those
of lower privilege and have a genuine and heart-to-heart discussion with the students at fault
about why it is so wrong to make fun of those who are not as economically privileged.
However, the worst thing a teacher can do is perform these injustices herself. I had a
personal experience with a teacher who did this my senior year of high school. She would look to
identify the African American students who were of lower economic status whom she dubbed
the ghetto thugs. If any of these had even the slightest infraction, she would single these
students out and punish them immediately without any warnings. When met with opposition, she

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would yell back at them as if she were trying to start a fight. It was a horrible sight to experience,
but it really opened my eyes to the real dangers of unaddressed hatred in teachers. If I can
become the exact opposite of how that teacher thought and acted, I will consider myself a
relative success.
Laws on socioeconomic equality in schools has come a surprisingly long way in the past
few decades. La Crosse, Wisconsin in the late 1970s was the first city to actively pursue
socioeconomic equality, when it purposefully redrew the district lines to force children of
affluent families to attend more blue collar schools, thereby allowing those who were less
privileged to receive a better quality education. By the 1990s, it was a proven success
(Frankenberg and Debray 2011 p. 167-168). This was a very significant event because it sparked
many school districts to follow suit.
Sexual Orientation
Diverse sexual orientations is something that has only recently become socially
acceptable. This is exemplified by the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in the United
States. Many people think that elementary school is too young to know your sexual orientation
and therefore should not be addressed at all. However, I disagree. Although most students
probably will not have their own sexual orientation figured out by the time they are in
elementary school, tolerance should still be the norm for all classrooms. For teachers of young
kids, this by no means encouraging children to be gay, but rather showing more subtle forms of
tolerance by doing things like discouraging the use of words like sissy and tomboy being
used as derogatory terms, and not insisting that boys who are friends with girls are automatically
Ladies men or insisting that children of opposite sexes are inherently romantic in nature.
Physical, Cognitive and Affective Disabilities

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Disabilities are a part of diversity that is close to my heart because I have personally dealt
with having to live with one. I was diagnosed with ADD when I was in third grade after almost
failing in math. The most important aspect of teaching people with disabilities is patience and
understanding. The minute a person with certain disabilities is demeaned by a teacher or
overwhelmed with school, they may shut down and give up. Teachers of students with
disabilities must be extremely patient, research their students unique conditions, and
accommodate accordingly.
In 1975 history was made by the passing of Public Law 94-142. Which gave all children
with handicaps the right to free appropriate public education (FAPE) (Protigal 1999). This is
significant because it opened up the doors for many more students to have the right to a decent
free education with proper accommodations. Which is a right that all children should have.
Learning Style
Although it is not often considered when discussing diversity, learning style is actually
the form of diversity that directly affects the way that a teacher teaches. The seven different
learning styles include: visual-spatial, auditory-musical, verbal-linguistic, bodily kinesthetic,
logical-mathematical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. It is vital for a teacher to accommodate to
different learning styles as this can be the difference between her class passing or failing. A
student who is visual may not grasp the concept of something if it is just spoken, just as an
auditory learner may not understand a concept if it is merely put on a piece of paper and handed
to them. Teachers first must identify what her students learning styles are, and then still try to
accommodate for all different learning styles in order to keep her students engaged. Since
learning styles have little to no social stigma, it is the responsibility of the teacher to identify and
enact stimulation for all the seven types of learning.

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Conclusion
Diversity is an intricate problem that faces teachers in a unique way since they are the
ones molding the minds and therefore attitudes of future generations. Because of this, teachers
must strive to be as diverse as possible in order to broaden the minds of those who will one day
be our future. It is up to us as teachers to make our own futures brighter, and dealing with
diversity appropriately and setting an example is a great way to do it.

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References
Diversity. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2015, from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/diversity
Gollnick, D., & Chinn, P. (1990). Language. In Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society
(3rd ed., p. 208). Columbus, Ohio: Merrill Publishing Company.
Frankenberg, E., & Debray, E. (2011). Socioeconomic School Integration. In Integrating
Schools in a Changing Society: New Policies and Legal Options for a Multiracial
Generation (pp. 167-168). Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina
Press.
Kendall, F. (1983). Presenting Multicultural Education to Parents. In Diversity in the
Classroom: A Multicultural Approach to the Education of Young Children (pp. 22-23).
New York, New York: Teachers College Press.
Protigal, S. (1999). Public Law 94-142 (Education of All Handicapped Children Act). Retrieved
October 1, 2015.
United States. National Park Service. (2015, September 18). Brown vs. Board of Education:
History & Culture. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
Williams, M. (2011, December 27). Colorblind Ideology Is a Form of Racism. Retrieved
September 30, 2015.