Teaching Diversity in Education
"Building positive identities and a respect for differences means weaving diversity into the fabric of children's everyday lives. Working with families is an important first step in helping children accept, understand, and value their rich and varied world" (Gonzalez-Mena, J & Pulido-Tobiassen, D, 1999).
I was given the amazing opportunity to live and teach in Ghana, Africa and ever since it has been important to me to share my story, and the story of my students, with my current class. I teach in a small rural, predominately caucasian-catholic town. There is little to no diversity. The majority of my students have not been exposed to others who differ from themselves in terms of race, religion, learning abilities, class status, etc. They amaze me every year with their excitement and curiosity in learning about my friends from Africa. Because of this, I chose to make teaching diversity in the classroom my personal research journey.
In researching this topic, I have found a lot of suggestions and ideas in how to bring diversity education into your classroom. This is all well and good, but I would like to narrow my research to things like how many schools teach diversity education, where are they located, is it mostly urban schools that teach this topic, etc.
The United States continues to grow and change, and it is a place of freedom. Our differences need to be celebrated and talked about. Diversity is not something that should only be taught in places where it is predominate, but everywhere, even in the small towns like the one I teach. It is important that our youngest learners know that everyone is different, and that's okay!
I will be eager to learn about what you find through research. I have submitted a proposal to teach a workshop at the fall conference of IA AEYC and my topic is going to be bringing cultural awareness into the classroom. I hope it would be OK for me to use some of what you find (I'll ask first of course). Learning about other cultures has been an interest of mine as well. I was raised in a completely Caucasian, small, farming community. When I went to college, I was excited to be around other people from around the world. It is why, I'm sure, I love to travel so much. I look forward to your research simulation and the information you will share.
ReplyDeleteLaurie Parker
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing experience you had and what a great opportunity to bring what you learned from teaching there to your students now. The way we implement and use diversity in the classroom shows how we respect and see others a individuals. I can tell by your blog post that you are excited about this research project and that you can bring a lot of your personal experiences into your outlook on the research project. Great post Melanie.