Why Diversity Matters
On a serious note...
I do love to indulge myself with a comedic relief every now and think that the question that is asked in the above video is a paramount to our society. What is diversity? Why does it matter? Why is it relevant in our education system?
With our society changing at an exponential rate we need to think about how are we going to best prepare our students for the future? How are we going to provide them with the skills needed for jobs and problems that don't yet exist? Our classrooms look vastly different than they did fifty, twenty, even ten years ago. Our students are diverse, they come from different backgrounds, homes, families, countries, different religious backgrounds, etc. They are not as homogenous as our country was in prior years. It's exciting to think about the network of diverse minds that we have and endless opportunities that could be. These opportunities can only be realized if we understand the importance of diversity.
So let's cut to the chase, why does it matter? What's significant about diversity in education? The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by the year 2100 the current majority of the population will become the minority. With this shift that will soon we happen we need to ensure that we are preparing our educators, schools, educational systems for this change and ensure that we are preparing everyone to interact within a diverse environment. If we only interact with people of the same background we are doing ourselves an injustice. Having the ability to interact with people of diverse backgrounds will produce an understanding of different perspectives, create a deeper level of empathy and understanding. If we can't teach our youth and future to learn and work in harmony than we are creating a future that is grim. I truly believe that if we are not embracing diversity in our classrooms we will be creating a future where we will not be able to solve problems efficiently, we will create a society where tolerance is not the norm, and where we will become more segregated than ever before. Unfortunately, we do not quite live in a world where we do solve problems efficiently, or where we are all tolerant, and we still are very much segregated but these gaps can only widen if we do not embrace and teach about the importance of diversity. We need to be able to act on living in a world where we value diverse minds and people. What better way then to teach about diversity than in our classrooms? Teaching about what diversity actually means is only a piece of the pie, we need to actually act on including and accepting diversity in our classrooms. This is an action and it starts with the leadership. The principal(s) of a school needs to decided that as a school they are going to embrace and create a diverse learning culture. It needs to start creating an environment where respect is everything. "principal has a huge role in creating an environment where people respect the opinions of others and are open to multiple perspectives on any issue. This should be modeled for students, and in relations with faculty and staff, as well (n.d)." The leadership team are the ones leading the actions, they are at the forefront of this change. By accepting and creating an culture where everyone's ideas are respected it opens the doors for the entire community to be part of the school. Parents, churches, local businesses, students, teachers, etc. can all have some part in shaping and molding our future. The school leaders should be open to other perspectives and model this. This in turn will create a ripple effect in the entire school. We all need models to base our behavior and actions on. What better way than to start with our schools.
With our society changing at an exponential rate we need to think about how are we going to best prepare our students for the future? How are we going to provide them with the skills needed for jobs and problems that don't yet exist? Our classrooms look vastly different than they did fifty, twenty, even ten years ago. Our students are diverse, they come from different backgrounds, homes, families, countries, different religious backgrounds, etc. They are not as homogenous as our country was in prior years. It's exciting to think about the network of diverse minds that we have and endless opportunities that could be. These opportunities can only be realized if we understand the importance of diversity.
So let's cut to the chase, why does it matter? What's significant about diversity in education? The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by the year 2100 the current majority of the population will become the minority. With this shift that will soon we happen we need to ensure that we are preparing our educators, schools, educational systems for this change and ensure that we are preparing everyone to interact within a diverse environment. If we only interact with people of the same background we are doing ourselves an injustice. Having the ability to interact with people of diverse backgrounds will produce an understanding of different perspectives, create a deeper level of empathy and understanding. If we can't teach our youth and future to learn and work in harmony than we are creating a future that is grim. I truly believe that if we are not embracing diversity in our classrooms we will be creating a future where we will not be able to solve problems efficiently, we will create a society where tolerance is not the norm, and where we will become more segregated than ever before. Unfortunately, we do not quite live in a world where we do solve problems efficiently, or where we are all tolerant, and we still are very much segregated but these gaps can only widen if we do not embrace and teach about the importance of diversity. We need to be able to act on living in a world where we value diverse minds and people. What better way then to teach about diversity than in our classrooms? Teaching about what diversity actually means is only a piece of the pie, we need to actually act on including and accepting diversity in our classrooms. This is an action and it starts with the leadership. The principal(s) of a school needs to decided that as a school they are going to embrace and create a diverse learning culture. It needs to start creating an environment where respect is everything. "principal has a huge role in creating an environment where people respect the opinions of others and are open to multiple perspectives on any issue. This should be modeled for students, and in relations with faculty and staff, as well (n.d)." The leadership team are the ones leading the actions, they are at the forefront of this change. By accepting and creating an culture where everyone's ideas are respected it opens the doors for the entire community to be part of the school. Parents, churches, local businesses, students, teachers, etc. can all have some part in shaping and molding our future. The school leaders should be open to other perspectives and model this. This in turn will create a ripple effect in the entire school. We all need models to base our behavior and actions on. What better way than to start with our schools.
References:
How important is cultural diversity at your school? | GreatKids. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/cultural-diversity-at-school/
How important is cultural diversity at your school? | GreatKids. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/cultural-diversity-at-school/