Diversity in the Classroom

Summary: Increasingly, our classrooms are becoming more and more diverse. Whether our students are from foreign lands, have same-sex parents, express sexual orientation or gender identity differences, or are mentally or physically challenged, teachers need to address these distinctions in thoughtful and sensitive ways.

Some of the issues or concerns you may want to discuss with your students are:

• To treat each student as an individual, and respect each student for who he or she is.
• How to recognize biases or stereotypes they may exhibit.
• How to recognize and correct language that may exclude or demean specific ethnic and cultural groups.

What you can do on a larger scale:

• Give assignments that explore students' diverse backgrounds and special interests.
• Encourage diversity discussions at department meetings.
• Become more informed about the history and culture of students in the school.
• Select texts and readings whose language is gender-neutral and free of stereotypes.
• Aim to develop an inclusive curriculum.
• Explore creating a classroom mural project.