Three myths about diversity

The University of Alberta Faculty of Education has created an extremely useful document that addresses 11 myths and misconceptions about diversity in the classroom. I have picked three myths for us to review here. As you review them, consider if you have ever witnessed any of them?

• Myth/Misconception 1: “My students are all White. I don’t really need to teach about diversity here.”
  • Response: In fact, it’s in places that are not as visibly diverse that students need explicit teaching about diversity, as they may not have experiences that will counter their assumptions about people they perceive as different from them. It is important to remember the ‘diverse’ is not just about race, or worse, not just about adding people of colour to a group of white people. Therefore, it is important to uncover students’ (mis)conceptions about diversity and plan learning experiences that directly (and repeatedly) confront these misconceptions. Sharing literature about and from different ethnic groups is a good way to do this.

• Myth/Misconception 3: “I don’t know anything about different cultures. I think only people of that culture should teach about it.”
  • Response: It’s good that you are cautious, but we can’t wait for the teaching profession to become more diverse before we teach about diversity. It is all of our responsibility to do so and it’s in the curriculum we are required to teach. Your local multicultural associations and Indigenous organizations (such as Indigenous Friendship Centres) are excellent resources for learning about other cultures. Most of these organizations are very happy to do a class visit. Other resources can be the local library and various non-profit organizations that deal with issues of diversity (such as poverty) and how they intersect with issues of ethnicity. You can also consult our list of resources for information about what and how to teach. One strategy to keep in mind is to look for and use articles, videos, interviews, films, etc. created by members of the marginalized communities (e.g. use films by Indigenous filmmakers when looking at Indigenous topics).
• Myth/Misconception 11: “People are all basically the same, the focus should be on what binds us together, not what makes us different.”
  • Response: This kind of statement often arises from the fear that teaching about diversity might be divisive and the desire to promote harmony rather than conflict. Unfortunately, as University of Toronto professor Kathy Bickmore points out, it often results in superficial teaching that seeks to manage diversity rather than explore it. In the end, this kind of teaching does not promote harmony because it fails to take seriously the real differences in worldviews between and among people and help them learn to wrestle with those differences in peaceful and productive ways. It is true that human beings share many characteristics such as the need for food, shelter, security, community, etc., but it is also true that there are often significant differences between and among individuals and groups.

To explore the other myths and misconceptions discussed by the University of Alberta, go to  Teaching for Diversity: Myths and Misconceptions [new tab]

References

This work is modified from the original Teaching for Diversity: Myths and Misconceptions [new tab]by University of Alberta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License [new tab].