REPLIES-Discussion Thread: Student Diversity
Prepare two responses from 2 different people uploaded below, each response will have at least 200 words and its own citations and references.
Be kind and do not correct any of the comments or disagree; write in the first person; the instructions go into more detail on how to respond back. Use APA 7th Edition Format throughout the papers intext citations and references.
Lisa S.
As an elementary art teacher in a large Title 1 school, I see every child in the building for arts integration and enrichment on a regular basis. Because there are more than 1,100 students in my school, “specials” courses are on a 10-day rotation; thus, I see 1,100 students every 10 days. While my time with the children isn’t long, it is impactful, and I feel strongly that our time together must be relevant and meaningful to every single child. Because the school is comprised of more than 85% Hispanic students, our “minority” is the majority. The remaining 15% of the student population is made up of equal parts African-American and white children, with a handful of students from other ethnic backgrounds.
While I feel my students become excited and energized when they enter the art room, regardless of the subject matter, they truly shine when I introduce artists and techniques that are ethnically relevant to their cultural backgrounds. Each fall, I don’t wait for Hispanic Heritage Month or Black History Month to begin before I begin to introduce both Hispanic and African-American artists. On my classroom walls I have mini posters of numerous artists of color with whom the children can readily identify. To experience the lives and significance of artists such as Frida Kahlo, Romero Britto, Diego Rivera, and more is exciting for my students. Art knows no language barriers, so it’s easily accessible and understood by the very large percentage of my students who are newcomers to this country and do not yet speak English. Likewise, my African-American students see the artistic successes of artistic greats like Kara Walker, Romare Bearden, and Jean-Michel Basquiat and often feel empowered to do something great themselves. The self-esteem they build in the art environment is priceless.
Another important aspect of diversity is making accommodations for students with learning differences and physical abilities. For the first two years I taught at my school, there were no art opportunities for the students in the SID/PID classes; we have a significant population of students who are in wheelchairs and have limited communication skills. Starting last year, I asked these classes to come to the art room during my planning period one day a week, so that I could provide them with creative experiences differentiated to their skill levels and abilities. Because these students are largely tactile learners, I have a very “hands-on” approach to artmaking with them: we use clay, finger painting, lots of texture materials, and more. Their teachers report to me that students who initially did not seem to want to participate in art now become very excited and vocal when they learn they are going to the art room. It’s widely known that art is a very therapeutic practice, so students gain social and emotional wellness benefits when participating in art activities.
With such widespread ethnic and cultural diversity under one roof, we are much like an intercultural microcosm. Awareness and knowledge of different worldviews, perspectives, and ethnic practices provides for very positive social learning outcomes (Schwarzenthal, et al., 2020).
Mary K.
Sadly, the lack of diversity in the curriculum is an ongoing concern. Even though Brown v the Board of Education mandated the integration of public schools in 1954 (and that came with a decades-long battle from most Southern states), little changed in the curriculum. The demographics inside schools changed, but students’ faces/cultures/languages were not represented in the information they were learning. As we all know, representation is important. This is reinforced in Souto-Manning and Martell’s article entitled “Committing to Culturally Relevant Literacy Teaching as an Everyday Practice: It’s Critical” (2017) when they claim, “Children need to see reflections of themselves in the curriculum. They also need to learn about others” (1).
Thankfully, this is starting to change. Most textbooks have been updated to include more women and people of color. Educators are receiving more cultural sensitivity training than ever before. IEPs and accommodations are being taken seriously. Institutions of higher learning are earning designations such as “Hispanics Serving Institution” and “Military Friendly.” While most schools have moved past Affirmative Action, improvement is still needed in diversifying faculty and staff so that they do, in fact, represent the students with whom they are interacting.
I teach for a community college in Southern Arizona on the Mexican border. That said, the vast majority (over 90%) of my students are Hispanic. For most of them, English is their second language. Many of them actually live across the border and cross daily to come to school. For this reason, we are a Hispanic-Serving Institution. We are also military-friendly. The college has numerous locations inside the county, and one of them is on a military installation. Because of this, we offer Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) credentialing. This is where soldiers sign up with the college before their Advanced Individual Training (AIT) begins. Upon completion, their training converts to college credits. This allows them to not only met the residency requirement, but also knock out most of their major classes. Most just need to complete the General Education courses after that, and those can be completed online or transferred from other institutions.
While there are numerous Hispanic and military students, we also have dozens of athletes from other states and countries, retired folks who are taking classes for fun, parents who are going back to school because their kids are grown, and high school students taking dual credit. Title IX is taken seriously, so gender inequality is almost nonexistent (at least on the surface).
As far as our faculty and staff go, we are fairly diverse. There are numerous people of color and women in positions of leadership, and I see diverse faces all around the campus. There is always room for improvement, though. In fairness, most of our tutors, admin assistants, and faculty are at least conversational in Spanish. We also have wonderful services like TRiO (staffed with people who truly care about students succeeding) that help students with everything from financial aid to university visits. Further, the school honors groups each month. Next month we will have mariachis and traditional food/decorations for Mexico’s Independence Day/Hispanic Heritage Month. Community members are frequently invited to perform/recite/play/speak/dance in the student union.
While I can’t speak for other faculty members, I make sure to teach diverse authors/lessons. In my lit classes we read Lorraine Hansberry, Alice Walker, Sandra Cisneros, Sherman Alexie, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston, in addition to other voices who have been historically underrepresented. In my composition classes, I allow students to choose from a variety of topics that resonate with them, including controversial issues specific to their gender/race/ethnicity. While I am not Hispanic, I do speak Spanish and have traveled extensively. Students appreciate that I am familiar with their culture.
Educators can always do better, so we need to become part of professional groups and attend conferences/trainings to improve our lessons at least once a year (and administrators need to support and fund these endeavors). Being stagnant and relying too heavily on “the canon” is a recipe for failure.
