Diversity - Looking Out From The
Other Side In
Nov. 6, 2007
The
“diversity” of an item is its ability to be widely interpreted or perceived
from different perspectives. Some may interpret “diversity” from the
perspective of the outside looking in, while others only see it from the inside
looking out. If a glass is filled halfway today, is it half full or half empty
tomorrow? The concept of “diversity” enables each of us to interpret or
understand a set item from a variety of positions using a unique perspective
that are often influenced by internal and external factors.
For some, diversity creates uncertainty, for some others it
can produce a fear of a losing control of a discussion, thus, people tiptoe
around it or avoid it all together. Diversity unexplored usually results
in a person’s assumptions or perspectives remaining unchallenged. What if one
could safely look and inquire from the other side of their own perspective, would
their perceptions change?
Listed
below are some articles which may be congruent or incongruent with your points
of view. One outcome of embracing a different perspective is to gain
insight into an area that you previously didn’t consider. Is a moment for
learning of have you entered a teachable moment? As you read through the
articles, place yourself in the background being discussed and then take a
second to think, what can I gain from understanding this other person’s
experience? Would my perspective be different if I were
a faculty member, a staff member, a supervisor, a colleague, a student, or a
parent? These scenarios may be applicable to a classroom, but if you
think about the concept, it is probably just as applicable to a working environment.
Whatever your perceptions may be, focus on the skill of understanding and
asking questions from the opposite perspective, this skill will help you to
gain clarification as well as create opportunities future dialogue.
Diversity
and Complexity in the Classroom http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/diverse.htm
Women and
Men in the Classroom: Inequality and Its Remedies: http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/html/icb.topic58474/krupnick.html
Managing
Hot Moments in the Classroom (or via e-mail) http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/html/icb.topic58474/hotmoments.html
Teaching in
Racially Diverse Classrooms http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/html/icb.topic58474/TFTrace-summary.html
Perceptions
of Faculty Behavior by Students of Color http://www.crlt.umich.edu/publinks/CRLT_no7.pdf
Student
Learning Styles and Their Implications for Teaching http://www.crlt.umich.edu/publinks/occ10.html
Similar to
a work environment, a classroom environment forces each of us to acknowledge
the impact or challenges; we individually and collectively create by not fully
embracing diversity. Each person wants to be valued as an
individual, with unique perspectives that are not formulated by a stereotypical
assumption. Therefore people, who are interested in learning or teaching,
need to take some additional time to learn about the person teaching them and
in turn teach the person you are learning from. So whether you are trying
to teach/learn a new job skill or teach/learn a principle in a classroom,
always remember each party has both something to learn and something to teach.
The goal is to learn from the other person’s perspective in an attempt to
communicate the best way to be taught.