Diversity in the Classrooms: A Human-Centered Approach to Schools
- PDF / 550,973 Bytes
- 11 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 22 Downloads / 247 Views
Diversity in the Classrooms: A Human‑Centered Approach to Schools Daniela Fontenelle‑Tereshchuk1,2 Received: 3 January 2020 / Accepted: 8 April 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract This article explores the perceptions of experiences and insights of four Alberta teachers on the understanding of diversity in the classrooms. The teachers in this multiple case study argue that the popular understanding of diversity, especially in schools, is often supported by American contextualized narrative of polarized racial views focusing on assumptions of contrasting ‘whiteness’ visible in race, culture and socio-economic status associated to ones’ skin colour, for instance it recognizes dark-skinned students as diverse as opposed to teachers who are perceived simply as a large group of ‘white, middle-class ladies’. Such conceptualization of diversity is problematic as its social-constructed understanding implies that teachers of European descent share a common ‘Euro-centered’ history, culture, and ethnicity, while Europe is in fact an ethnically, historically and culturally diverse continent. These assumptions have serious implications on teaching and learning as it directly reflects on teacher preparation programs, professional development practices and educational policies. The selective approach to diversity based on race and culture does a disservice to education’s purpose as it over-focuses on visible aspects of differences among students while it disregards the universal needs of a community of learners in schools. This paper advocates for a human-centered understanding of diversity in schools, which seeks to understand diversity beyond the socially constructed borders surrounding race, culture and gender, often used to define teachers as simply ‘white’ in the context of diversity in Canada. Keywords Diversity · Education · Students · Teachers · Classrooms · Canada
* Daniela Fontenelle‑Tereshchuk [email protected] 1
Department of Secondary Education, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
2
Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
13
Vol.:(0123456789)
D. Fontenelle‑Tereshchuk
Diversity in the Classrooms: A Human‑Centered Approach to Schools Diversity among teachers is often narrowed to three aspects: race, culture, and gender. This article focuses on human diversity in schools theorising that if we expand our understanding of diversity beyond the ‘borders’ of race, culture and gender; human beings, including all teachers independently of ethnicity, may or may not have similar ideas, skill sets and personalities as well as learning needs and interests, which contributes to the construct of their perceptions and understanding of diversity. Such views are often developed through lived experiences, backgrounds and opportunities to interact with ‘difference’. This article’s ‘perspective’ is that diversity is about inclusion of all the different active elements that comprise the school context. It is a human-centered approach to diversity, which is an acknowledgement
Data Loading...
