dealing with diversity? (4-13)

When I glanced at the class blog the other day (and I do mean glanced, so I apologize if I misrepresent it here), I got the feeling that several of the bloggers felt like they had never really thought about diversity and how it might inform their teaching practice before, although they certainly know it is a key area of discussion. I actually can say that I have thought about this issue before, primarily because I had Sally Cook’s class Language and Learning class at Truman, where one of our main texts was Shirley Brice Heath’s Ways with Words, which Moss and Walters mention in their essay. That class, and Dr. Cook in general, had a huge impact on my understanding of language (probably because I took three classes with her—she was just a fabulous teacher in so many ways). But, throughout the linguistic courses that I took with her, a continual theme was emphasizing the constructed nature of language and communication. In some ways, communication is so natural and we do it so often, that we do not realize everything that goes into it. Thus, we may not fully understand those times when communication breaks down. I actually think about successful communication almost every day in the Writing Lab. When I begin working with a student, I find myself both consciously and unconsciously adjusting to the verbal and non-verbal communication cues of the student. Thus, I try to figure out if they will answer questions, take notes on their own, interrupt me, look me in the eye, smile, etc. I want to know how they will respond to me so that I can respond to them. Now, this doesn’t always work. Sometimes I just can’t figure out how to connect with a student. And sometimes I’m frustrated because I suspect that a session might have been more successful had we been able to communicate with each other. I am also completely aware that I probably have more success communicating with students who have a similar background to me. They are probably white and female, and they are probably from the middle-class and a medium sized high school with a fairly traditional family. This is not to say that everyone like that is easy to communicate with, or that I can’t communicate with someone from a different background. However, I know that even with ESL students I sometimes feel there is something more challenging our communication than just the differences in language. The actual language we speak is only part of how we communicate. Even as a student, I am aware of particular teachers who (I’m assuming) share the same background as me, and therefore I feel more successful communicating with them. It is not that I try to avoid other students or teachers, but like the African American students who want African American faculty in the Faegin article, I am conscious of the way in which background affects successful communication. However, beyond awareness, I’m not quite sure how else I am supposed to change my teaching. About the only concrete suggestions seemed to be trying to make sure the readings are diverse, and be aware of why students may make the “mistakes” they do. But beyond this awareness, I still got the feeling that part of teaching was helping diverse students be more able to join the mainstream, which does not quite satisfy my questions about approaching diversity in the classroom.

Interestingly, and perhaps significantly, the one issue of diversity that I didn’t find in any of the readings was religion. They talked about almost every other issue (age, sex, race, class, sexual preference, disability, etc.), but I think that religious diversity also needs to be recognized because it does have an enormous influence (and certainly plays into some of the areas mentioned above). Religion is the one area, personally, where I feel silenced in academia. It is usually a matter of I don’t ask others and they don’t ask me, primarily because I am afraid others will judge me based on unfair stereotypes (and this judging on unfair stereotypes is what is at stake in every area of diversity). I can think of at least three different times this semester where I’ve had one-on-one discussions with students, both grad and undergrad, on the topic of religion, and we all agreed that we are afraid to bring it up for fear of offending someone or being labeled as uncritical because we ascribe to certain religious beliefs, or being presumed to be prejudiced or unaccepting of everyone else. Perhaps the best way to be aware of the diversity issue is to try to be diverse ourselves. That was easier in undergrad because in the dorms I knew people who were Muslim and atheist, black and white, gay and straight. I’ve realized that we, as grad students, are really homogenous. And like the articles, I’m not sure that this train of thought is solving anything, except raising my own awareness…