Classroom Diversity

Classroom Diversity

Diversity by definition is the fact or quality of being diverse, difference, a point or respect in which things differ. Classroom diversity is no different than diversity. It is about being different, not all the same. Today in public schools each student comes from a different economic background, speaks a different language, is of a different gender, or of a different race. I will be talking about the diversity of all of these factors and the privileges that come with them.

Our culture values straightness, Christianity, whiteness, able-bodied ness, and maleness. In a classroom with a student who comes from a family with no money where both parents work does not go to school possessing the same knowledge that a student in the upper or middle class do. Most of the students who come in with less knowledge end up being labeled less able. This form of tracking sticks with them for the rest of their lives. It enables them to get out of the situation they are in. Schools today need to be aware of these differences and not gear the curriculum to the student who already posses the knowledge, instead to both the student who posses and the student who wishes to acquire it. Therefore a student starting school with more knowledge is privileged.

Privilege is not just in knowledge it is also in race. A white student has privilege over a student of color. According to Peggy McIntosh white privilege is like an "invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was "meant" to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, code books, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks." People in the culture of power tend to not know that it even exists. White students are provided with a better education than those of color. It is because they live in the better neighborhoods and their parents have the better jobs. Most students of color receive a lesser education because of the product of their environment. The schools are not as nice and the resources are limited. If these students were never given an equal opportunity they will never make it into the good college. Teachers need to make sure they take race into consideration. They need to not favor the white students and give equal opportunity to all. This is a tough job, but it must be done to maintain fair education.

Our society also favors straightness. In most public schools the only time you hear about gayness is in health education. It is usually associated with the topic of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. Books about gayness or with authors who are gay are often omitted from the curriculum. Teachers who are gay loose their jobs or are subject to abuse. Creating this negative association to gayness causes gay students