Diversity+in+English

The Overview
Diversification of the English curriculum is a topic that seems to be as important and relevant today as it was during the years after The Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement really serves as the genesis of thinking about how to diversify the English curriculum. As a result of the gains made during The Civil Rights Movement, many minority groups no longer felt constrained in talking about the issues they saw with English education in The United States. Primary among those issues was the lack of ethnic and racial diversity in the English curriculum. Not only were African Americans calling for their literary voices to be heard so were Hispanic, Native American and Asian groups. This issue pushes onward today as gay and lesbian groups are asking for their literary voices to be brought to the table. Essentially, what is being sought out by these groups is an English curriculum in which every voice from the wide spectrum of America is heard.

By the year 2020, one of every two students in the United States will be a person of color( Dietrich 1995). That statistic alone should drive home just how important diversity is going to be in education. Acknowledging diversity means that things will inevitably have to change and change is something humanity historically butts against or flat out fears. This apprehension about changing is one of the major roadblocks that these advocates for diversification run into. The standard of teaching English has always involved mostly American, European and British literature with only a few dabblings from other cultural groups. Look no further than the likes of Poe, Shakespeare and Hemingway to see this standard in play. Not only are the voices of minorities being downplayed, but so are the voices of women. Texts that come from other parts of the world are almost non-existent and this roadblock plays into the idea of dominant culture. Dominant culture is simply the idea that whatever culture is dominant will be the most prominent in every aspect of a civilization’s life. As the old saying goes, “when in Rome...”


 * Teacher Make-Up **

The ethnic and racial make -up of America’s teaching workforce is one potential cause for the lack of diversity in the curriculum. For instance, only 2% of America’s teaching workforce is African-American males (Toldson 2013). The large majority of the teaching workforce consists of Caucasian women who may not feel comfortable or just may not want to teach texts that vastly differ from their own norms and values. Teachers must be willing to meet students on the students' cultural turf (Dietrich 1995). And often this transformation into a student forces teachers to confront their own social and cultural norms that they might be uncomfortable with. But there is potential for this to be minimized by school districts allowing for more diversity training and a willingness to let educators be experimental in the classroom.


 * Better Thinkers **

There is another large reason for allowing diversity in the English curriculum and it has everything to do with education. Studies have found that there is a link between being a better learner and having more diverse experiences. “Student cognitive growth may be stimulated by meaningful encounters with new and unfamiliar racial groups” (Loes 2012). So essentially, students can become better thinkers by being allowed to explore and interact with racial groups outside of their norm. Including diverse texts in the classroom can allow them to have these interactions. Educators are struggling with ideas and methods to improve the learning of students. So if something as simple as introducing them to the wealth of cultures in America and the world can help do that, then why not?

If students can be better thinkers then they can be better learners. There are obvious advantages to this, but implementation and how it is done is key. Our current education structure doesn’t allow for change to happen rapidly and there is a great deal of steps that have to be taken in order to make any substantial change happen. That can be a draining experience and is probably too much for one person to take on alone. Also, there are the challenges that come with creating a multicultural education experience, particularly when it comes to the matter of literature.

The Issue
Teachers have to walk a fine line when it comes to matters of race and culture. That can be a perilous walk to take in a society that seems to be so hyper-sensitive to these issues. Teachers have to find ways to get themselves and their students to look at their own and other cultures objectively. As previously stated, some teachers may find that uncomfortable for themselves let alone having to compound that with the feelings and opinions of the students they’re trying to teach. It can seem easier to just stick with what’s been established. But there are strategies to get around this. Teachers have to be able to “make classrooms lively forums of open multicultural exchange” in today’s changing society if they’re going to be able to reach every student (Dietrich 1995). But creating these classrooms is not an easy task because of the roadblocks that teachers have to deal with.
 * The Roadblocks **

All the roadblocks that exist on this issue stream from a variety of different sources. As any educator well knows, there is never just one problem or solution when it comes to educating students. Even the microcosm of diversifying the English curriculum, there is a complicated web of issues for an educator to navigate through. The biggest sources of frustration in diversifying the English curriculum and just classrooms in general are:

__ **Roadblocks** __
 * Prejudice
 * Communication
 * Money
 * Preparation


 * Prejudice **

Prejudice can come from a number of different angles and bog up any movement to diversify an English class. If you have teachers, students, parents and/or administration that have racial, gender or any other kind of biases it is going to be hard to sell them on the idea of diversity in the first place. Any person wanting to effect a positive change in this process would first have to be able to convince such individuals there biases are without merit and for some people that just never happens. I had the unfortunate experience of hearing a teacher comment on her African-American students’ reading habits in a negative way. The exact words elude me, but it was pretty much along the lines of all “those kids” just wanting to read about gangsters, drugs and violence. That is disheartening because if a teacher has that kind of attitude about a group of their students than any opportunities for diversity are nearly evaporated. “Research shows that diverse working groups are more productive, creative, and innovative than homogeneous groups, and suggests that developing a diverse faculty will enhance teaching and research” (Fine 2010). So not only has this teacher halted progress for her minority students, they’ve halted progress for all of their students.


 * Communication **

If that first roadblock doesn’t exist then there is another waiting and that comes in the form of being able to communicate what you are trying to do. Two of the biggest groups that will need convincing is parents. Trying to expose students to new books is always a difficult thing no matter the purpose, but on an issue as delicate as race it can be even more harrowing. A teacher can run into different parental scenarios that they will need to be ready for. It is crucial that teachers can mitigate or resolve these scenarios to their favor because if you don’t get the parents to agree with the change then its not likely you will get your fellow staff or administration to agree with you either.

__** Things Parents/Administrators Might Question **__
 * The teacher’s racial, gender etc. attitudes
 * The teacher’s qualifications to or ability to teach the text
 * Does the teacher have an agenda in teaching the text
 * The teacher’s political leanings or affiliations

Most of these questions are probably outright uncomfortable and even offensive to a teacher to be posed with. So just the thought of possibly having these personal things questioned about them can make some teachers understandably uncomfortable about taking that first step into trying to bring cultural texts into the classroom. Race is a very sensitive issue and trying to bring more of it into a classroom is going to bring tough questions. And with the microscope teachers are under daily along, traversing those waters probably seems too treacherous.


 * Money **

Now, say you have the teacher, parents and students on board and they are ready to create a diversified classroom full of cultural texts. Well, the next hurdle is getting the administration onboard because let’s face it; if the administration is not going to be a part of the process then it really doesn’t matter how open or enthusiastic all of these other groups might be about diversifying the classroom. This can be a matter of prejudice if the administrator has negative bias, but more than likely it is going to be a matter of the purse. School districts’ funds are not an overflowing oasis and a teacher trying to alter curriculum is going to have a solid plan to answer the money questions.

__** Money Questions **__
 * Why should we pay for it?
 * How are we going to pay for it?
 * What exactly are we paying for?


 * Preparation **

Another major roadblock is the preparation for and actual teaching of the material. Even after choosing feasible texts, a teacher needs to be able to really do some self-evaluation and analyze the classes they are going to be teaching the text to. “All of us simultaneously belong to many cultural groups” (Dietrich 1995). It’s not just about race because a teacher has to consider their membership and their students membership in sub-cultural groups such as:

__** Sub-cultural Groups **__
 * Religion
 * Socioeconomic class
 * Geographic region
 * Age
 * Gender

A book about a slave fighting for the Union during the Civil War is going to have very different teaching considerations if you are in Louisiana vs. New York. Doing background for a story about the Trail of Tears would have to be approached for third graders vs. eleventh graders. A teacher has to also to be able to objectively look at themselves and have the capacity to figure out what are their own norms, values, and possible discomforts with other cultural groups. The teacher will never be able to create a lively forum in their classroom without first being able to be honest with themselves.

As part of the preparation, a teacher is not just considering additional texts, but they also have to consider what they are going to cut? Do you cut a story from Poe? Do you skip over a play for Shakespeare? A teacher is not going to be able to simply insert these texts in without subtracting from something that is already there. Also, a teacher has to consider which groups they want to cover and how much time they want to give to each group? For instance, an African-American teacher who suddenly infuses a large number of African-American texts into the class but ignores other groups can be seen as being bias or having a personal agenda. On the other hand, a teacher that tries to bring in a text from every single group is going to end up detracting some things that are necessary to learn. As stated before, it’s a tightrope and there is really no way to make everyone happy. Which is probably why, many teachers rather just avoid it in the first place.


 * Solutions **

A teacher taking on this Herculean task could easily put themselves at risk of burning out and/or possibly bringing unwanted spotlight on themselves. It is not easy (more likely, its impossible) to survive all these challenges without ruffling a few feathers along the way. But now that the potential hurdles are on the table, there are a couple of solutions.

__** Solutions **__
 * ** Find a member or two of the faculty who has similar thoughts and would be willing to help share the load **
 * One can work on which texts you want to propose while another drafts the proposal to administration etc.
 * This prevents a teacher from being seen as a “lone gun.”
 * Sharing the work reduces the amount of stress
 * Administration may be more willing to hear a proposal that comes from a united front
 * ** Find ways to mention other cultural tidbits into the already established curriculum **
 * For example, if teaching the Odyssey and you come across Circe the teacher can briefly mention other magical woman figures from across the world
 * A teacher wouldn’t need to approach administration to do this as they wouldn’t be deviating from the established text, but simply enhancing it
 * The only thing a teacher would really need to do is increase their own cultural knowledge base and prepare for those moments when cultural facts could be inserted into the discussion
 * ** Use stories and texts that are able on the Internet **
 * Many sites offer up either full stories or snippets of stories for free online
 * A teacher could seek these out and either use them to enhance or replace texts in the curriculum
 * A teacher would likely still need to seek out administration approval, but they would have the advantage of being able to proclaim cost effectiveness
 * ** Get one set of texts for the classroom and/or department **
 * If a teacher is willing to go that far they can offer in a proposal to purchase the texts they want to use on their own
 * It’s cost effective for the administration (not so much for the teacher)
 * With that set on hand, a teacher can make copies of what they need to for the class (again, not necessarily cost effective for the teacher)

These aren’t perfect solutions by any means, but they might offer some sort of basis on which to build a working ground plan to implement diversity. Ultimately, America is changing and the education system is going to have to start changing along with it. Ray Bradbury said this, “You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” So what are we doing to the diverse cultures in America by continuing to ignore them?


 * My Thoughts **

I think overall that the problem with implementing diversity isn’t an unwillingness on the part of the individual, but an unwillingness on the part of the group. What I mean by that is that I feel people on a case by case basis are generally for diversity, but when confronted by the bureaucracy of the group then the willingness is less there. It is asking a lot of a person to take on those kind of huge burdens. That is why so few people in history ever have and why it is probably more feasible to change this issue gradually instead of expecting a hero to come in the dark of night.

More efforts need to be made in diversity training. It seems to me from what I’ve seen and heard that many of my fellow student teachers are just flat out ignorant of some of the cultural challenges they are going to be facing. Or they only know about the issues in broad strokes (i.e. poverty can create challenges in student learning) without knowing specifics or even strategies to handle those issues. Now I wouldn’t lay the blame at entirely at the feet of the university as they can only do so much within a short amount of time.

Personally, I feel that school districts need to be realistic about their student populations and be prepared to help their new teachers at the door. If your school district is composed mostly of poor African-American students, then embrace that and stop running away from it. School districts should let their educators know up front about what kind of students they will be teaching, the challenges these students have in and outside of the classroom, and what kind of issues face the group as a whole.

It’s this strict adherence to cookie-cutter, factory model education that is hampering diversity and allowing teachers (not just of English) from bring it into their classrooms. But to use the car metaphor, while all cars have the same basic parts there is a great deal of differentiation among them. You have automatic gear, manual gear. You have luxury cars and vans. 18-wheelers and tiny smart cars. If the education system is going to try and stick it out with the Henry Ford model then they need to embrace it’s modern day version.


 * Download a proposal focused on this trend/issue in education here: ** [[file:Lambert_EDCI6158_proposal.doc]]

Annotated Bibliography
C. Loes, E. Pascarella, P. Umbrach. [|“Effects of Diversity Experiences on Critical Thinking Skills: Who Benefits?”] 2012. The Journal of Higher Education V. 83. Ohio State University. [|__http://www2.education.uiowa.edu/centers/docs/cdre-documents/Loes_Pascarella_and_Umbach_2012_3.pdf__]. This study provides a link between diversity activities and the increase in critical thinking skills, more so for White students as opposed to non-white.

Dietrich, D., K. Ralph. [|“Crossing Borders: Multicultural Literature in the Classroom”]. 1995. The Journal of Educational Issue of Language Minority Students V. 15. [|__www.ncela.gwu.edu/files/rcd/BE020474/Crossing_Borders.pdf__] This article talks about the difficulties teachers will face with students and within themselves when it comes to teaching multicultural literature.

E. Fine, J. Handelsman. “Benefits and Challenges of Diversity in the Academic Setting”. 2010. WISELI (Women in Science & Engineering Leadership Institute). University of Wisconsin-Madison. [|wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/docs/Benefits_Challenges.pdf] This article looks at the benefits of including diversity in the classroom, in teaching and in research.

Nagda, B. “The Benefits of Diversity in Education for Democratic Citizenship.” 2003. University of Michigan. [|__http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pgurin/benefits.html__] This article is the results of a research study done on a group of people looking at the positive benefits of being around a diverse group of people and dealing with diversity issues that arise because of it.

Pirofski, K. “Race, Gender, and Disability in Today's Children's Literature.” 2012. Critical Multicultural Pavilion. [|__http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/literature2.html__] This piece offers up some statistics about Award winning books and minority representations within them. It also offers up books that would be appropriate for different groups.

Rice, K. “Choosing High Quality Children's Literature/Multicultural Literature.” 2011. [|__http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Choosing_High_Quality_Children's_Literature/Multicultural_Literature__] This is a Wiki page that shows a few things to look for when choosing multicultural books for the classroom and gives a list of recommended book.

Toldson, I. “Black Male Teachers: Becoming Extinct”. 2013. The Root. [|__http://www.theroot.com/views/black-male-teachers-becoming-extinct__] This article deals with the issues surrounding the lack of African-American male teachers in America and just how true or untrue this fact may be.

Wilkins, J. “Evaluating Multicultural Literature for use in the Classroom.” 1998. Heritage Education Program. In [|__http://www.academia.edu/1244761/Evaluating___] [|__Multicultural_Literature_for_Use_in_the_Classroom__] This paper offers up how a blueprint for how a teacher should go about evaluating a multicultural text for the classroom to see if it would be appropriate or not.