Title: Life After Diversity Training
Source: Teaching Tolerance: A Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center
By: Hannah Edsall
October 17, 2016
Key Points: Edsall does a great job of representing the need to teach our students how to do factual research and have open dialogues about race/diversity. She goes into the aftermath of a Civil Rights incident in her district. She depicts the federal government giving them stipulations of diversity training and activities for both teachers and students, but no plan on how to implement the delivery of information. This actually caused a negative side effect with the student body. They were shown skits about diversity, but not given the tools to understand their own feelings let alone the point of view of others.
Intended Audience: Teachers, administrators, and district staff.
Relevance: This article is extremely relevant to our current situation in this country. More than ever, conversations about race and diversity are at the forefront of our minds. As educators, we need to give our students the skills to have healthy conversations about these issues. Not just open conversations, but the ability to research factual information and understand other people’s point of views. Our nation is very divided and it has been born of an inability to listen to another person’s story without judgment.
Christopher,
ReplyDeleteThe divisiveness in this country over racial tension is a huge issue in this nation. While it is important to have the conversations, they can only occur on respectful grounds. I think that incorporating these conversations in a school setting can be fruitful but only if done right. I don't know how to manage a classroom setting in regards to creating open and respectful dialogue backed up with facts. Because a topic like race naturally causes an emotional response, maintaining a respectful atmosphere would be critical. Great article!
This post was a very interesting read. It propounds an idea that I have long held; that we need to have the right words in our minds and mouths before we can talk about something. How often have you wanted to say something, but were hesitant to do so because you did not know how to express yourself? The link to the booklet "Let's Talk" was great. I have bookmarked it. It also talks about talking, with some great tips about having difficult conversations. Thanks for this useful article.
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