This fall, for the first time in our nation’s history, most public-school students are not White. Rather, data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicate Latinos, Blacks, American Indians, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and biracial students will account for slightly more than 50% of the 2014-2015 student population.
At the same time, teachers are considerably less diverse than their students. This so-called “diversity gap” at the elementary and secondary school level is underscored by the fact that Whites account for more than 4 out of 5 teachers in the U.S.
Given this gap, and considering the educational and social background of many educators, it is no wonder that public school teachers are often ill-prepared to deal with the inevitable challenges, dilemmas, and questions that will arise in their classrooms.
As an example, an elementary school teacher brought current events into her classroom by having her students reenact the shooting and deaths of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. Her superintendent said she made a mistake by taking the discussion that far.
Another teacher hangs a sign on the door of his classroom that reads, “Thank you for leaving your prejudice and ignorance outside of the classroom.” While the sign and others like it sound like a good idea, I am not sure what this statement accomplishes. As a teacher, I am well aware that my prejudices and ignorance follow me everywhere I go, and I share this with my students. We are all prejudiced, and try as we may, we cannot just turn it on and off.
When asked about discussing current events, evidently some are “out of bounds,” even at the high school level. According to one teacher, that’s the “kind of thing I steer away from. I don’t want to go down that path. Emotions are very raw.” Upon hearing this teacher’s comment, one parent expressed her frustration saying, “It needs to be talked about.” She went on to say that students need something more than what they are seeing on Facebook and Twitter.
Are our teachers and administrators prepared to deal with the inevitable challenges that will continue to surface in our diverse classrooms? Students, parents, and community members will find out very shortly.
While it is true that prejudice and ignorance are baggage that are carried with us wherever we go, it is important to require the presence of an”open mind.”. When one has an open mind, defined as the willingness to listen to and evaluate new information despite comfort-level attacks, progress can be made in sensitive discussions. Healing requires pain at times and the permanent anesthesia of political correctness (condescending at best) does nothing to promote healing. Great topic!