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Understanding Differences

For this particular post, I will be answering specific questions related to understanding differences in our students and how we, as professional educators, can effectively navigate the issues that stem from those differences.


1.  What types of training would be of use to assist teachers with this very complex issue.  How could education about diversity related to topic - homophobia, gender, race, etc. be used to inform this training and education?

All adults who work with children should be required to complete training on multicultural issues and how they impact students in school and at home. I can only speak from my own experiences and from dealing with the population where I currently live and teach. I am in an incredibly conservative area and a large number of my students absolutely carry that attitude that is expressed within their homes that "different" is bad. Adolescents are naturally group-seekers and when attitudes at home help further categorize people, no matter how unfairly or ignorantly, teens are likely to adopt some of those same attitudes and play them out at school, where they see a small microcosm of society as a whole coming together daily. Teachers should be trained in ways to deal with those pervasive attitudes of intolerance, as well as recognize not only when students are being bullied, because that is already required by the state of Kentucky, but to recognize ostracization of individuals due to intolerant community attitudes and beliefs. Teachers should also be trained in understanding the different experiences of diverse populations in order to best address issues. For example, while both may experience ostracization and/or bullying, the experiences of a Muslim student and a homosexual student in a conservative population would likely be different in very important ways. Teachers should be aware of those differences in order to best help diverse student populations.


2.  What are some of the "structured silences" evident in schools.  How are these reflected in society?  How can we begin to redress these silences in the classroom?

Many of the "structured silences" that we see in schools are related to race, religion, and gender identity/sexuality. Many educational professionals that aren't trained properly are unsure as to how to address or deal with the issues related to diverse student populations. Given that our society has grown much more vocal and much more litigious, it can be understood if teachers are hesitant to acknowledge these things at all. In a reflection of larger society, people may often worry that inadvertently saying the wrong thing or asking the wrong question can deeply offend someone, and this worry is compounded when those people are students who are in our care. Sometimes it may seem the wiser thing, to continue to comply with these structured silences, but that is neither compassionate nor productive. Teachers should educate themselves as best they can, if their schools and districts don't provide training, and work to compassionately acknowledge the diversity in their student populations.


 3.  Mishna at al note at the end of the article "exploring the link between teachers past experiences with victimization and teachers response and intervention to bullying incidents" is an area for consideration.  Toward that end, how did your experiences with bullying in your K-12 education influence your understanding, response, and intervention to bullies, do you think?

My experience with bullying, both firsthand and as a sister, have been rather extreme and therefore it is something I am very passionate about as a parent and an educator. My brother is autistic and attended school in the mid to late 90's and into the early 2000s. At this point, autism was nowhere near on everyone's radar the way it is now, and he was widely ignored and barely tolerated in school, by both faculty and his peers. He was constantly picked on for "being weird" and when he wasn't actively targeted, he was entirely ignored. My brother ended up dropping out of high school due to an incident directly related to this type of treatment, particularly by his peers. My own bullying experience was nothing compared with my younger brother's. Due to this, I'm afraid my compassion always lies first with the victims of bullying, even as an adult. However, as an educator, I must realize that there is something going on with the bullies themselves or they wouldn't be treating others this way. It is difficult for me, however, to get past my own experiences and especially those of my brother.

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