Honoring the Diversity in Your

Classroom

There can be no keener revelation of a society’s

soul than the way in which it treats its

children.

~Nelson Mandela~

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we

belong to each other.

~Mother Teresa~

The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you. They are unique manifestations of the human

spirit.

Wade Davis - anthropologist

Hidden Commonalities

The Iceberg

What were you taught?

What memories do you have of what your family taught you about various kinds of diversity among people?

Was their behavior consistent with what they said?

What do you remember from childhood about how you made sense out of human differences?

What confused you?

What childhood experiences did you have with peers or adults who were different from you in some way? (racial identity, culture/ethnicity, family structure, economic class, religion, gender role, sexual orientation)

Were these experiences comfortable? Why or why not?

How do you connect?