Abstract
In January of 2022, I (Mary-Celeste) walked into the first meeting of EDUC 210: Communication in Diverse Classrooms, a required course for education majors. I asked the 30 students to complete a Google survey with questions related to their own identities and beliefs about teaching for diversity. A hush fell over the class as each student worked through the survey. After a few minutes, one young woman raised her hand to ask me a question. She was confused about the survey question asking how she identified her sexuality – offered answers included heterosexual, gay, lesbian, pansexual, etc. She pointed to the “other” line where she had written, “I like boys” then asked, “Which one of these options means this?” Silently, I motioned to “heterosexual” and smiled when she offered a quick “Thank you.” When I reviewed the survey answers later that day, she was not the only student confused by terms. This exchange enlightened me, revealing that our students, who are predominantly White women from small, rural towns in the Southeast, lacked foundational knowledge related to diversity. Past iterations of the course examined personal improvement, focusing on personality tests and Covey's 7 Habits, without digging deeply into systemic issues of race, gender, and poverty present in democratic, multiculturally rich classrooms. Considering the social and political context of the past few years, including #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, this course and its assessments needed significant revision. Our purpose was to prepare students for the reality of teaching, especially in diverse classrooms, and we designed assessments to encourage student awareness of bias in order to address their own prejudices and learn skills to teach for diversity.
Recommended Citation
Schreuder, Mary-Celeste and Adams, Lauren
(2023)
"Creating a Teacher Preparation Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Course: Three Assessments for Effective Instruction.,"
Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina: Vol. 16:
No.
2, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/tejsc/vol16/iss2/2