The Education of Diversity
Throughout my schooling I have attended five schools, three private schools, and two public schools. The one thing that they all had in common was the amount of diversity. In private schools, we were taught about other cultures. I found the same thing in public schools. But a major similarity was the amount of acceptance they have for diverse cultures.
My eyes were opened to so many new things, that a normal kid would never see. Diversity in schools help the educational environment succeed, therefor the students learn more. As time progresses and as cultures change, so will educational settings. “The Census Bureau projects that by the year 2100, the U.S. minority population will become the majority with non-Hispanic whites making up only 40% of the U.
S. population.” If the minority were to become the majority, then we’ll have to adapt to the changes we’ll face in educating these culturally diverse students. Then, that may mean we’ll have to use different educational strategies, and us as future peers will have to accept and adapt to them. If children are taught while young about diversity, or experience diversity in their school it will be easier for them to adapt as they get older and grow into different environments with different people. At Stanford, they have a very diverse student and population.
“Roughly 50% of student body self-identifies as people of color.” This means half of the people at the school are diverse. This is important, because many people different people get educated, and in a fine institution having diversity is good. This is showing that high institutions accept and promote diversity. Even though Stanford is a big name school, that doesn’t mean that school diversity is worse at smaller schools, or isn’t as promoted. In fact, the top most diverse school district in the United States is Tukwila School District 406 in Washington.
This is proving that public schools are a diverse environment, and that diversity doesn’t only happen in big universities, or only in private schools. It shows that wherever there are students, there will be some sort of diversity. Bringing it back to home, in Bloomfield, Michigan we have many diverse schools and people. We have the International Academy, which is a school that is IB certified, and promotes diversity. The soon to be Bloomfield Hills High School, also will have lots of diversity, because there will be many different people attending.
At the high schools, they have clubs about the different student ethnic or cultural groups. For example, they have the Muslim Student Association. This proves that even our future schools will have a diverse environment, and different people will surround us. Even though diversity is great, it also has its weak side. A major issue is being judgmental, or racist based on skin tone, linguistic accents, or even cultural heritage.
If people judge, then what’s the point of having a diverse environment if we don’t appreciate it? The solution to this is that the teachers are the authority, and they can stop this kind of behavior, and show the children how to embrace their differences, and once they’ve learned that lesson, diversity will reach its peak in helping with educating people. My personal experience in diverse settings has been great. Being half Spanish and half Lebanese has taught me to be open-minded. I have attended both private and public schools, and in both schools I was accepted, and embraced. In school we were taught about different cultures, and how they even relate to us. I feel like I have had my eyes opened on the different cultures and people in the world, even though I haven’t gone anywhere.
I understand the world better, because in school it seems like we are the world, everyone is from somewhere different. Diversity in schools help students learn more. Not only the curriculum, but also about different cultures, within the topic of discussion. If it works at Stanford, in Washington, and even at our home school BHMS, it can work anywhere else. In my opinion, to help spread diversity in schools we can promote it in various ways such as diversity day, where everyone dresses up in their traditional cultural clothes, and everyone will get to share about their different cultures.
That’s just one way, but one small change can lead to a world of others.
