Comment: What does “productive diversity” mean? How can we create inclusive education?

Mary Kalantzis & Bill Cope write: “‘productive diversity,’ to make the differences work for us, in our civic, working and community lives—and in our schools.” (316, Kalantzis and Cope) To make differences work for us then, as opposed to denying or ignoring them. To allow humans to thrive and grow in their individuality rather than trying to fit everybody in the same cookie-cutter shapes, so that they would produce the same end result as everybody else. To create an environment, a culture even, of mutual curiosity and acceptance, a desire to understand the other rather than to fear, or condemn, or want to change them.

There are many layers to productive diversity for me.

For one, there is the simple principle of a diverse society working together towards a common goal. Of course, simple as the principle may seem, it obviously isn’t put into practice as easily. First and foremost it can most definitely be said that people as a whole lack a ‘common goal’, almost in every aspect of our lives. And I suppose that is a part of diversity - where so many different ideals and backgrounds converge, it isn’t easy to find a common ground upon which to build a joint foundation. I want to believe, however, that by making a change in our education systems we can work towards a future where this goal may be more likely, if it cannot be achieved at present.

I also see productive diversity as an environment in which diversity is nurtured, not as a feature that needs to be highlighted (due to a lack thereof up until now), but simply for the sake of its richness; for the sake of how much is to be gained from seeking to understand different perspectives.

I never grew as much as a human being until I moved to the USA to study music at an international college. One couldn’t help but be exposed to different thoughts, mentalities, principles, values... the list goes on. I suppose the more you were set in your ways, convinced that you ‘knew what was right’, the more painful the ensuing transformation might be. It’s not easy to come to terms with having to rethink what you held to be true.

But, I will say it gets easier. The more often you’ve done it, the more natural it feels to rethink and start over once again. Which is why I feel it’s important to introduce this exercise as early as possible, to a point where it may never even have to be painful but it becomes a natural habit from the start.

Drawing from that experience then, it seems imperative to me to bring students’ diversity, their life experiences and what they have been taught, to the forefront in the classroom. Again, not in a specifically highlighting kind of way, e.g. by discussing what these differences are, but rather by giving them the opportunity to present their influences and interests. I wholeheartedly agree with everything both Mary Kalantzis and Bill Cope said in their videos ‘The Responsibilities of Educators’ and ‘The Inclusive School’. I agree that giving students as much agency as possible in the development and design of their learning experience is vital and not only for the sake of creating a more inclusive classroom. I believe that the student as the primary designer of his or her own growth is the best way of ensuring the most successful learning experience, because it will create the most genuine sense of seeking in a student. Adding in the guidance of a teacher and the discourse and exchange with their peers will then create a much more wholesome learning experience than the traditional didactic methods used so far.

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Make an Update: Describe and analyze an inclusive education strategy.

After engaging with the topic of diversity and inclusivity in this course for the past weeks, I figured I had a relatively solid understanding of what ‘inclusive education’ might be. I was therefore somewhat surprised to find that the term had a very well-established but slightly different meaning in general literature. Of course, they’re related in as much a way as how common sense might suggest what ‘inclusive education’ is, but I was surprised to find that it primarily referred to minorities and particularly students with disabilities. When researching ‘inclusive education strategies’ therefore, most of them were very much focused on the idea of integrating different-abled students into the general classroom.

Nevertheless, I did find a relatively neutrally formulated article on the University of Washington’s website, which presented several inclusive teaching practices, one of which I will look into in more detail here. The five core practices they describe are:

• Designing your course with inclusivity in mind
• Maximizing the varied educational backgrounds and personal experiences of students
• Creating a respectful and productive learning environment
• Assessing inclusive teaching
• Reflecting on teaching practices to support professional growth

I will be focusing on the first practice, “Designing your course with inclusivity in mind”.

The article begins with the following disclaimer, which I found to be largely in alignment with what we had been discussing in this course:

“Inclusive teaching refers to practices that support meaningful and accessible learning for all students. The strategies covered on this page aim to recognize the diverse strengths students and instructors bring to class.[...]”

(www.washington.edu)

The focus on building on participants’ strengths, uncategorized or labeled in their diversity, is a very strong suit of all of the practices described and one of the reasons I found this to be one of the most satisfying findings I made while reading on the topic.

‘Designing your course with inclusivity in mind’ is the first principle and it has the potential to be quite superficial and almost ‘bland’ in its formulation.

I say this because I’ve been feeling that in order to create truly inclusive material - a learning experience that does not create a sense of ‘other’ in anybody - a lot of established materials may require editing, if not a complete overhaul. Knowing who has been designing school materials and curricula for the past decades, it seems obvious that some of the views would be biased. But even in less obvious ways, the level at which the West has been established as a standard, as a source of knowledge and ‘correctness’ for the past centuries and how this is reflected in almost all of the materials taught, is actually quite alarming. Obviously, to reevaluate everything to that degree would be a bit much, particularly for one teacher to attempt, but I was all the more gratified when I read the article’s suggestions as to how to go about ‘designing your course with inclusivity in mind’, which was not at all as superficial or bland as I’d feared.

First, there is this general statement:

“Including perspectives from groups traditionally absent from a field can provide a fuller and more accurate portrayal of an issue; it also communicates to students that multiple views are valued and engaged.”

(www.washington.edu)

I definitely feel my above-mentioned concerns mirrored here, and actually in a constructive and manageable form. Introducing a topic through several points of views is both beneficial in terms of teaching the material and creating a bigger picture as well as in establishing the practice of taking several perspectives into account, no matter what situation one is dealing with. Helping students develop this habit for themselves by modeling it in the classroom is vital in my opinion. Furthermore, ensuring that multiple views are being regarded with equal depth and earnestness, instills a value of appreciating other opinions and perspectives, which in turn could help create the environment of mutual curiosity and acceptance that I had mentioned early on in my comment.

Following the general statement then, is a line of questions to help a teacher achieve said inclusivity. They focus on the teacher questioning the traditional structures of a course and in what ways its content may have “obstructed, distorted, or excluded certain ideas or groups” (www.washington.edu, italics indicating changes for grammatical purposes) and what measures one could take to alter the course.

What I particularly appreciated, were some of the additional consideration questions that challenged the teacher to be mindful in their integration of the new material, “so that it [might] not simply [be] an ‘add-on’”.

Most of the above had much to do with creating inclusive content. The second point to “Designing your course with inclusivity in mind” was to ‘draw from universal design theories and practices’.

Universal Design (UD) is a concept closely connected to most ‘inclusive education’ discussions and is almost always mentioned as a strategy. As such, it was not surprising to find it here as well. I was gratified to see that they emphasized UD’s usefulness for all students, however, whether belonging to a traditionally excluded group or not.

An example they gave was to “include sharing examples of acceptable writing assignments for [one’s] class” for a writing assignment, which would help a wider range of students both understand and meet one’s expectations (e.g. non-native speakers, students unfamiliar with conventional writing standards, etc.). What I found compelling about this example was the fact that even students whom you would not necessarily categorize as ‘needing additional assistance’ would be able to benefit, which is why I feel quite strongly about universal design theories and practices being used in ‘traditional classrooms’ as well.

Their final point on “Designing your course with inclusivity in mind” was to ‘draw from the scholarly literature on inclusive teaching’. This admittedly feels somewhat obvious, though one should not underestimate obviousness I suppose and the pointer is quite helpful in that it links to various online resources, journals and books. I do also appreciate the encouragement for the teacher to truly engage with the material, the literature, and not just to attempt inclusive teaching based on some bullet points. It is obviously vital for research to be done before one decides to implement anything and in that way they are practicing what they preach, in a sense.

All in all, this described practice resonated with me completely and I encourage you to check out the rest of the article. The second practice - “Maximizing the varied educational backgrounds and personal experiences of students” - in particular, struck me as well, though all are very much worth reading and pondering.

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• Kalantzis, Mary and Bill Cope. 2016. "New Media and Productive Diversity in Learning." in Blickwechsel/Diversity: International Perspectives on Teacher Education, edited by S. Barsch. Münster, Germany: Waxmann.
• University of Washington, Center for Teaching and Learning - “Inclusive Teaching Strategies” https://www.washington.edu/teaching/topics/inclusive-teaching/inclusive-teaching-strategies/