Transcript Education - University at Buffalo`s School of Engineering and

Diversity & Equity Today
Defining and Meeting the Challenge
Heather Broderick
Will Carter
Paula Listrani
Robin Sullivan
Introduction:
• Inequity and Inequality
– Equity-“fair”
– Equality-“equal”
• American society has
historically struggled with
the questions of equity
and equality
Liberal Ideology:
Meritocracy Reexamined
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New Debate
Origins of inequality
“GI Bill”
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Michael Harrington’s 1962 bestseller,
The Other America
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and
urban riots that followed his murder
The Coleman Report
• Survey by James Coleman
– “concerning lack of availability of equal
educational opportunity for individuals
by reason of race, color, religion, or
national origin.”
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Initiated new debate on equity
Summary of findings
Flaws in Coleman Report
The Cultural Deprivation studies
The Political-Economic Context
• Demographics of
modern American society
• Race, ethnicity, and the
limits of language
• Ethnicity, income, wealth
• Ethnicity and employment
• Ethnicity and family
• Statistics
Gender
• Gender and employment
– “Glass-ceiling”
– Increase role of women as
professionals.
• Gender and income
– Do women make the same income as
men in the same profession?
• Gender and living situation
– Implications for working mothers
– Family Medical Leave Act (1993)
Socioeconomic Class
• Class and income
–
Designating class by
income bracket
• Class and power
– Thomas Dye’s research findings
–
“Power-elite”
Education: Ethnicity,
Gender, and Class
• How does membership
in ethnic, economic,
social class, gender,
and handicapping
conditions
influence how
individuals learn
and the equality
of education?
Education: Ethnicity,
Gender, and Class
• Race, ethnicity, and education
• Socioeconomic class
and education
• Equity, education, and
handicapping conditions
• Gender and education
& societal definitions of gender
Race, Ethnicity,
and Education
Are there fundamental differences
in the way African-Americans,
white, Indian, Latino, or
Asian children experience
the institution of schooling?
Race, Ethnicity,
and Education
• Statistical information among
racial and ethnic groups
• Language barriers:
Asians & Hispanics
• Desegregation:
Was it successful?
Race, Ethnicity,
and Education
• Progress in
formal education
• Today, most if not all
educators believe
that high-school
graduation rate
of 86% is no
longer satisfactory
90%
80%
70%
60%
High
50%
School
40%
college
30%
20%
10%
0%
1900 1940 1991
Race, Ethnicity,
and Education
• Subdivision among racial groups
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Whites
African
Amer.
High School
Other
College
Socioeconomic Class
and Education
• Are there fundamental
differences between
the experiences of
the rich and poor?
Socioeconomic Class
and Education
• Thomas Toch
Discussion Topic:
Do you think that the school districts in the
suburbs and the city is modern day segregation?
Consider:
 Teacher’s attitudes
 Parents attitudes
 School facilities & resources
Equity, Education, and
Handicapping Conditions
• Do Schools provide
equitable treatment to
students who are judged to
have physical disabilities,
psychological disabilities or
handicapping conditions?
Equity, Education, and
Handicapping Conditions
• Labeled individuals
• Education for All Handicapped
Children Act ( EHA)
• Implications
Discussion Topic:
What is the problem with
identifying students with a
handicap condition?
Gender and Education &
Societal Definitions of Gender
Are there fundamental differences
between the experiences of
male and female?
Gender and Education &
Societal Definitions of Gender
• Gender stereotypes
• Gender vs. Sex
• Social expectations &
gender roles begin at birth
• Sex roles in early education
• Gender bias in secondary schools
Gender and Education
& Societal Definitions
of Gender
• Women’s Educational
Equity Act (1972)
• Implications
- Advances in gender equality
- Gender equality today
Does Social Inequality
Necessarily Determine
Educational Outcomes?
• Individuals succeed or fail due
to their native abilities and
applied efforts, but also on the
basis of their membership in
one or more ethnic, gender,
or economic groups.
Jane Elliot's Experiment
• Taught students what prejudice
and discrimination were
• Blue-eyed vs. brown
and green-eyed children
• Students realized how a
feeling of inferiority can be
destructive and how it can
destroy motivation
Theories of Social Inequality
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Genetic Inferiority Theory
Cultural Deficit Theory
Critical Theory
Cultural Difference Theory
Cultural Subordination Theory
Resistance Theory
Bilingual and ESL
Instruction as Bridges
to English Proficiency
• LEP students have sufficient difficulty
speaking, reading, writing, or
understanding the English language
• The U.S. Dept. of Ed. Identified
over 2.1 million public school
students in the U.S. as LEP
• Of all schools with LEP students, 76%
provide programs in ESL, while 36%
offer bilingual education programs
BEV Language and
Cultural Subordination
• A child who says, "They be mine" is
speaking a dialect known as Black
English Vernacular (BEV)
• There is a mismatch between
African-American culture and the
dominant Anglo culture of America
• The language one speaks is not
biologically determined, but a
function of one's cultural background
Pedagogical
Approaches to Pluralism
• Ignore differences
• Eliminate differences
• Sensitivity to differences
– Uses cultural resources as a bridge
Examining Gender Theory
as an Illustration of
Sensitivity to Difference
• 1st phase
– “gender-free” approach
• 2nd phase
– equalizing gender differences
• 3rd phase
– looking for ways to overcome
differences, and differences are
recognized and respected
Examples of Culturally
Relevant Pedagogy
(Grant & Ladson-Billings)
• A culturally relevant educator’s
conception of themselves and others
•All students are
of academic
success
• Conceptions
ofcapable
social
relations
•Pedagogy as an art
•Fluid student-teacher relationships
•See themselves as members of the community
•Demonstrate connectedness with all students
•Teaching
as a way is
to not
givestatic_it
back toisthe
community
•Knowledge
shared,
•Develop
a community
of learners
recycled,
reconstructed
•Freirean
notion and
of “teaching
as mining” or pulling
•Encourage
students
to
learn
collaboratively
knowledge
out,
not
putting
it
in
•Knowledge
mustfor
beeach
viewed
critically
and
be responsible
other
• Conceptions of knowledge
•Be passionate about knowledge learning
•Assessment must be multifaceted,
incorporating multiple forms of excellence
Assimilationist & Pluralistic
Approaches to Achieving a
Pluralistic Education
(Sleeter & Grant)
• Teaching the exceptional
& culturally different
• Human relations
• Single-group studies
• Multicultural education
• Multicultural and social
reconstructionist education
What can be done?
(Sleeter & Grant)
• Reflect and celebrate diversity
• Curriculum should regularly
include contributions of
diverse groups
• Curriculum equally
accessible to all groups
• Build on students’ learning styles
• Use cooperative learning
What can be done?
(Sleeter & Grant)
• Develop positive
self-concept in all students
• Evaluation should be used for
improving instruction not sorting
• Develop home/community
relations
• Extracurricular activities
should not perpetuate race
and sex stereotypes
Teachers who have been
successful with high-poverty
children were found to:
(Knapp)
• Maintain classroom order
• Respond effectively to diverse
cultural backgrounds
• Teach for meaning
Diversity, Equity,
and Special Education
• Ongoing debate since 1960
• Labeling raises equity issues
• The Education for All
Handicapped Students Act (1975)
• Labels say more about the
system than about students
Political Economy
Social inequalities
Diversity across and within groups
Inequalities in employment and pay
Effects of poverty and racism on families
Income vs. wealth differences
Ed. For All Handicapped Children Act
Language and dialect difference
Schooling
Achievement testing
Advanced placement tests
SAT & ACT exams
Antiracist education
Culturally responsive pedagogy
Bilingual education
ESL instruction
Multicultural education
Inclusion of all children
Ideology
Equal opportunity for all
Meritocracy
Genetic deficit theory
Cultural deficit theory
Racism/Sexism
Disability bias
Social construction of which
human differences matter
Analytic
Framework
Conclusion
• Teachers must devise an
environment that will support
students with very different
skill levels and interests
Links to Internet Resources:
Recognizing and Celebrating Diversity
• Equity resources on the web
• Diversity lesson plans
• Multicultural lesson plans
• Inclusion: how to teach everyone
• Students with special needs
• Gender equity in education
• Gender equity resources:
girls in science, math, engineering and technology
That’s All Folks!