A teaching thought each week
Thursday 14 December 2023
Every student is unique due to their individual backgrounds, personal experiences, inherent learning styles, and physiological differences. These factors create a tapestry of varied learning paces and preferences among students. As adults, it's imperative to approach this diversity with patience, understanding, and flexibility. We should cultivate an environment that fosters individual growth, offers personalized support, and celebrates each student's unique journey and accomplishments. By doing so, we can ensure that every student feels valued and empowered to reach their fullest potential.
Links to mini-workshops:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Educational Resources: a curated list of educational resources on various Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) topics.
Democratic and inclusive learning community: Information and teaching materials for teachers and principals, Council of Europe, 2021
McKinsey & Co., What is diversity, equity, and inclusion? August 17, 2022: Good article providing definitions of these key words.
International School Leader Magazine, articles on diversity, inclusion and equity.
The danger of a single story is a great TED Talk to provoke conversation around the single stories we all have.
What is otherness? This article provides a sociological definition of otherness and how it works in societies.
Diverse Educators: a rich source of resources, including some great blogs.
Equity Work: Too Much Talk, Too Little Action, by Jal Mehta, Harvard GSE, for NextGen Learning
Diversity, equality & inclusion across the curriculum. It is vital that our curriculum reflects the diversity of the world in which we all live. Following a series of Pearson webinars looking at diversity, equality, and inclusion across key subjects, this supplement distils some of the lessons, advice and tips for reviewing and updating our curriculum provision and looks at Pearson’s work in this crucial area
Diversity is being invited to the party: Inclusion is being asked to dance: In this video for the Women’s Leadership Forum, Vernā Myers explores the meaning of Diversity and Inclusion terms and the main barriers to building an inclusive workplace environment. Myers discusses the importance of recognizing one’s implicit biases as a potential hindrance to creating and cultivating inclusive spaces and interactions.What is the difference between diversity and inclusion and how would you define your work or school space with these terms in mind?What implicit biases exist in your school or workspace and how can you and your colleagues build inclusive spaces?
Blog—Read Anti racist, responsive leadership in international educationBlog—Read The groundwork for anti-racism: Deep individual and institutional reflection
Blog—Read Beyond 2020: Improving the values and actions of international education worldwide
Blog—Explore a wide range of information and guidance on the CIS Perspectives blog.
Article: Dzenana Kurtovic-Ceman, “If You Have a Problem, You Are the Problem”: A Day in the Life of an International School Student (July 2022), The International Educator. This excellent article is written by Dzenana Kurtovic Ceman who is an IB educator at the Vienna International School. . It raises some key questions such as: what type of identities we were cultivating in an international school setting? What is the dominant discourse in our school? How do we embed DEIJ into all elements of school life?
Article: Creating a diverse curriculum: A subject-by-subject approach, Stephen Whitney, 21 June 2021
Video—Watch and listen to Jane Larsson and Nunana Nyomi’s candid discussion about their different thoughts and feelings in the days that followed 25 May.
Webinar—Listen to two webinars on Anti-Racist Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Approaches in Schools and Universities that facilitate dialogue among leaders from our school and university communities who have undertaken this work. Find them in the webinar libraries in the CIS Community portal.
The Social Justice Standards are a road map for anti-bias education at every stage of K–12 instruction. Comprised of anchor standards and age-appropriate learning outcomes, the Standards provide a common language and organizational structure educators can use to guide curriculum development and make schools more just and equitable. Divided into four domains—identity, diversity, justice and action (IDJA)—the Standards recognize that, in today's diverse classrooms, students need knowledge and skills related to both prejudice reduction and collective action. Together, these domains represent a continuum of engagement in anti-bias, multicultural and social justice education.
Guide to Developing a Strategic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan, SHRM
