Reflection on Current Events Article - Policies on Diversity in the Classroom
"Importance of Diversity in the Classroom" by Leah Smiley, June 5, 2017. Society for Diversity, Current Events in Diversity and Inclusion.
This article discusses the
benefits of having a diverse classroom and the difficulties that come with
trying to change policies around the country to accommodate that. “Having
diversity in the classroom not only helps children learn and think differently
but also prepares them for the real world and interacting with those of
different cultures in the workplace and in daily life.” Many people try to move to areas that are
within a good school district which often means it is a more expensive house
with higher taxes. This article speaks about the upset parents will have when
the schools change districting to pull students from different areas, which may
either push in other students out of the district or pull students into the
district who may not be achieving as much academically and may hinder the
school’s ranking.
In Eden Prairie, Minnesota the
district attempted to be more inclusive of the increasing immigrant population
to accommodate for the increasing number of Hispanic students. The superintendent
faced backlash when attempting to redraw the school boundaries and police officers
had to be present at each meeting due to the rising hostility. It took three
years for the boundaries to be approved and was still highly controversial, but
achievement has risen, and the achievement gap has shrunk due to the change.
Being able to understand that race, nationality and culture are all a part of
who we are and that we can learn from those differences.
This part, in particular, I can relate
to the most. I grew up in Great Neck, New York, where most people are middle to
upper class and diversity was lacking but the school district is one of the best
in the country. My neighborhood specifically is on the border between Great
Neck, which is in Nassau Country, and Flushing, which is in Queens. The
district in Queens was severely lacking in comparison to Great Neck in terms of
quality of schooling. As I grew up the rate of people immigrating from Korea
started to rise drastically in Queens and subsequently in Great Neck. I recall being
at the bus stop and seeing kids get off of the city buses and coming on to the
school bus with me. This became a huge problem that was highly controversial
and very difficult to handle. Most parents were upset as these people had found
a loophole to sneak into our school district even though they lived outside of
the bounds, either by providing a fake address or otherwise. These students also
did not reach the standard academically and lacked in English language skills
as they did not have the resources provided to them in Queens like they did in
Great Neck. The district started to hire private investigators to follow these
students and find where they lived but they did not have much success. In turn,
the district decided to broaden its boundaries which also came with a lot of
hostility and controversy. Now, more than ten years later, the school has gone
from over 80% Caucasian to over 60% Asian and the ranking and rate of
achievement is extremely high.
New policies which accommodate for
more choices and socioeconomic status are becoming more popular among the newer
generation of parents. Parents are beginning to see the benefits of educating
their children alongside children of different cultures and races. The article
states it best: “When whole classrooms, communities, and cities begin to
understand the importance of diversity and inclusion, our children have better
educations, we have better workplaces, and everyone benefits from it.”
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