The teaching profession 79% white. I know what it feels like to be the “first” or the “only” in various scenarios in districts that I worked in – except in my classroom.

With being the minority in my profession, I learned how to adapt and assimilate to work with the majority. But as I taught with my white teachers for over 10 years, I noticed one thing…they have been slow to adapt to their diverse classroom.

While it is not only me that has to adapt or assimilate to my profession, every single student of color has to learn to do so too- much like their ancestors or even as close as their parents. That is the trouble. This is generally part of the systemic racism that has been going on in this country for so long and it starts right within our school buildings.

When we think about our classroom being inclusive, we need to think about the differences that builds a classroom culture. Beyond cultural diversity, we need to think about identity, lifestyle, personality, voice, background, communication, morals, values, ethics, gender, race, status, and individuality. 

All of these things play a role in your classroom culture community, some are bound together with more than one diverse characteristic. What is clear, is that not all students are the same even if they come from the same perceived background.

As we move to get out of our own teaching comfort zone, we move to try to find empathy. This is the best way I feel diversity in the classroom can be reached, through empathy.

Teachers, we need to form an inquiry base process where we need to identify, analyze, and challenge our own bias, which many teachers don’t realize they have. In a sense, teachers need to be careful with the work and interactions they have with students because if teachers are unaware, they can make statements, or remarks, that can push students away rather than bring them closer.

Personal Perspective

Throughout my professional life, I had to live in two worlds. The world I have at home and the world I work in. I never let these two worlds collide, based on the fact that I am a teacher of color.

I feel the pressure, that if I reveal who I really am in a meeting, professional development or even the teacher’s lounge, I may be perceived as unintelligent, hostile, or that I get a pass because of the way I look. When I do share, I maintain clear speech, relatively quietly, and add my personal elements without sounding to demanding.

Through my observations at general staff meetings, or professional developments, I had to cringe multiple times when I heard, a middle-aged, middle income, multiple white female teachers use the term, “dope.” A slang term, meaning, “cool” derived from African American hip hop culture. I found these teachers trying to be funny, but also sounding very inauthentic. Are they trying to show empathy, or celebrate African American culture by using what is known as slang? Or are they trying to be “cool” because I know they don’t talk that way at home or with their friends which not one of them look like me.

If a student heard these two teachers talk like this, they might laugh, or they might get angry or confused. The thought of using a simple slang word like, “dope,” could come off as a negative interaction between a teacher and a student and proposed as cultural appropriation instead of cultural celebration.

Meanwhile, I’m teaching my Black and Brown students to not speak in slang because if we were to do this in the professional world, we will be look upon as unintelligent. We don’t have the privilege to use this language within our professional boundaries.

Building Equity in your Classroom

Thinking of diversity in the classroom, we know there are social differences. But what are some ways that we can appreciate and accommodate for all in our classrooms to maintain equity? We want students to all have an equal chance to achieve regardless of their background but how?

I found that we need to give informational resources in various forms to lead students out of their own comfort zones. Many students will gravitate to their own comfort areas. Just check your school cafeteria or recess playground. Students will separate themselves from where they are most comfortable.

When I have been the only teacher of color in my building, I would repeatedly have students of color gravitate toward me because they see someone reflective of them. Which also means someone they know understands or sympathizes with them. So even if a student of color doesn’t see themselves within their teacher, we need to show them we understand though and we can do this with our classroom and instructional practices. Here’s how:

Classroom Environment

  • Welcoming environment: the classroom is colorful, and the pictures on the walls, bulletin boards are engaging and inviting.
  • Student work is displayed.
  • Graphics, photos, and artwork represent the students being served all year round.
  • Culturally relevant books and instructional materials are present.
  • Arranges the room to accommodate discussion and facilitate student-student discussion; seeks to facilitate teacher-student discussion

Instructional Practices

  • Heterogeneous grouping of students
  • Considered the different cultural norms, and values present in the classroom through instruction
  • Peer tutoring occurs between students
  • The teacher uses a variety of instructional strategies to meet the different needs and learning style of students
  • Interactions with students focus on helping them develop behaviors to support learning and are not punitive.
  • Activities vary to allow the extrovert and introvert, the student fluent in academic English and the student learning to engage.

Final Thoughts

Every student comes to your classroom with a set of unique life experiences as well as you. So open sharing of your personal experiences and those of your students will help students learn to celebrate each other.

Our impact as teachers is a strong hold that can change the world. The impact starts at home but finishes in the classroom. Bring all students together is just the beginning, cultural and systemic organizational change must begin in your classroom.

What are some changes you will make in your classroom in 2020? Need virtual relationship building strategies check out this post.

*An excerpt of this post was from my eBook Reach More, Teach More.