Diversity in the Classroom: Assimilating Differences Among Adult Learners and Gifted Students<
The Webster’s definition for diversity is quite simple: the condition of being different or having differences. It is only the manner in which we have come to use the word diversity today that ascribes to it a preoccupation with how to incorporate a multitude of differences into the classroom. Perhaps it is preferable to accept diversity as inherent in any group of more than one and to emphasize first our similarities so that differences are merely assimilated in the normal course of life.
When the diversity issue first came to the fore, the word applied mainly to race, nationality, culture, or gender. Now other factors are included: religion, ethnicity, age, cultural background, socioeconomic conditions, education, values, and so on. As more and more differences are applied to the word diversity, the simplicity of universal similarities begins to crumble under the weight of them.
With this more complex situation looming larger in the classroom today, it is the task of each teacher, instructor, or professor to simplify the word diversity for both young and adult learners. The ability to acknowledge and incorporate individual diversity within the context of each subject being taught will prepare students well for the interconnectedness of our increasingly global society.
Dr. Ellen Fiedler holds some profound yet common-sense observations on the subject. "The diversity in each class needs to be honored and appreciated," Fiedler says. "I am learning as much from them as they learn from me. It's like a mosaic of all of our ideas."
Fiedler, who holds a doctorate in counseling, teaches graduates who are pursuing a Master of Arts degree in gifted education at Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago. Her students' ages range from the 20s to the 60s. "Most are practicing educators, but occasionally there is someone from business or industry who has decided they want to teach, or an occasional parent coming back to school."
Because the feelings, sensitivities, and observations of the gifted child are heightened and intense, Fiedler agrees that a cross section of a group of gifted children can serve as a microcosm for a cross section of adult learners. Diversity is inherent in either group.
One exercise that Fiedler takes her graduate students through helps them to identify gifted children they know. She asks them to write a thumbnail sketch of the known attributes of the "obvious" gifted child and another sketch of the "suspected" gifted child, "the one that untypically fades into the woodwork, gazes out the window or is the obnoxious class clown, but who all have these flashes of insights reflecting a depth of feeling." The graduate students compare their sketches to see if patterns emerge.
"The obvious gifted child always fits the list of traits while the suspected one only occasionally fits, but where there is a fit, they display it with greater intensity," Fiedler says. "That's how we can look at adult learners, too. We need to respect and appreciate the gifts and talents of every individual. That's not to say that we need to treat every individual alike," Fiedler cautions. She offers the analogy of the mou-mou dress of the 70s. "It may have been comfortable, but it did not do justice to any of us. In the same manner, it may be comfortable to treat all students alike, but that doesn't do justice to them or even the professors," she says.
Much depends on the ability of the instructor, professor, or teacher to recognize his or her own values, prejudices, or biases. Regarding the gifted education program at NEIU, Fiedler says, "We help teachers deal with their own feelings about diversity so they can help the children."
In her personal life, Fiedler has entertained a broad diversity of occupations, interests, and foreign travel that feed into her inherent understanding of the importance of individual differences to the big picture. This understanding creates the foundation of her teaching. "The main thing is to teach in ways that are open-ended so that people bring their prior experiences to the situation," Fiedler says.
With the term "open-ended," Fiedler intends that "every individual response is based on the student's point of view and experience to that moment in time. What they bring to it is unique—different from every other experience. I describe myself as their tour guide. We have the experience of going on a journey together. I am like someone who has taken the trip before and can point out places to visit that are worth paying attention to," Fiedler says. "Open-ended teaching really allows each to bring their own gifts and talents so every individual can fly as high as they are capable of doing."
The matter of honoring differences extends for Fiedler to the debate of college versus no college. She does not agree with the premise that every child in elementary school must be prepared to go to college. "That denigrates the value of diversity of occupation," she says. "That says we are still locked into one-right-answer education. There are other paths that are right for the right people. It is a matter of each one knowing what their own needs are." Fiedler explains further, "My mechanic's ability to diagnose a problem with my aging Jeep is no less important than my ability to teach a graduate course. He has knowledge, skill and competence I can trust. Why don't we value people for who they are?"
"In gifted education we have a saying: ‘The teacher of the gifted student needs to learn to be the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage.’ I suspect that is true of all teaching—being a facilitator, not a dispenser, of knowledge."
Some practical ways Fiedler levels the differences include: "I won't ask the graduate students to do anything I won't do myself.” "I tell them my name is Dr. Ellen Fiedler, but I prefer to have them call me Ellen." "I arrange the classroom in a circle. I'm part of the circle. I see us as a circle of learners. We are all learning. That's the diversity of the classroom experience."
Fiedler sums it all up this way: "It is perhaps the paradox of celebrating diversity and responding to that while simultaneously seeing the greater unity that comes from the combination of our multiple perspectives. The richness of individual differences combine to give us a tapestry of incredible beauty. Neither the individual threads nor the big picture are more important."
Web Sites:
http://www.uga.berkeley.edu/sled/bgd/diversity.html
http://www.unc.edu/depts/ctl/tfitoc.html
http://www.diversityweb.org
http://www.ericacve.org/docs/adt-lrng.htm
