Building Better Citizens: How to Foster a Positive Conversation on Culture in the Classroom

Building Better Citizens:
How to Foster a Positive Conversation on
Culture in the Classroom

Stephen Menendian
Attorney and Senior Legal Research Associate,
Kirwan Institute
September 27 2010

Diversity in the United States

 2010 Population Estimates:
 40 million Latino
 35 million Black or African American
 16 million Asian
 5 million Muslim
 4 million Native American
 3 million Arab Americans
 The United States is richly diverse place.
 Melting Pot or Framed Mosaic?

2

Cultural Acceptance?

 28% of voters believe that Muslims should be ineligible to
sit on the Supreme Court

 31% of the country thinks that Muslims should be barred
from running for President

 Mosque Controversy

 Arizona’s Immigration Bill SB 1070

3

Hesitancy to Talk about Diversity

 Most people do not know how to talk about cultural diversity in
constructive ways. It’s even harder to manage constructive
conversations on diversity.
 Reasons for the hesitancy include:
 Fear of offending certain students
 Fear that the conversation will spiral out of control
 Fear of inter-group conflict
 Lack of experience
 Not sure what to say

 Teachers need to feel confidant that they can manage a
classroom discussion. There are techniques for doing this.

4

Diversity Talk is Important

 Now more than ever there is a critical need to talk about
diversity. The United States is soon to be a majority-
minority nation.

 Preparing students for economic self-reliance, as well as
civic life in 21st century America requires greater racial and
cultural fluency accompanied by diverse educational
experiences and exposure to diverse perspectives

 The educational benefits of diversity and exposure to
diverse viewpoints in a classroom setting have never been
more important

5

Diversity in the Workplace

 The workforce is becoming increasingly
diverse: almost two-thirds of entrants to the
civilian workforce in the last thirteen years
were women and racial minorities.
 However, unless students are culturally smart,
fluent and comfortable in diverse settings,
they will be unprepared for public and private
life.

6

Consider The Goals of Education

 Preparing Students for Citizenship
 US Supreme Court: “The objective of public education is the
inculcation of fundamental values necessary for the maintenance
of a democratic political system.”

 Employment

 Building Human Capacity (personal/social)

7

Benefits of Diversity

 Social: Racial and cultural fluency promotes cross-racial
friendships, increases comfort levels, helps break down
racial stereotypes, positively impacts attitudes towards
students of other racial groups.
 Educational: Exposure to racially diverse cultural knowledge
and social perspectives promotes development of critical
and complex thinking skills.
 Civic: Children with greater cultural fluency live and work in
more integrated settings, and have higher levels of civic
engagement.
 Particularly important during a student’s early years, when
his or her attitudes about and understanding of race are
not yet concretely shaped.
8

Thurgood

[U]nless our children begin
Marshall

to learn together, there is
little hope that our people
will ever learn to live
together.
- Milliken v. Bradley (1974)

9

The Logic of Diversity

Diversity of
Identity, Diverse Better
Beliefs, Perspectives Outcomes
Experiences

Source: Scott Page, “A Logic of Diversity II” (available online)
10

Benefits of Viewpoint Diversity

 Viewpoint diversity encourages better
outcomes
 More creative and high-quality solutions to
problems are generated when groups are
comprised of individuals with different vantage
points, skills, beliefs, or values.
 Heterogeneity promotes more critical strategy
analysis, creativity, innovation, and high quality
decisions.

11

Toolbox View

ABC ABD ACD AHK FD AEG

BCD ADE BCD EZ BCD IL

Alpha Group Diverse Group

12

Multidisciplinary View

Econ Econ Econ Math Hist Polisci

Econ Econ Econ Soc Econ Bio

Alpha Group Diverse Group

13

Logic of Diversity

 “Most of the time the diverse group outperforms the group
of the ‘most talented’ individuals by a substantial margin”

Whether in a laboratory or a democracy, diversity benefits
everyone

Source: Lu Hong and Scott Page, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2002)

14

Talking About Diversity Is
Important

 Diversity Talk is a critical avenue for allowing students to
encounter diverse viewpoints.

 However, numerical diversity is not enough.

 Students of diverse backgrounds sitting next to each other
does not, by itself, result in the benefits of viewpoint diversity
nor result in cultural fluency or break down racial stereotypes.

15

Achieving the Benefits of Viewpoint Diversity

 That requires moving beyond numbers
 Multicultural curricula: Students should be taught a
diverse curriculum including the histories, cultures and
contributions of all.
 Teacher Skill: Teachers must be able to manage classroom
discussion on diversity and race.
 Administrative Support: Schools should be comprised of
culturally competent, racially and linguistically diverse school
staff.

16

Techniques for Diversity Talk

 Explicit Ground Rules. Classrooms need safe,
supportive space for discussion.
 Use Food, Stories, Books or Film as Conversation
Starters and other ice breakers. Ice breakers are
an easier way to start the conversation. Takes
pressure off of the teacher to initiate and students
are empowered.
 Have Students Work together cooperatively. Use
mock conversation starters or problems to address
in a collaborative way. This will reduce potential
inter-group conflict.
17

Techniques for Race Talk

 Facts matter. Not all students will buy the facts,
but being armed with the facts helps enormously.
 Practice Outside the Classroom First. Being
comfortable talking about diversity is essential.
 Bring It Home.Use contexts or issues that
students are familiar with.
 Knowledge of Dominant Frames. Be aware of the
primary talking points and frames that people use
when thinking about race, ethnicity and culture,
and be prepared to respond.

18

Lesson Plan Ideas

 Ice Breaker for Middle School and High School Students:
Have the students each share a situation in which they
were a minority and felt different. This creates openness
in the classroom
 For Elementary Students: Divide the students by brown and
blue eye color. Suggest that, on average, the students
with blue eyes are smarter and more athletic. Then
interview the students and ask how they feel about it:
 Be sure to get parental approval for this exercise!

19

Discussion Ideas

 Incidents and Current Events: Most schools have race
“incidents.” A discussion of these incidents, when handled well,
can be a very constructive way to start a dialogue on race
because it directly affects students and they will likely have put
some thought into it. Current events can be used as well.
 Present the facts, such as the details of Arizona’s
immigration bill, and then let students discuss immigration.
 It would require the police “when practicable” to detain
people they reasonably suspected were in the country without
authorization.
 It would also allow the police to charge immigrants with a
state crime for not carrying immigration documents.
 “Does Arizona’s Immigration Law Encourage Racial
Profiling?”
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Discussion Idea

 What are areas in our school that can be more integrated?
[For example, the cafeteria, playground, etc.] How might
our school reflect our values better?
 Break the students up into groups to think about the
problem and come up with a list of ideas.
 Follow up by asking if there are other areas of the schools,
such as particular sports or classes that are diverse to raise
awareness to the issue.

21

Discussion Issue: Addressing
Prejudice

 Ask the students to raise their hands if they have heard
friends or acquaintances make prejudicial comments in
passing.
 Almost all should raise their hands if they are being honest.
 Now ask the class to keep their hands raised if they
confronted their friend on the comment.
 Then open the discussion (in a very non-judgmental way)
to ask why they don’t confront friends for making racist
comments.
 Suggest that the class come up with constructive ways to
question friends who make inappropriate remarks.

22

Discussion Ideas

 Use made-up comments that include racist or
racial undertones for classroom discussion:
 “I don’t know about you, but all Asian kids are
good at math and get good grades in math.”
 Present quote to the classroom and ask if this
quote is racist. How would it be interpreted by an
Asian or a non-Asian?
 Ask then students to raise their hand if they would
confront the person who said it.
 Suggest that the myth of the model minority
harms other minorities by diminishing support for
affirmative action. 23

Be Prepared to Respond and Manage a
Conversation

Mulsims aren’t real Americans. Islam is not consistent with
American values.

Aren’t there many Muslims that serve in our military, and have
sacrificed for this country?

I just wish immigrants would learn our language. If they come
here, they should be able to assimilate.

Diversity is one of our greatest strengths. Our nation is
a history of immigrants bringing their energy, ideas, and
innovative spirit.

24

Cultural Racism Frame

 Cultural racism is the culture frame: that blacks don’t value
education or that Latinos have too many babies, etc.
 No longer biological racism, but lack of ‘hygiene, family
disorganization, or lack of morality’ have replaced it.

I don’t think, you know, they’re all like that, but, I mean, it’s
just that if it wasn’t that way, why would there be so many
blacks living in the projects? You know, why would there be
so many poor blacks? If they worked hard, they could make it
just as high as anyone else you know. You know, I just think
that’s just, you know, they’re raised that way and they see
what their parents are like.

25

Incorporating Diversity

 Q: What if I have a homogenous student
population?
 A: There are many creative ways to expose
students to diversity

 Example- multicultural curriculum
 Teach social justice issues
 Place students and their experiences at the center of
the teaching and learning process
 Place learning in a context that is familiar to students
and that addresses multiple ways of thinking.
26

Discussing Diversity
 Q: What if I’m not comfortable discussing
diversity?
 A: Now is a great time to recognize this!
 Explore your comfort level discussing issues of
diversity
 Practice talking about these issues with others
 Seek help from an advisor, mentor, or supportive
organization
 Be open to learning from your students-remember no
one is an expert
 Examine your own assumptions, prejudices and
stereotypes
27

Resources
 Use movies, articles, activities to facilitate
discussions around stereotypes and prejudice
 Crash
 Skin Deep
 Tatum, Beverly Daniel. (2003). Why Are All the Black
Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? A Psychologist
Explains the Development of Racial Identity. New
York: Basic Books.

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Building Better Citizens: How to Foster a Positive Conversation on Culture in the Classroom

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