The Diversity of Diversity Instruction: The What, Why, and How of Teaching and Learning about Diversity

In the 2005 APSA Teaching and Learning Conference's Diversity Track, some 30 participants representing a wide range of colleges and universities came together to discuss issues related to teaching and learning about diversity. Diversity-focused pedagogy recognizes commonalities of individual and group experience defined by race, gender, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, age, and ability, but it touches much broader circles. One of the most important aspects of the track was the diversity of its participants—not usually one of the discipline's strong points. The wide range of backgrounds and experiences reflected by the track's participants highlighted the value of diversity to the profession, as well as the fact that political scientists carry different burdens at a wide range of institutions. Participants in this track found that our senses of what defines diversity, the importance of teaching about diversity, and what teaching techniques effectively illustrate diversity were, well, diverse.

Most of the presentations and discussions fell into at least one of three areas—the what, why, and how of teaching and learning about diversity. First, we recognized the importance of identifying what diversity is, and noted the diversity of “diversity.” The track encompassed issues regarding traditional diversity of race, gender, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, age, and ability (Hall 2005), and appreciation for the fact that better government and policy usually means bringing more, not fewer, people and ideas to the table. The track's presentations also crossed into issues of diversity of learning styles and teaching techniques. Students, we recognized, may be more prone to learn when the information is presented to them in different and creative ways (McEwan 2005). We also noted that students from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds may learn in different ways. One paper discussed differences in the learning styles of male and female political science students (Pappas 2005). Teaching techniques utilized by track participants in their classrooms range from lectures to group exercises to the use of technology or even literature. Teaching also can occur outside the classroom in the form of mentoring (Cobane 2005). The idea of what diversity is, and where its value lies, is evolving, and this track covered many issues not traditionally associated with it.

Second, a number of our conversations revolved around answering the question why—that is, why teach diversity? We recognized that creating respect for diversity can be an effective teaching method as well as an important teaching outcome. If diversity is respected in the classroom, all students will have a better and more effective learning experience. That positive classroom experience may help meet the broader institutional goal of attracting and retaining a diverse student body. Some of the common themes in support of teaching diversity included developing tolerance (Holland 2005); teaching central political science concepts such as citizenship, participation, rights and liberties, social justice, and power relationships; understanding democratic values; creating empathy; addressing changing demographics; globalization; connecting with students; improving learning environments (Chadwick 2005); raising self-esteem; increasing student retention; raising awareness among homogenous populations; and creating a sense of community. Most political science programs state as a goal that students should learn how power is used in the United States and abroad. Approaching diversity issues as a means of deconstructing power relationships directly helps us meet our teaching objectives.

We also discussed the connections between university environs and the “real world.” Students' experiences with diversity in the classroom, both in terms of exposure to difference and to new ideas, build the tolerance and critical thinking skills necessary for students to become flexible and productive workers, citizens, and leaders—a diversity rationale recently recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court (Light and Rand 2005). Within the discipline, literature on citizenship and fostering civic engagement also recognizes the importance of respect for diversity as an important building block.

Finally, the majority of our focus addressed the question of how: first, how should we teach diversity, and second, how can we make it both valuable and valued? We concluded that a diverse range of teaching techniques would best encourage students to understand topics related to diverse populations (McEwan 2005). Participants discussed and presented non-traditional instructional tools, such as novels and other texts (Pappas 2005; Leaman 2005), hip-hop music videos (Boryczka 2005), documentaries and role-play exercises (Light and Rand 2005), and peer instruction (Bixby and Ortiz 2005; Chadwick 2005). We discussed the need for more models in this area, and examined various ways of connecting critical perspectives to mainstream theories and discourse in political science. We also evaluated available approaches to achieving our goals. For example, should marginalized topics—which some students might perceive as controversial or offensive and which may provoke defensive or even hostile reactions—be addressed head-on or through the back door? Holland (2005) and Pappas (2005) found that a direct approach had a deleterious effect on creating respect for diversity as compared to more subtle approaches. We also explored opportunities to integrate diversity throughout the curriculum, thus avoiding the “after-thought” or “add-and-stir” approach. We searched for ways in which we could create diversity topics that would be valued by both students and department and university administrators. Many of these teaching devices hinge on altering the dynamics of power in the classroom, which may be uncomfortable to many professors used to a more traditional approach. We explored the idea that a “stand and deliver” mode of teaching is not likely to be as sensitive to diversity issues as is using groupwork, class discussions, and other creative methods to actively involve students in the learning process.

We repeatedly recognized that those who make the most efforts to reach beyond the traditional political science curriculum face the greatest challenges, and if students do not understand and value the teaching of new and different viewpoints and experiences, this may be reflected in lower student evaluation scores (Holland 2005). Departmental chairs or tenure and promotion committees may not understand or value the risks taken by a professor in the classroom. At the same time, even if diversity is valued by an institution, there may be an implicit assumption that certain topics “naturally” will be covered by those who “know it best.” Faculty who obviously seem to be members of minority groups not only are expected to teach about their diverse population (even if that is not within their training), but they also face an additional burden of counseling, advising, and mentoring students who seek their guidance. Appointment to university-wide committees on the basis of race, gender, or other “differences” is also likely as university administrations seek more diverse representation. We recognized, therefore, that those who teach diversity should search to find allies among their peers in order to relieve some of the burden that is often carried by “diverse” faculty.

As a group we recognized that the concept of diversity itself is constantly changing, and perhaps the most important job of a teacher is to examine her own assumptions. A good teacher knows that students are not monolithic—that they come to the classroom with different abilities, talents, and experiences. The best teachers reach the most students, helping them realize their individual potential, which often means using multiple teaching styles within one classroom environment. It isn't always easy to do so, but we must always keep in mind that there is no such thing as the perfect course or the perfect pedagogical method, and therefore we should be open to new ideas and methods of getting our message across to our students. Indeed, this is one way of modeling the value of different ideas and perspectives for our students.

Political science by no means is the only academic field examining and discussing issues related to teaching and learning about diversity. Rather than reinvent the wheel, we seek guidance from the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence's Five Standards for Effective Pedagogy to answer the question of “how” to teach diversity (http://www.crede.org/). These standards, which were developed with best practices in mind, are:

Political scientists are not monolithic, either as scholars or as teachers. Our discussions reflected that reality. One of our participants made the point that a lot of what we were doing could be described as what political scientist Ruth Lane calls “exploring the wider shores of politics.”

Future Steps

The group suggested the following concrete steps to assist professors in the area of teaching diversity:

At the end of our three days together we had developed a sense that there was a community out there for those of us who sometimes felt isolated or marginalized for our attempts to address the various aspects of diversity. We all left with renewed energy for teaching and learning about diversity, along with some concrete teaching methods and assignments, a better understanding of the diversity of diversity, an appreciation for hip-hop music, and more questions than answers.