Diversity
Heterosis As An Essential Condition
Drawn from the ideas of Darwin and Mendel, the term heterosis or, more commonly, hybrid vigor tells us that the more diverse a breeding population is, the greater the tendency of that population will be to produce robust offspring. I believe in the simple elegance of that idea and see it as an ideal for all disciplines. Education, therefore, should embrace diversity because it is of scientifically demonstrated benefit. Every day we walk into classrooms filled with a variety of students from varied backgrounds with different interests, life experiences, tacit knowledge, cultural norms, languages and belief systems. The skilled teacher facilitates experiences and activities for each individual that captures the wisdom of the collective. Her students must work together to form explicit knowledge which they will one day carry from that classroom into a future full of ever greater diversity. This is how progress is built.
If pressed, I would summarize the myriad gifts of diversity, as applied to a group, in a single word: opportunity. Diversity is not a problem or challenge to be dealt with or mitigated. Which is the way far too many school leaders and politicians speak about diversity. Diversity is actually a much desired trait that has always been present in every group. Denying diversity’s existence was simply easier when our students looked alike. If nurturing diversity and divergent thinking is not always easy for educators, it is primarily because the traditional, idealized model of the classroom has, for years, been homogeneous from the tip of the chalk right down to the synchronous activities performed in lockstep by all the students. Of course, this classroom has never truly existed and, only after a teacher frees herself from this idealized, homogeneous ballet of a classroom and embraces those differences can differentiation and true learning begin.
As I have moved through this academic experience at Kennesaw State University, it has been gratifying to see technological provisions for diversity addressed in each class. If I had to list five examples of addressing diversity as a core strength, that list would include:
The provisions above were not included as a strategy to merely “deal” with our diversity but as a legitimate attempt to exploit our diversity. For example, when searching for a way to allow a student who had difficulties with handwriting to turn in writing assignments, we elected to use voice typing within a Google Doc. This intervention was not intended to merely get that student close to the functional equivalent of other students, it was to allow that student to blossom as a writer and participate fully. This was the only way to insure that his important contributions to his classes were not lost. And this proactive strategy was also evident in the way we approached equitable access to technology with low-income students at McConnell Middle School. In our case, it was not that our low-income students lacked devices or internet access, it was the qualitative nature of their online experience due to a lack of a device suitable for production that we addressed by providing supplemental Chromebooks rather than tablets for each classroom. Finally, when we looked for a way to address ELL student needs with technology, we were sure to include Duolingo in an online class for faculty and staff so that they could both gain a rudimentary facility with another language and to show students that their teacher saw and valued the acquisition of another language.
If pressed, I would summarize the myriad gifts of diversity, as applied to a group, in a single word: opportunity. Diversity is not a problem or challenge to be dealt with or mitigated. Which is the way far too many school leaders and politicians speak about diversity. Diversity is actually a much desired trait that has always been present in every group. Denying diversity’s existence was simply easier when our students looked alike. If nurturing diversity and divergent thinking is not always easy for educators, it is primarily because the traditional, idealized model of the classroom has, for years, been homogeneous from the tip of the chalk right down to the synchronous activities performed in lockstep by all the students. Of course, this classroom has never truly existed and, only after a teacher frees herself from this idealized, homogeneous ballet of a classroom and embraces those differences can differentiation and true learning begin.
As I have moved through this academic experience at Kennesaw State University, it has been gratifying to see technological provisions for diversity addressed in each class. If I had to list five examples of addressing diversity as a core strength, that list would include:
- Working with a group of my special education teachers to help them look critically and evaluate various assistive and adaptive technologies for their students with disabilities.
- Working to insure that our low income students had, not only, equal access to technology, but that their experiences with that technology achieved parity with other students.
- Using a Google Classroom-based, staff development course to introduce both faculty and support staff to Google Translate for emergency translations and to Duoling to help them realize a goal of having a very rudimentary vocabulary in the second language of their choice by the end of this year.
- Creating a unit with our music technology teacher that allowed non-traditional band students a chance to enjoy making music and expressing themselves through sound.
- Creating a Webquest to help teachers begin to move from merely using technology to being able to support and troubleshoot that technology effectively.
- Instructing teachers in the use of Google Hangouts and Mystery Skype to bring diverse students in classrooms in other countries into their classroom.
The provisions above were not included as a strategy to merely “deal” with our diversity but as a legitimate attempt to exploit our diversity. For example, when searching for a way to allow a student who had difficulties with handwriting to turn in writing assignments, we elected to use voice typing within a Google Doc. This intervention was not intended to merely get that student close to the functional equivalent of other students, it was to allow that student to blossom as a writer and participate fully. This was the only way to insure that his important contributions to his classes were not lost. And this proactive strategy was also evident in the way we approached equitable access to technology with low-income students at McConnell Middle School. In our case, it was not that our low-income students lacked devices or internet access, it was the qualitative nature of their online experience due to a lack of a device suitable for production that we addressed by providing supplemental Chromebooks rather than tablets for each classroom. Finally, when we looked for a way to address ELL student needs with technology, we were sure to include Duolingo in an online class for faculty and staff so that they could both gain a rudimentary facility with another language and to show students that their teacher saw and valued the acquisition of another language.