JMHS Advisory – Diversity Lesson Grade 11

Diversity in the School Community Presenters Deloris Rhodes Audrey Toney, Ed.D. University of North Carolina, Wilmington April 24, 2010 This presentation has been modified by the JMHS School Counseling Office.

My Perceptual Lens What do you see? Students may see a man’s face, or they may see a person walking in front of a building.

My Perceptual Lens What do you see? Students may see a baby, or they may see a romantic scene.

My Perceptual Lens What do you see? Students may see a frog, or they may see a horse head.

Perceptual Lens One’s perceptual lens is how they perceive patterns and meanings as they interact with the world. One’s perceptual lens begins to form at birth, and it continues to change throughout a person’s lifetime. Our perceptual lens contributes to our views on diversity.

Our world is diverse! Our society is becoming more and more diverse. America is filled with different cultures, religions, races, philosophies, etc. Our world is becoming smaller each day, and some people are reluctant to accept these changes. In general, humans resist change. What prevents people from seeing, accepting and understanding new and/or different ideas? Class discussion may be warranted here.

Paradigm A paradigm is a set of rules & regulations that establish boundaries and tells you how to be successful within the boundaries. Joel Arthur Barker Future Edge

Paradigm Paradigms act as filters. Things that agree with your paradigm, you accept. Things that disagree with it you reject, ignore or distort to fit your existing paradigm. Paradigms dramatically affect our judgment and decision-making by influencing our perceptions.

Activity One I need a volunteer for this activity. Directions: On the next slide, don’t read the words, say the colors quickly in which they are printed.

Although we see both the color and the meaning of each word, experience has taught us to pay more attention to the meaning. James R. Stroop called this the “interference effect.”

Why Should We Learn About Diversity Diversity can enrich your life, your world and our school. Understanding and appreciating differences help: Individuals gain new insights and outlooks while enjoying new relationships. Communities tap the varied talents of their members to help meet common goals. Groups of every size-from classrooms to corporations–when uniqueness is respected, morale and productivity improve.

Dimensions of Diversity Like trees in a vast forest, humans come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. We share important dimensions of humankind with all members of the species. Biological and environmental differences separate and distinguish us as individuals and groups. A vast array of physical and cultural differences constitute the spectrum of human diversity. The various dimensions of diversity help shape our basic self-image and our fundamental world-view.

Primary Dimensions of Diversity Age Race Ethnicity Heritage Gender Physical abilities/qualities Sexual/affection orientation Mental abilities/characteristics

Secondary Dimensions of Diversity Education Communication style Work background Work style Income Marital status Military experience Religious beliefs Geographic location Parental status

Activity Two – Self-Assess Complete the Cultural Diversity Self-Assessment. We will review the scores when everyone has finished. You will not be required to report your score to the class. These will be placed in your Advisory folders.

Self-Assessment Scores 0 to 39 Points: UNAWARE 40 to 69 Points: TRADITIONAL 70 to 99 Points: NEUTRAL   100 to 129 Points: CHANGE AGENT   130 to 160 Points: REBEL Review your handout for score explanations.

Self-Assessment Discussion Do you believe your score is accurate? What causes us to have some of these beliefs? What can we do to change ourselves, and our school, for the better regarding the acceptance of diversity?

What Have You Heard? Take 3 minutes to write down three myths, stereotypes or uneducated comments you have heard at our school regarding diversity? Let’s make a list of 5 things the class has heard on the board. Keep your shares as clean as possible, please. What do some of these comments represent? Are they true? Where did they come from? How would these statements impact how we treat certain people?

Activity Three – On Your Own How aware are you about yourself and others based on age, race, gender, etc. ? To explore, complete one of the Implicit Association Tests at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/takeatest.html in your spare time. The tests are very interesting, and the results may surprise you. Activity three will not be completed in Advisory. It is an extension activity for the lesson.

What we know. There are differences between and among groups of people. Race is a socially constructed attribute that is a social phenomenon. Racism is a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human racial groups determine cultural or individual achievement (www.dictionary.com) Thus, the permanence of racism in our social reality means we have a personal responsibility to understand racism and work against its effects on our interpretations, our identities and how they play out in our lives.

Activity Four I will handout an activity sheet now. This handout will be placed in your Advisory folder. Reflect and identify a paradigm that you currently hold that will be problematic for you in working with individuals that are different from you. What strategies can you use to adjust the identified paradigm to work effectively in a multicultural setting?

Mavericks Think Globally! Mavericks are Accepting! Be A Maverick!