1. The Blind Men and The Elephant
A Parable About Diversity

2. It was six men of Indostan To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind)
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"
Have participants feel from a sock full of things and write down what they think it is - save and discuss later.

3. What is Diversity?
The state of being different or diverse. When used to
describe people and population groups, diversity
encompasses such factors as:
Age
Gender
Race
Ethnicity
Ability
Religion
Education
Sexuality
Professional background
Marital status
Parental status Girl Scouts of the USA
Remark on education, marital and parental status and how these things are considered diversity, too.

4. What is Diversity?
Diversity refers to all of the characteristics that make individuals different from each other. LeadingEdition, Purdue University
Cultural Diversity: The mosaic of individuals and groups with varying backgrounds, experiences, styles, perceptions, values and beliefs.
Institute for Cultural Partnerships

5. Why is Diversity Important?
Consider the principle of ecology:
Diversity increases the viability of an
ecosystem and without it a system is
more susceptible to external attack such
as from a single predator, a particular
virus or a change in climate Global Winners, 1994
Ecological diversity is crucial to the survival of a species. Cultural diversity is the same. If all Americans thought and behaved the same then we would be much more vulnerable to attack by another country, i.e., it wouldn't take them long to figure out our weaknesses. Diversity is a barrier, a defense

6. Why is Diversity Education Important?
The world is constantly changing. Diversity requires adaptability, flexibility and global thinking – we are global citizens.
Global thinking is learning about and understanding systems and the way systems work together:
Self, family, school, community
State
Country
World
Helps mitigate conflict
Now, more than ever, we are global citizens. Global thinking requires an understanding of our systems and how they work together. Your systems are: list them and talk briefly about each. Diversity education also helps people understand each other better and potentially mitigate conflict.

7. The Second, feeling of the tusk, Cried, "Ho! what have we here?
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!“
The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"
sock

8. What is Global Citizenship?
We are all part of the larger, global system. Engaging as a productive citizen means developing knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to interact effectively.
Reflects interdependence
Requires knowing, understanding and managing our relationships with others (cultural awareness) And My World, University of Nebraska
What is interdependence and how are we interdependent:
agricultural
trade
oil
environment (global warming)
others?

9. Cultural Awareness Understand ourselves Understand similarities
Understand differences
Develop empathy
Learn to listen
Eliminate stereotypes, prejudice & discrimination
Adapt a willingness to change
Appreciate complexity, critical thinking

10. Understand Ourselves Who are you? Where do you come from?
What are your values?
Do your values reflect what you were told as a child?
Do your values reflect what you see on television, hear on the radio or read in the newspaper?
Are your values changeable?
Sometimes we become stuck in what we've learned as youth and don't ever question whether these things are what we believe, whether they're ethical.
Sometimes we read or hear things and accept them as fact, allowing ourselves to become emotionally charged. Are we thinking critically about these things? It's easier not to.
Are you open to change if you realize your thinking may be errant?

11. Understand Similarities
How are you the same as the person sitting next to you?
How are you the same as someone from California?
How are you the same as someone from India?
What is the “human condition?”
What makes us all part of the same species?

12. Understand Differences
How are you different from the person sitting next to you?
Difference is a variation on a theme, not a deviation from the norm Teaching Diversity, 1997
Your perspective is one of many
Cultural objectivity and subjectivity
Objectivity is what you see, hear, taste
Subjectivity is your experience of people’s values, beliefs, patterns of thinking
Difference doesn't have to be scary. "Normal" is relative and changes with generations. Today, it's considered normal for women to wear pants to work and out in public. In the early to mid 1900s, this was not only not normal, but appalling to some. So differences are not deviations as much as they are variations.
Your point of view is only one point of view. Even among your best friends, colleagues, your POV about how to wash your car may be different.
We have been objective learners of culture, i.e., for those who have travelled abroad, we learn about the food, the clothing etc. or, in school, kids learn about a culture's history, it's customs, but few of us learn about the values, beliefs, thinking of people from another culture - this is the subjective piece that's important.

13. Empathy & Listening Use active listening skills
Listen with an open mind
Develop the ability to “put yourself in someone else’s shoes” instead of relating events to your own experiences (sympathy)
Understanding and knowing is not the same as liking
Most of you know what active listening is, but it means really listening. Most people listen with 1/2 an ear with a response already formulated in their heads. In their eagerness to speak their POV, they don't really listen to what's being said and particularly, the nuances of what's being said, i.e., what's not being said.
Empathy is different than sympathy. Katrina is a good example. How many of you sympathetic as opposed to empathic? Most of us probably haven't experienced a natural disaster of that magnitude - did you shut them out because you really couldn't relate to what they were going through or did you empathize with the victims as fellow human beings suffering a tragedy?

14. The Fourth reached out an eager hand, And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he;
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"
The Fifth who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"
sock

15. Stereotyping
Stereotypes are perceptions based on mental images (personal experience) or on what others have told us (learned)
Implies rigid thinking
Not the same as categorizing or generalizing
Discrimination occurs because of it
What are some of your stereotypes?
We stereotype based on past experiences with a particular person or group of people or we stereotype based on what someone has told us - we don't bother to question it ourselves.
It is not the same as generalizing or categorizing - these things are useful and helpful, like the census or the way physicians dx people. It's when we attach labels or make assumptions that we begin to stereotype (use mental health example).

16. Thought Processes Think in gray rather than black & white
Engage in critical thinking
seek evidence
closely examine assumptions
analyze concepts
trace implications of what is said & done
“Only thinking that is comprehensive, well- reasoned and responsive to objections can take us beyond the surface.” The Critical Thinking Community
Critical thinking does not mean rejection of established beliefs, only questioning those ideas that lack reasonable evidence

17. Why Worry About Diversity?
Diversity training helps with conflict mediation
Contributions – different people bring different ideas
Enhanced communication skills
Better understanding of self and changed self-perception A Globally Focused Extension Service
Kids are learning it even if you don’t think it’s important
If we do worry about diversity, we may learn something new, we may grow as human beings and we will be able to help our children understand how to fit into the world more readily, after all, they are learning about it everyday through the media - internet, television, radio - even if you live in a rural place and expect to shelter them against it.

18. The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope, Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope, "I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right
And all were in the wrong!
sock

19. This poem is a newer version of an ancient Indian tale
Moral:
So oft in theologic wars, The disputants, I ween, Rail on in utter ignorance Of what each other mean, And prate about an Elephant Not one of them has seen!
-John Godfrey Saxe
This poem is a newer version of an ancient Indian tale

20. References
Andrews, M., A globally focused extension service. Michigan State University.
Andrews, M., The Interface between International and Multicultural: Findings
from the literature. Michigan State University.
And My World curriculum, University of Nebraska
Gallos, J.V., & Ramsey, V. J. (1997). Teaching Diversity. San Franciscof, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Drum, J., Hughes, S., & Otero, G. (1994). Global winners. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.
Kohls, L. R., & Knight, J. (1994). Developing intercultural awareness: A cross
cultural training handbook (2nd ed.). Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.
Lamy, S., (1982). Teaching about ethnic conflict: Global issues. Colorado: University of Denver.
Morita, Y., (1994). Diversity awareness training guide. Oakland: University of California.
Seelye, H. N. (1996). Experiential activities for intercultural learning. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.
Smith, G., & Otero, G., (1989). Teaching about cultural awareness. Colorado: University of Denver.
Stringer, D., & Cassiday, P., (2003). 52 activities for exploring values
differences. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.
The Critical Thinking Community at