Stronger with diversity

Stephen Brookfield's text "The Skillful Teacher" addresses challenges he has seen in the classroom surrounding issues of diversity.

Reflecting on my own classroom, I definitely agree that harnessing that diversity is something we actually try to do, and it works!

By having the high school grad beside the returning BSc who wants to move into a different vein, both win. Their different ideas about studying, review, discussion perspectives makes the other richer from the vicarious learning they are immersed in.

Can group projects be slowed when a task focused student is partnered with others who also value maintenance functions in the groups health as a unit. Sure. especially when there are other factors diverging too, but that doesn't make it a bad change to the plan.

Single parents beside single students. Women, men. Primary English or ESL. Euro background versus Asian. Introvert, Extroverts. We don't often think about some of the more subtle ways we can boas, but you can bet without careful reflection we do!

The more we offer experiences to learn how to work dynamically, how to take what we know and mold it to still be satisfying (but also very different from the expected trajectory), the better.

This is life skills.

This is far beyond the bounds of the course material, but yes, it helps there too!

A Myers Briggs assessment (link in image below to right)

was discussed by Brookfield's, and is an activity I've found useful with students in their first term, to help better understand an aspect of their inner self, of how they tick, and for group discussion on these self reflections if they wish.