by Roel Snieder
In the movie “Our souls at night”, Louis is an elderly widower. One night, his neighbor Addie, who is a widow, comes over with a question that she asks with trepidation. Her nights are long and lonely, and she asks Louis if he wants to come over to sleep with her. She makes it clear this is not about sex, she is looking for companionship. Louis thinks about it for a day, and then they get into the habit of sleeping together in Addie’s place. Louis and Addie live in a small town, and the gossip starts soon.
Louis regularly meets with a group of friends over coffee who know each other for a long time. One day as Louis joins his friends for coffee, they start making “jokes” about Louis staying over with Addie. None of them notices how their “jokes” cut through Louis’ soul. Louis does not know how to speak up, and he gets up and leaves without saying a word.
The scene is hard to watch, and the most striking aspect of it is that not one of the friends in the group speaks up to stop the joking. The men are all white and of a similar age, they revel in the same type of “jokes”, and the collective behavior of the group trumps speaking up for a friend who clearly is hurt by the group. How would the group have acted if there would be people at the table who were different, perhaps by their gender, age, or by their views of what friendship and relations could look like? The sameness of the group of friends—the old boy network—makes them lock into a stereotypic behavior that hurts somebody.
Countering a dominance of sameness is the driver for diversity and inclusion. An overview of research in the Harvard Business Review cites studies that show that diverse teams are more effective for several different reasons:
- Diverse teams focus more on facts. (In the movie, the friends of Louis know nothing about his relation with Addie, and they don’t even bother to ask. As a result, they are oblivious of the loneliness of Louis and Addie.)
- Diverse teams process facts more carefully. (The friends of Louis don’t really process the facts; they blindly follow the rumors that go around in town.)
- Diverse teams are more innovative. (Louis’ friends respond in only one way: by make off-color “jokes”, and they continue doing this despite the pained look on the face of Louis.)
But apart from the fact that diverse teams are more productive, there is another reason for making diversity and inclusion a priority: making sure that everybody is seen and heard regardless of gender, race, ethnic background, age, religion, or sexual orientation is the right thing to do. And as diversity enriches business success, diversity is something to celebrate because it enriches the human experience.
How can you celebrate diversity and inclusion in the classroom? Here are some suggestions.
Make students reflect on their conscious and unconscious biases. Celebrating diversity sounds great, but in practice biases can come in the way. These biases can be conscious, or they can be unconscious. Conscious bias is a problem because we are aware of our bias but are apparently not willing or able to let go of it. Exposing students to studies that show that diverse teams are more effective, and encouraging students to reflect on whether their biases are grounded in facts can help students release a conscious bias that they may hold. Unconscious bias is an even thornier problem because it is a driver for behavior that we are not aware of. Telling stories of situations where we discovered an unconscious bias can help students reflect of their biases. (I have an embarrassing story of a bias that I carried that came up when undergoing oral surgery that gave me much stress, and I tell that story sometimes in class.)
Make sure that everybody is heard. In the classroom, some students are extroverted and vocal while others are more withdrawn. Some students may not give space to others, and this may be related to gender or other group stereotypes. Speak to students of the importance that everybody is heard and seen, not only because most of us want to be heard and seen, but also because we can learn from different perspectives. Breaking up a class in small groups helps those that are normally quiet to speak up. It helps to circulate as a teacher among the groups and provide feedback on how inclusive the groups are. Some of that feedback may be best given privately. (“Did you notice how X after a long silence was about to speak up, and that you talked over them?”) Speak up as a teacher when students behave like an old boy network that excludes or denigrates others that don’t fit into the mold of the club.
Speak about diversity and inclusion. Stereotypes that we hold tend to persist unless they are challenged. As teachers we can provide such a challenge by using images of diverse teams, and by showcasing non-standard role models in our teaching. You can provide reading material that speaks to various aspects of diversity and inclusion, for example to studies that show that diverse teams are more productive, and to the moral aspects of diversity and inclusion. The following quote from the Nobel Lecture of Dr. Martin Luther King can work well for a class conversation:
“In spite of these spectacular strides in science and technology, and still unlimited ones to come, something basic is missing. There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers [and sisters].”
Diversity and inclusion both need attention. Increasing diversity is a thorny problem, but it is an easier problem than inclusion because to certain extent diversity can be addressed by formulating policies and practices that suppress the impact of biases. Inclusion is an even tougher problem, because inclusion asks for personal change when our thoughts, words, and actions are tainted by bias or prejudice. Many of us are in favor of change, but we may have a strong resistance to change ourselves. Helping students develop an inclusive stance is an opportunity to make a positive impact as a teacher.