Every year, students are asked to fill out a perception survey of their teachers. The questions are usually about how much students respect the teacher in the classroom, the way teachers carry out lessons, whether they understand students’ needs, etc. This year, however, there was a different question at the end of the survey. It stated, “In this class I am exposed to a variety of cultural lessons that celebrate cultural diversity.” Many students were puzzled by this question, and even some teachers were unclear on what this question meant.
“This is a part of our school improvement plan this year based on the climate of the United States,” assistant principal Mattie Smith said. “Teachers are evaluated yearly, and as part of their evaluations, [administration] looks to see if they are embracing diversity in their classrooms.”
Many students didn’t know how to answer this question, especially because some believe cultural diversity cannot even be incorporated into certain classes, such as maths and sciences.
“For some teachers, [incorporating it] is kind of hard because of the subject they teach, but for other teachers, where they teach history, for example, they should try to be more aware of culture and try to teach it to their classes,” freshman Princess Scotton said.
Administration believes that there are simple ways for teachers in departments such as math and science to incorporate culture into their lessons.
“I think there are a lot of opportunities in science, because science is a lot easier to connect to current events and real world issues,” assistant principal Janice Giles said. “It becomes harder with math, but just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s impossible. It could even just be a matter of using culturally diverse names in world problems; using culturally diverse names that represent our students is one option for math.”
Some believe that classes such as history and English already have enough cultural lessons, while some believe none of their classes feature these lessons.
“I think it depends on the objective, the different types of lessons, the different departments,” Smith said. “Social studies, I’m sure, would have an easier time of integrating cultural diversity than the dance people or the art people. But we have to look at society as a whole and look at what impact has been made.”
Some math teachers, such as Jack Hunter, have come up with creative ways of incorporating diversity into their teachers.
“Mr. Hunter did a lesson a little while ago where he related math and the diversity of the student body, and he used math to explain how we’re all related,” senior Austin Parsons said.
As well as teachers having this as part of their lessons, the school is also taking steps to embrace cultural diversity more.
“Charger Day was another way of embracing everybody’s diversity, differences and likes,” Smith said. “Pairing you with people you are usually not used to hopefully helps you form new friendships.”
The school hopes to make every teacher’s lessons include references to cultural diversity, whether it’s discussed for a whole period, or shown through a short video.
“In the future, when you go either off to college or into the workplace, you’re always going to be faced with different cultures, so it’s a really good thing to understand other people’s point of view,” Career Development Coordinator DeLisa Cohen said. “[You should be] learning tolerance especially in the school or in the workplace, college, wherever you are. Our country is based on a big melting pot, so the more you understand different cultures, the more it will help put you in a better place.”
Students also believe that cultural diversity recognition is necessary in their everyday school environment.
“I think it is important because lots of people come from different cultures and backgrounds and we want to recognize that,” sophomore Mackenzie Holland said.
This question may have caused confusion in the school, but the reasons behind it were for the benefit of the students, as well as the school’s atmosphere as a whole.
“[Administration] wants to make sure everyone feels, number one, safe, as well as included,” Smith said. “We are all different in ways, but we are also all alike in ways. Everybody should feel proud of their diversity, proud of where they come from and at the same time make Northwood a better place.”
– By Georgia O’Reilly
