2.1 Examples of Difference in the Classroom
Within our classrooms there exists a diversity of identities, perspectives, and experiences. As educators, we must strive to acknowledge and address politics of difference.
For example, bell hooks describes how difference in socio-economic class plays out to create certain power dynamics in educational settings as below.
When those of us in the academy who are working class or from working-class backgrounds share our perspectives, we subvert the tendency to focus only on the thoughts, attitudes, and experiences of those who are materially privileged. Feminist and critical pedagogy are two alternative paradigms for teaching which have really emphasized the issue of coming to voice. That focus emerged as central, precisely because it was so evident that race, sex, and class privilege empower some students more than others, granting "authority" to some voices more than others.
- bell hooks, 1994
As such, difference is not only about different student identities or their varying advantages or disadvantages in accessing resources, information, and opportunities (e.g., financial access, or lack thereof, to educational opportunities) but also about different value attached to their perspectives and experiences, differentiating whose voice is normal and legitimate or not. Understanding this political nature of difference is a crucial step towards creating an inclusive classroom environment.
To help you think more about your students’ perspectives and experiences of difference, watch the following video created by Stanford University’s student-run First-Generation and/or Low-Income Partnership (FLIP). The program called "What I Wish My Professor Knew" was created to help Stanford faculty understand how their classroom practices and statements could contribute to First-Generation and/or Low-Income students feeling alienated or welcomed at Stanford.
YouTube video: What I Wish My Professor Knew
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pmJNuxyvpA
Links to an external site.
Take a moment now to reflect on the experiences you just heard about. Ask yourself the following:
What statements resonated with you?
What statements surprised you?
What do your reactions say about your socio-economic background (e.g., access to resources, power of legitimacy)?
How do these experiences relate/differ to students' experiences at UBC?