Diversity workshop

On Monday, April 23^rd, 2007, Mariama Richards and Elizabeth Denevi, Co-Directors of Diversity for the Georgetown Day School, presented a workshop to the 6^th and 7^th grades. Upper School students who have been trained in the NCBI prejudice prevention workshop, worked with 8^th grade students. Notes from the Diversity workshop for the 6^th and 7^th graders can be found below.

Introduction to the Workshop

Explained the goals of the workshop:

-Celebrate Diversity

-Explore identity including similarities and differences

-Identify obstacles related to diversity

-Identify topics related to diversity that students would like more information on

First Activity: Balloon Activity

-Students were asked to choose one word that reflects their heritage, family values, traditions and/or beliefs.

Example: Candles-for all major holidays in my family we light candles

-Using a marker, write your word on a balloon. Keep the balloon afloat for one minute while moving in a limited space. Your balloon may not touch the floor or anyone else’s balloon.

-Then, trade balloons with a partner and do the same activity.

Question: How’d it go?

Responses:

-I bumped into a lot of people.

-There wasn’t enough space to move around.

-I was able to keep it afloat, but kept bumping into other people.

-I was just as careful with someone else’s balloon as I was with mine.

-I was probably more careful with my balloon.

The presenters explained:

The balloon exercise is a metaphor;

How do we keep our own values, traditions and practices afloat while not “bumping into” or stepping on others?

Are we as careful with others balloons as we are our own?

How do we keep our identities afloat and still be open to others?

If you “step” on someone else’s values, how do you make up for it?

Mariama and Elizabeth explained that while the intent may be benign, a negative outcome can still result. If you “step” on someone’s identity, apologizing, rather than being defensive, is the key to keeping all identities “afloat.”

Second Activity: Discussing the “Big 8”

Mariama and Elizabeth explained that people tend to use 8 identifiers in reflecting on who they are, what is important to them, and who they want to be. These identifiers may be very present all the time, sometimes, or infrequently for people. It is also possible that some people only consider one or two identifiers most of the time.

The “Big 8” are:

o Ability

o Age

o Ethnicity

o Gender

o Race

o Religion

o Sexual Orientation

o Socio-Economic class

Students asked for clarification regarding the difference between race and ethnicity. The presenters explained that ethnicity is defined as a person’s heritage or family lineage, while race is defined as the color of a person’s skin.

The presenters discussed how stereotypes are developed and our responsibility in deconstructing stereotypes.

Students were asked to take a few moments and think about the three identifiers that were most “present” for them at this point in their lives. They then assigned a color to each identifier. Students were asked to pick the three colors that matched their top 3 identifiers. For example, a student who had selected age, ability and race would have a green sticker, a yellow sticker and a red sticker on their nametag.

After students selected the colors that matched their top three identifiers, they had to find three other people who had the same stickers, and hence, had selected that same identifiers. Upon finding each other, students had to ask one another why they had made those selections and compare their responses.

There was great diversity in the results. Many of the groups were from the same grade, were the same gender the same race and were also close friends. As the directors explained, this is not surprising. People who identify similarly would likely have more comfort with one another and similar interests, which is why they would likely be friends. However some groups of students were from different grades, were different genders, and different races. In addition, there were some students and adults who could not find another person who had the same top three identifiers that they had selected. The directors explained that it would likely feel lonely to not have a partner who shares the same identifiers. The students responded well to this activity and seemed to really enjoy exploring their own identities, and their classmates.

Final Activity: Planning for the Future

Students were broken into groups and asked to review the 8 identifiers. Using the list as a guide, they were asked which topics they would like more information at school about and which areas they think are discussed frequently, and possibly too frequently.

Students had the following comments and suggestions:

-There are lots of conversations amongst students about race but we are not really discussing it with the adults. We probably should.

-More information about the difference between stereotypes, prejudice and racism

-The social studies curriculum focuses on diversity, but we want more time on the topics about socio-economic class.

-Students want to learn about all religions, not just Quakerism. We learn TOO much about Quakerism. (Many students pointed out we are a Quaker school and it should be expected that we focus on Quakerism).

-In terms of ability, we are all supposed to be treated equally, but we want the opportunity to “shine” if we have done something great.

-Sports are really popular and the arts should be promoted more so that it doesn’t feel like sports are the most important thing for everyone.

-When on campus, I feel accepted by everyone and I don’t really think about my race. But, once off campus, I can be faced with ignorance. I would like to learn more tools for how to handle this.

-There should be more focus on ethnicity, because we focus on race more.

-We need to talk about all races, including what it means to be white.

-Boys and girls tend to separate themselves by gender. However, in PE class we get put into groups by gender and we would rather play games together.

-We only learn about sexual orientation in Life Skills. We want more information. Specifically, if people in our lives tell us they are gay, how should we react in a way that is supportive?

To conclude the workshop, the presenters asked,

“What did you Learn Today?”

Below are the responses:

-People have really different opinions about how we learn about diversity

-Diversity is very complicated

-Some topics are very sensitive for people and very important to them

-You have to be careful and thoughtful about what you to say to people

-You won’t be able to agree on everything

-Don’t make assumptions or jokes

-People have a lot of pride about who they are and where they come from

-You have to acknowledge differences, not just act like everyone is the same

-We should talk more about gender stereotypes because a lot of us use them

-Differences should be acknowledged-not judged