Never has there been a more urgent time to advance the concepts of diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) in schools. In today’s schools, education professionals are learning that resources representing people of varying ethnicities, abilities and backgrounds are imperative to reaching students and addressing their needs.
Resources can include anything from field trips to cultural events in the community, inviting guest speakers from different cultures to speak or displaying signs and posters in other languages on walls. A Master of Education (M.Ed.) – Educational Leadership from Eastern Washington University (EWU) can equip you with leadership strategy, school planning and human behavior to best help students of all backgrounds. EWU’s program prepares graduates to influence school diversity in roles such as department head, mentor, curriculum coach and more.
Diversity in the Classroom
Educators must navigate the multiple dimensions of diversity in classrooms every day, and the use of educational psychology can benefit the effort. Diversity has many components and is a complex issue that includes gender, religion, age, ethnicity, race, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, language and geography.
A report from Frontiers in Psychology says inclusive education means students learn together in classrooms and schools that recognize and respond to their differing needs. Educational psychologists spend their careers supporting teachers and agree that diverse classrooms benefit students, helping them learn to respect others and accept differences.
Students learning in diverse classrooms practice patience and build relationships with those who are different from them. Researchers say students in diverse classrooms often know how to explain themselves and learn from their peers.
Inclusive and Equitable Learning Environments
The education system today is highly complex. There is not one perfect method that works for everyone, so psychologists are constantly working to identify strategies and approaches to make learning in a diverse classroom more effective.
Respecting students as individual learners is the first step in creating equitable and inclusive classrooms. To counter stereotypes, a report from the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University encourages normalizing mistakes and failures while emphasizing the value of the challenge.
This approach offers students a variety of ways to demonstrate their learning. Diverse classrooms help students grasp information more effectively.
A recent literature review sought to explore dimensions of diversity in the classroom and found different people interact with the same given information in many different ways. Measuring the impact of diversity on learning is becoming a relevant topic in schools and the ever-changing landscape of education.
How Diversity Impacts Learning
Educators agree that when people from different backgrounds and cultures work together, students naturally gain a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. Diversity, equality and inclusion make us unique and are a cornerstone to helping teachers understand students.
Educators need several essential tools to learn about and teach the DEI principles. The AAUW toolkit includes details on the dimensions of diversity or anything historically used to differentiate groups like religious beliefs, socio-economic status, gender and ethnicity.
Teacher leaders, specialists, trainers and program coordinators aim to understand how students absorb and retain information and study learning methods to assist educators.
Educators can advance their careers and increase their earning potential by obtaining a M.Ed. in educational leadership. Graduates of EWU’s program will have foundational knowledge in educational psychology to inform equity in schools and, in effect, improve student learning outcomes.
This degree helps teachers understand this essential aspect of advancing DEI principles in modern education. Graduates will gain more significant insights into the multiple dimensions of diversity and how they can use them to impact development and learning. In fact, the program course titled Transformation of Learning & Teaching emphasizes diversity, social justice and equity and how psychological principles affect educational culture. Those who want to gain a deep understanding of learning and human interaction to become more effective educators should consider an advanced degree in educational leadership.
Learn more about Eastern Washington University’s online M.Ed. – Educational Leadership program.
