RUNNING HEAD: Master’s Portfolio: Diversity

Master’s Portfolio: Diversity

Violet R. Brooks

University of Alaska Southeast

12/2/18

Dr. Katy Spangler

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Framing Statement:

Attached is the slideshow for a presentation that was done in collaboration with another

student for our classroom diversity course at the University of Alaska Southeast. The subject

was on the history, warning signs, and modern science of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). I

did the lion’s share of the research of this project and enjoyed every minute of it. Although I had

worked with students and adults who experience this disorder, I had never been given the

invitation to do such a deep dive on the history of the subject, or to see the evolution in diagnosis

and definition. I particularly found the parts about identifying possible ASD behaviors through

the eye motion software in children under the age of one. It is often believed that the sooner we

can identify children, we can begin interventions to help them sustain an independent lifestyle.

Neurodiversity does have its place (Kapp, Gillespie-Lynch, Sherman, & Hutman 2013), but if

we can do planned interventions early in a person’s life to allow them to keep all the benefits of

their unique minds and still afford them the ability to live independent and effectively

communicate, I can’t foresee any parent denying that to their child (Cascio, 2012).

Earlier in the year, I had done a different presentation on the effects of Adverse

Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on students and the long-term repercussions of trauma. I had

also been on the short list to attend a trauma-informed school seminar hosted by my school

district, but student teaching did not allow the time for me to participate. Living in the high-

poverty, high transient population that is the Mat-Su Borough School District, I find ACE

education to be one of my most useful tools. It helps me to identify students who might need

additional help and friendly adult support to feel safe and be successful in the classroom

(Romero, Robertson, & Warner 2018). It is through these identifications and insights, and

continued study, that we can come together as a school to assist students in being productive,

successful, and happy members of society (Blodgett & Lanigan 2018).

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Race cannot be ignored. My experience in my school district is that there is a shocking

lack of diversity. We have a mostly white population with the whole of minorities only

accounting for 28% of the population. Of the minority, most are Alaska Native (13%). Yet the

education community is almost exclusively white. Teachers of Color (TOC) are rare, with my

own school only having one who is an Alaska Native. Support staff are often more diverse but

are still by a majority while women. At a recent district meeting, this fact was presented without

a solution. The fear is that with so little representation of TOC in the schools, it may appear to

children that POC do not invest in education (Miron, Urschel, Mathis, Tornquist 2010). They

are actively searching for ways to entice POC and TOC to invest in the MSBSD.

On the other hand, there is this deeply troubling myth within some districts that

struggling minority students can be saved by dedicated white teachers, and that other white

student should use these ‘unfortunates’ as a way to learn empathy and gratitude for their own

families good fortune(Markowitz, & Puchner, 2014). This is a concept that quickly needs to be

dismantled and destroyed before going any further. We often see this kind of fairy tale story in

media, of a good white teacher saving the racially diverse troubled teen from a tough home and

neighborhood. This problematic fantasy is that is stealing agency from the student and creates a

Kipling-esque White Man’s Burden situation. Students, of any stripe, should be allowed to

experience failure without that failure being associated with anything outside that student’s

control(Scott & Sims 2018).

As for religious and gender diversity; I will not cater nor condemn. It’s not my place, it’s

not what I’m there for, it’s an argument that actively distracts from my ability to teach. I teach

the whole child and believe I am an advocate to help that student become their best self (Miller,

& Owusu-Ansah 2016). Their best bet is to learn how to respectfully disagree with those around
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them and to accept people for who they are and what they are unless they’re harming others.

One person should not have control or opinions over another person’s body or identity.

Student’s who attempt to stand in judgment of others should be supported in the learning

opportunity they are presented with (Sumner, Sgoutas-Emch, Nunn, & Kirkley, 2017). A teacher

should be sensitive to the legitimate discomfort of students, and protective of those who are

transitioning to becoming who they feel they are but should also refrain from being preachy or

demanding. Ultimately, students who are divergent from standard genders, religions, or

sexualities still deserve the respect and love of any other student within the school. As to the

subject of bathrooms? Simple: wash your hands.

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References

Blodgett, C., & Lanigan, J. D. (2018). The Association between Adverse Childhood Experience
(ACE) and School Success in Elementary School Children. School Psychology
Quarterly, 33(1), 137–146.

Cascio, M. A. (2012). Neurodiversity: Autism pride among mothers of children with autism
spectrum disorders. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 50(3), 273-83

Chartier, M. J., Walker, J. R., & Naimark, B. (2010). Separate and cumulative effects of adverse
childhood experiences in predicting adult health and health care utilization. Child Abuse
& Neglect, 34(6), 454.

Kapp, S. K., Gillespie-Lynch, K., Sherman, L. E., & Hutman, T. (2013). Deficit, difference, or
both? autism and neurodiversity. Developmental Psychology, 49(1), 59.

Markowitz, L., & Puchner, L. (2014). Racial Diversity in the Schools: A Necessary
Evil? Multicultural Perspectives, 16(2), 72–78. Retrieved from
https://egan.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dir
ect=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1027861&site=ehost-live

Miller Dyce, C., & Owusu-Ansah, A. (2016). Yes, We Are Still Talking about Diversity:
Diversity Education as a Catalyst for Transformative, Culturally Relevant, and Reflective
Preservice Teacher Practices. Journal of Transformative Education, 14(4), 327–354.

Miron, G., Urschel, J. L., Mathis, W. J., Tornquist, E., University of Colorado at Boulder, E. and
the P. I. C., & Arizona State University, E. P. R. U. (2010). Schools without Diversity:
Education Management Organizations, Charter Schools, and the Demographic
Stratification of the American School System. Education and the Public Interest Center.
Education and the Public Interest Center.

Romero, V. E., Robertson, R., & Warner, A. (2018). Building Resilience in Students Impacted
by Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Whole-Staff Approach. Corwin.

Scott, C. L., & Sims, J. D. (2018). Exemplary Models of Faculty-Driven Transformative

Diversity Education Initiatives: Implications for Metropolitan Universities. Metropolitan
Universities, 29(3), 108–122.

Sumner, S. W., Sgoutas-Emch, S., Nunn, L., & Kirkley, E. (2017). Implementing Innovative
Pedagogy and a Rainbow Curriculum to Expand Learning on Diversity. InSight: A
Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 12, 94–119.
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