DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM: A CHECKLIST

This checklist is designed to help teachers and other educators to effectively identify and respond to
diversity in the classroom. It focuses on various aspects of the classroom environment, including
curriculum materials, teaching strategies and teacher/student behaviors.

Teaching Materials

_____ Are contributions and perspectives of women and cultures integrated into textbooks and other
curriculum materials?

_____ Are women, ethnic minorities and people of diverse socioeconomic classes and religions
portrayed in a non-stereotypical manner?

_____ Do the resource materials include appropriate information about religion when religion is integral
to the context of the subject?

_____ Do textbooks or curriculum materials focus on “famous people”, usually those of privileged class
status; or are the accomplishments and hard work of poor and working-class people given equal
focus and respect?

_____ Do the resource materials include cultures represented by families in your school and
community?

_____ Are there resource materials available for limited-English-proficient students in their native
languages?

_____ Are teaching materials selected that allow all students to participate and feel challenged and
successful?

Teacher as Role Model – Questions to Ask Yourself

_____ Am I knowledgeable about the religious, cultural, linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds of
my students and people in my community?

_____ In my own life, do I model respect for, and inclusion of, people who are different (religion, race,
language, abilities, socioeconomic class)?

_____ Do students perceive me as sincerely interested in, and respectful of, contributions made by
women and the many ethnic, religious, racial and socioeconomic groups that make up the
country?

_____ Do I know where to find resources regarding:

 multicultural studies?
 disabled students/specific handicaps?
 religion?
 other languages?
 gender bias?

_____ Do I respectfully accommodate differently abled students in my classroom?

_____ Do I recognize and acknowledge the value of languages other than standard English?

_____ Can I recognize and constructively address value conflicts based on race, religion or
socioeconomic class?

Teacher/Student Interactions

_____ Am I careful not to prejudge a student’s performance based on cultural differences,

socioeconomic status or gender?

_____ Do I promote high self-esteem for all the students in my classroom? Do I help each child to feel
good about who he/she is?

_____ Do I encourage students to understand and respect the feelings of others who are
different from them?

_____ Do my students see me as actively confronting instances of stereotyping, bias and

discrimination when they occur?
_____ Given what I ask students to talk or white about, do I avoid placing value on having
money, spending money or major consumer products?

_____ Do I put myself in the place of the limited-English-proficient student task, “How would I
feel in this classroom?”

_____ Do I make an effort to learn some words in the home languages that my limited-English-
proficient students speak?

_____ Am I conscious of the degree and type of attention I am giving to members of each
gender in classroom interactions? Do I have an equitable system for calling on
students?

_____ Do I use gender-neutral language?

_____ Do I teach about religion, rather than teaching religion or ignoring religion altogether?

_____ When teaching about religion, do I:

 place religion within historical and cultural context?

 use opportunities to include religion in history, literature and music?
 avoid making qualitative comparisons among religions?
 avoid soliciting information about religious affiliations or beliefs of my students?

Teaching Children To Be Proactive

_____ Do I teach children to identify instances of prejudice and discrimination?

_____ Do I help my students develop proper responses to instances of prejudice and

discrimination?

General Strategies

_____ Do I involve parents and other community members to help children develop greater
understanding of the benefits and challenges of living in a culturally diverse society?

_____ Do I inform parents of my multicultural, anti-bias curriculum?

_____ Do I support and encourage the hiring of minority teachers and staff?

_____ Do I build a secure and supportive atmosphere by creating a noncompetitive classroom

environment?

_____ Do I use opportunities such as current events to discuss different cultures and religions?

_____ Do I provide students with opportunities to problem-solve issues of inclusiveness?

_____ Do I use activities that demonstrate how the privilege of groups of higher economic
status is directly connected to the lack of privilege of lower socioeconomic status
people?

_____ Do I have students examine and analyze the representation of class, race, gender,
ability and language differences in media and their community?

_____ Do I recognize that tracking reinforces “classism” and is counterproductive to student

learning at all ability levels?

_____ Do I utilize children’s literature to help students understand and empathize with
individuals who have experienced prejudice and discrimination and to discuss important
social issues?

Developed by Karen Matsumoto-Grah, and found in Common Bonds: Anti-Bias Teaching in a Diverse
Society (1992). Wheaton, MD: Association for Childhood Education International.