This article summarizes research on how students' intellectual development impacts their experiences with diversity in college. The researchers interviewed 200 students and found that a student's level of intellectual complexity strongly influences how they interpret encounters with diversity. Students in earlier developmental phases tend to have more rigid views compared to later phases. The article provides examples of student reflections to illustrate this, such as one dualistic student who felt diversity discussions were prejudiced, versus another more multiplistic student who saw value in understanding different perspectives. The researchers conclude diversity encounters can promote growth, but must be carefully designed based on students' readiness to prevent regression in thinking.
Harris, kevin smith, ann marie - identity and multiculturalism nfmij v14 n...William Kritsonis
Teaching undergraduate college students is a complex process. From the standpoint of identity development, undergrads are emerging from adolescence, but they are not quite adults yet. When teaching any undergraduate class, considering the identity development of students is relevant, since undergrads vary in their level of development – and usually differ from the developmental level of their professors. When teaching a multicultural class to undergraduates, though, identity development becomes an even more critical issue for the instructor to be aware of – particularly cultural identity development. In teaching an undergraduate multicultural class, we would take these things into account. We propose a framework and outline for planning an undergraduate multicultural course.
Keywords: multiculturalism; identity; teaching; multicultural class; undergraduate college students
Harris, kevin smith, ann marie - identity and multiculturalism nfmij v14 n...William Kritsonis
Teaching undergraduate college students is a complex process. From the standpoint of identity development, undergrads are emerging from adolescence, but they are not quite adults yet. When teaching any undergraduate class, considering the identity development of students is relevant, since undergrads vary in their level of development – and usually differ from the developmental level of their professors. When teaching a multicultural class to undergraduates, though, identity development becomes an even more critical issue for the instructor to be aware of – particularly cultural identity development. In teaching an undergraduate multicultural class, we would take these things into account. We propose a framework and outline for planning an undergraduate multicultural course.
Keywords: multiculturalism; identity; teaching; multicultural class; undergraduate college students
As part of the award winning GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland campaign, we promoted British retail, food and drink products in KaDaWe, Germany's most famous department store, and Kaisers supermarket to coincide with HM Queen state visit.
Enterprise transformation - What is transformed?Frederick Halas
The search for an enterprise operating-model model, can the Viable System Model help?
If you were asked to draw a picture of an enterprise before its transformation and a picture after its transformation, like in the classic before/after house renovation advertising, what would it look like?
As an enterprise architect looking for a way to represent an enterprise, we can interrogate TOGAF. It tells us that an enterprise is a system of systems, and that Enterprise Architecture is about managing enterprise transformation toward a target operating model; unfortunately TOGAF does not tell us how to draw a system of systems.
Fortunately there is a model, recently re-introduced by Patrick Hoverstadt in his book “The Fractal Organisation”, which is just about that, i.e. representing enterprise organisation as a system of systems. The Viable System Model tells us how viable organisations need to be structured in order to deliver their expected outcomes within their environment. For instance a malfunctioning performance management relationship between management and the operational units, is seen by the VSM as a structural defect, developing imbalances which affect the enterprise viability.
The VSM provides a mental model to observe, question and assess how an enterprise existing operating model compares to the required ingredients of viability. So, the picture of an enterprise before and after its transformation could probably be drawn with the help of the VSM.
On the nature of the enterprise architecture capabilityFrederick Halas
Four things to remember when building Enterprise Architecture capability, or, can you imagine a gas refinery running without blueprints? This article is about trying to understand the nature of the Enterprise Architecture capability in order to make it actionable, and to prepare for the challenges.
We often miss out on the details of how open source and free software became prevalent as they are today. These slides used in a seminar session attempts to provide an overview of the history and development of free software and open source philosophy.
Also, open source licenses tend to be complex. See the factors that inevitably make them complex.
Revision control system which is also known as version control and source control.It is used for the Management of changes to documents, computer programs and other collection of information.
Diversity in the Classroom Essay examples
Diversity Reflection Essay
Diversity In High School
Essay about Diversity
Intellectual Diversity In Liberal Arts
Diversity in the Classroom Essay
Diversity In The Community
Essay on Diversity in Education
Cultural Diversity in America Essay
Essay about Equality & Diversity
Cultural Diversity In Colleges
Diversity In College Application
Intellectual Diversity In Liberal Arts
Diversity In Higher Education
Diversity In College
College Admissions Essay: Diversity In Education
Diversity In College Campus
Diversity In Schools Essay
Diversity In College Education
Diversity In Community Colleges
How Does Diversity Affect The Classroom
Diversity In The College Classroom
The Importance Of Cultural Diversity In College
The Role Of Diversity In College Admissions
Diversity At University
Why We Need Diversity On College Campuses
Diversity: My Ideal College
What Is More Diversity In Colleges
New Diversity Initiative In College
Diversity And Student Diversity
34 E D U C A T I O N A L L E A D E R S H I P M A R C H .docxstandfordabbot
34 E D U C A T I O N A L L E A D E R S H I P / M A R C H 2 0 1 5
Paul C. Gorski
and Katy Swalwell
I feel like a visitor in my own
school—that hasn’t changed,”
Samantha said, confusion and
despair in her voice. We were
at the tail end of a focus group
discussion with African American
students at Green Hills High, a pre-
dominantly white, economically
diverse school. We had been invited to
conduct an equity assessment, exam-
ining the extent to which Green Hills
was an equitable learning environment
for all. We had asked Samantha and
a small group of her classmates how
they would characterize their school’s
two-year-old Multicultural Curriculum
Initiative, touted by school adminis-
trators as a comprehensive effort to
infuse a multicultural perspective into
all aspects of school life.
“I’m invisible,” Sean added, “but
also hypervisible. Maybe twice a year
there’s a program about somebody’s
food or music, but that’s about it. I
don’t see the purpose.”
Then Cynthia, who had remained
quiet through most of the hourlong
discussion, slammed her fist on the
table, exclaiming, “That multicultural
initiative means nothing. There’s
racism at this school, and nobody’s
doing anything about it!”
We found ourselves only a few
moments later in our next scheduled
focus group, surrounded by the
school’s power brokers: the prin-
cipal, assistant principals, deans, and
department chairs. Still taken—maybe
even a little shaken—by what we had
heard from the young women and
men who felt fairly powerless at Green
Hills, we asked the administrators
about the purpose of the Multicultural
Curriculum Initiative.
After a brief silence, Jonathan, the
principal, leaned back in his chair.
We had observed him over the past
few days interacting with students,
and it was clear he cared deeply about
them. The Multicultural Curriculum
Initiative was his brainchild, his baby.
Jonathan decorated his office door
with quotes about diversity and his
office walls with artwork depicting
diverse groups of youth. “We see
diversity as our greatest asset. That’s
what this initiative is all about. What
we aim to do here,” he explained with
measured intensity, “is to celebrate
the joys of diversity.” When we shared
with Jonathan the concerns raised
by the African American students,
he appeared confused and genuinely
concerned. “They said that?” he asked,
before interrupting a member of his
leadership team who had begun to
defend the initiative. “Maybe it’s time
to rethink this.”
Beyond Artwork
and Celebrations
If we’ve learned anything working
with schools across the United States,
it’s this: When it comes to education
equity, the trouble is not a lack of
Equity Lıteracy
FOR ALL
Schools can commit
to a more robust
multiculturalism by
putting equity, rather
than culture, at the
center of the diversity
conversation.
Gorski.indd 34 1/29/15 7:48 PM
A S C D / W W W . A S C D . O R G 35
multi.
As part of the award winning GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland campaign, we promoted British retail, food and drink products in KaDaWe, Germany's most famous department store, and Kaisers supermarket to coincide with HM Queen state visit.
Enterprise transformation - What is transformed?Frederick Halas
The search for an enterprise operating-model model, can the Viable System Model help?
If you were asked to draw a picture of an enterprise before its transformation and a picture after its transformation, like in the classic before/after house renovation advertising, what would it look like?
As an enterprise architect looking for a way to represent an enterprise, we can interrogate TOGAF. It tells us that an enterprise is a system of systems, and that Enterprise Architecture is about managing enterprise transformation toward a target operating model; unfortunately TOGAF does not tell us how to draw a system of systems.
Fortunately there is a model, recently re-introduced by Patrick Hoverstadt in his book “The Fractal Organisation”, which is just about that, i.e. representing enterprise organisation as a system of systems. The Viable System Model tells us how viable organisations need to be structured in order to deliver their expected outcomes within their environment. For instance a malfunctioning performance management relationship between management and the operational units, is seen by the VSM as a structural defect, developing imbalances which affect the enterprise viability.
The VSM provides a mental model to observe, question and assess how an enterprise existing operating model compares to the required ingredients of viability. So, the picture of an enterprise before and after its transformation could probably be drawn with the help of the VSM.
On the nature of the enterprise architecture capabilityFrederick Halas
Four things to remember when building Enterprise Architecture capability, or, can you imagine a gas refinery running without blueprints? This article is about trying to understand the nature of the Enterprise Architecture capability in order to make it actionable, and to prepare for the challenges.
We often miss out on the details of how open source and free software became prevalent as they are today. These slides used in a seminar session attempts to provide an overview of the history and development of free software and open source philosophy.
Also, open source licenses tend to be complex. See the factors that inevitably make them complex.
Revision control system which is also known as version control and source control.It is used for the Management of changes to documents, computer programs and other collection of information.
Diversity in the Classroom Essay examples
Diversity Reflection Essay
Diversity In High School
Essay about Diversity
Intellectual Diversity In Liberal Arts
Diversity in the Classroom Essay
Diversity In The Community
Essay on Diversity in Education
Cultural Diversity in America Essay
Essay about Equality & Diversity
Cultural Diversity In Colleges
Diversity In College Application
Intellectual Diversity In Liberal Arts
Diversity In Higher Education
Diversity In College
College Admissions Essay: Diversity In Education
Diversity In College Campus
Diversity In Schools Essay
Diversity In College Education
Diversity In Community Colleges
How Does Diversity Affect The Classroom
Diversity In The College Classroom
The Importance Of Cultural Diversity In College
The Role Of Diversity In College Admissions
Diversity At University
Why We Need Diversity On College Campuses
Diversity: My Ideal College
What Is More Diversity In Colleges
New Diversity Initiative In College
Diversity And Student Diversity
34 E D U C A T I O N A L L E A D E R S H I P M A R C H .docxstandfordabbot
34 E D U C A T I O N A L L E A D E R S H I P / M A R C H 2 0 1 5
Paul C. Gorski
and Katy Swalwell
I feel like a visitor in my own
school—that hasn’t changed,”
Samantha said, confusion and
despair in her voice. We were
at the tail end of a focus group
discussion with African American
students at Green Hills High, a pre-
dominantly white, economically
diverse school. We had been invited to
conduct an equity assessment, exam-
ining the extent to which Green Hills
was an equitable learning environment
for all. We had asked Samantha and
a small group of her classmates how
they would characterize their school’s
two-year-old Multicultural Curriculum
Initiative, touted by school adminis-
trators as a comprehensive effort to
infuse a multicultural perspective into
all aspects of school life.
“I’m invisible,” Sean added, “but
also hypervisible. Maybe twice a year
there’s a program about somebody’s
food or music, but that’s about it. I
don’t see the purpose.”
Then Cynthia, who had remained
quiet through most of the hourlong
discussion, slammed her fist on the
table, exclaiming, “That multicultural
initiative means nothing. There’s
racism at this school, and nobody’s
doing anything about it!”
We found ourselves only a few
moments later in our next scheduled
focus group, surrounded by the
school’s power brokers: the prin-
cipal, assistant principals, deans, and
department chairs. Still taken—maybe
even a little shaken—by what we had
heard from the young women and
men who felt fairly powerless at Green
Hills, we asked the administrators
about the purpose of the Multicultural
Curriculum Initiative.
After a brief silence, Jonathan, the
principal, leaned back in his chair.
We had observed him over the past
few days interacting with students,
and it was clear he cared deeply about
them. The Multicultural Curriculum
Initiative was his brainchild, his baby.
Jonathan decorated his office door
with quotes about diversity and his
office walls with artwork depicting
diverse groups of youth. “We see
diversity as our greatest asset. That’s
what this initiative is all about. What
we aim to do here,” he explained with
measured intensity, “is to celebrate
the joys of diversity.” When we shared
with Jonathan the concerns raised
by the African American students,
he appeared confused and genuinely
concerned. “They said that?” he asked,
before interrupting a member of his
leadership team who had begun to
defend the initiative. “Maybe it’s time
to rethink this.”
Beyond Artwork
and Celebrations
If we’ve learned anything working
with schools across the United States,
it’s this: When it comes to education
equity, the trouble is not a lack of
Equity Lıteracy
FOR ALL
Schools can commit
to a more robust
multiculturalism by
putting equity, rather
than culture, at the
center of the diversity
conversation.
Gorski.indd 34 1/29/15 7:48 PM
A S C D / W W W . A S C D . O R G 35
multi.
How Can I Contribute To Diversity Essay
Diversity In Schools Essay
The Importance Of Cultural Diversity In College
Diversity And Inclusion Of Diversity
Diversity In The College Classroom
Paper On Campus Diversity
Diversity And Student Diversity
Diversity Definition Essay
Diversity of Education Essay
Diversity In College Campus
What Is More Diversity In Colleges
Geneva College Diversity Essay
Intellectual Diversity In Liberal Arts
How Does Diversity Affect The Classroom
New Diversity Initiative In College
Cultural Diversity In Colleges
Structural Diversity In College Students
Diversity Among College Athletes
Diversity In Community Colleges
Diversity in the Classroom Essay
IDENTIFYING ISSUESIn this section we present several steps to idLizbethQuinonez813
IDENTIFYING ISSUES
In this section we present several steps to identifying an issue. You don’t have to follow them in this particular order, and you may find yourself going back and forth among them as you try to bring an issue into focus.
Keep in mind that issues do not simply exist in the world well formed. Instead, writers construct what they see as issues from the situations they observe. For example, consider legislation to limit downloads from the Internet. If such legislation conflicts with your own practices and sense of freedom, you may have begun to identify an issue: the clash of values over what constitutes fair use and what does not. Be aware that others may not understand your issue and that in your writing you will have to explain carefully what is at stake.
◼ Draw on Your Personal Experience
You may have been taught that formal writing is objective, that you must keep a dispassionate distance from your subject, and that you should not use I in a college-level paper. The fact is, however, that our personal experiences influence how we read, what we pay attention to, and what inferences we draw. It makes sense, then, to begin with you — where you are and what you think and believe.
We all use personal experience to make arguments in our everyday lives. In an academic context, the challenge is to use personal experience to argue a point, to illustrate something, or to illuminate a connection between theories and the sense we make of our daily experience. You don’t want simply to tell your story. You want your story to strengthen your argument.
For example, in Cultural Literacy, E. D. Hirsch personalizes his interest in reversing the cycle of illiteracy in America’s cities. To establish the nature of the problem in the situation he describes, he cites research showing that student performance on standardized tests in the United States is falling. But he also reflects on his own teaching in the 1970s, when he first perceived “the widening knowledge gap [that] caused me to recognize the connection between specific background knowledge and mature literacy.” And he injects anecdotal evidence from conversations with his son, a teacher. Those stories heighten readers’ awareness that school-aged children do not know much about literature, history, or government. (For example, his son mentions a student who challenged his claim that Latin is a “dead language” by demanding, “What do they speak in Latin America?”)
Hirsch’s use of his son’s testimony makes him vulnerable to criticism, as readers might question whether Hirsch can legitimately use his son’s experience to make generalizations about education. But in fact, Hirsch is using personal testimony — his own and his son’s — to augment and put a human face on the research he cites. He presents his issue, that schools must teach cultural literacy, both as something personal and as something with which we should all be concerned. The personal note helps readers see Hirsch as someone who ha ...
Presented as an introduction to the study beginning in the fall - a personal reflection and literature review of the need to incorporate multicultural literature in the classroom on a frequent and regular basis to assist not only with reading skills, but in self development, esteem, and identification. Shared at UCF's International Conference on Poverty, Globalization, and Education: A Holistic Approach in February, 2015.
The Responsibility To Support Academic Freedomnoblex1
In the ideal the academy is a place where anything can and should be discussed with confidence and vigor; sadly the reality is somewhat different. In fact, many professors and their students live in fear. They are afraid of controversy, conflict, and violence. The mere mention of race, religion, and difference evokes considerable apprehension.
Source: https://ebookschoice.com/the-responsibility-to-support-academic-freedom/
Essay on Diversity in Education
Diversity in the Classroom Essay
Essay on Diversity...What Is That?
Reflection On Diversity
Essay on The Value of Diversity
THE NEA HIGHER EDUCATION JOURNAL 27Few things are more d.docxdennisa15
THE NEA HIGHER EDUCATION JOURNAL | 27
Few things are more difficult than to see outside the bounds of your
own perspective—to be able to identify assumptions that you take as uni-
versal truths but which, instead, have been crafted by your own unique
identity and experiences in the world. We live much of our lives in our
own heads, in a reconfirming dialogue with ourselves. Even when we dis-
cuss crucial issues with others, much of the dialogue is not dialogue: it is
monologue where we work to convince others to understand us or to
adopt our view.
HOW DOES YOUR
POSITIONALITY BIAS YOUR
EPISTEMOLOGY?
by David Takacs
H
ow does your positionality bias your epistemology? I’ve
been asking this question to students, weaving it as a
theme throughout my courses. Of course, a resounding
chorus of bafflement greets the initial question. What I’m asking
is: How does who you are shape what you know about the world?
I think this is one of the most important questions one can ask
during an undergraduate education, and a student’s search for
answers may open up new possibilities for understanding her con-
nections to the world. As a reflective practitioner of the teaching
profession, I constantly grapple with these questions, as well.
David Takacs is an associate professor in the Department of Earth Systems Science &
Policy at California State University Monterey Bay, where he teaches courses in the envi-
ronmental humanities. He is the author of The Idea of Biodiversity.
28 | Thought & Action SUMMER 2003
Simply acknowledging that one’s views are not inevitable—that one’s
positionality can bias one’s epistemology—is itself a leap for many peo-
ple, one that can help make us more open to the world’s possibilities.
When we develop the skill of understanding how we know what we
know, we acquire a key to lifelong learning. When we teach this skill, we
help students sample the rigors and delights of the examined life. When
we ask students to learn to think for themselves and to understand them-
selves as thinkers—rather than telling them what to think and have them
recite it back—we help foster habits
of introspection, analysis, and open,
joyous communication.
Unfortunately, many studentscome to college without some
of the skills they need to succeed in
academic work. In California, the
richest state in the richest country the
world has ever known, we skulk in
the bottom fifth among states in per
capita spending on education. The
state system has shortchanged many
students who live in poorer school
districts. Crammed into overcrowded classrooms, led by underpaid teach-
ers who labor in crumbling infrastructure, many students do not get the
quality education they deserve. To compound this misfortune, some col-
lege administrators and professors view these students—often poor, often
minority, sometimes bilingual—as “deficits.” These students pose prob-
lems for our teaching; we have to spend lots of money to “compensate”
for their “deficiencies.”
.
1. Encountering Diversity on Campus and in the
Classroom: Advancing Intellectual and Ethical
Development
Lee Knefelkamp, Professor of Adult and Higher Education, Timothy David-
Lang, Graduate Student, Teachers College, Columbia University
This article is one of a series Diversity Digest is doing on the relations between diversity and elements
of cognitive development. See the article on page 10 and watch for upcoming articles in the series.
For several years now my colleague, we have been conducting a research study on the connections
between undergraduate students' intellectual and ethical development. We have been asking students
about their experiences of diversity both in and out of the classroom.
We have analyzed data gathered from about 200 students using various models of intellectual and
identity development. Our most salient conclusion is that a student's level of intellectual complexity is
the most significant filter through which she or he interprets and ascribes meaning to experiences of
diversity of all kinds.
Early Encounters with Diversity
We have been particularly interested in students' experiences during their first two years of college.
These are often the years during which students experience their first substantive "encounters" with
diversity, to use the language of William Cross. These are also the years during which they frequently
take their first diversity courses. Typically, students in these years exhibit earlier phases of intellectual
development--forms of reasoning theorists describe as "dualistic" or relying on "received knowing."
These students are much more likely to have firm and formed expectations of learning and firmly
formed views of "others" than they will have at later developmental stages.
One of our concerns is that general education diversity courses are often designed to deliberately
foster students' encounter with diversity and complexity, but too often their design is ignorant of
students' actual intellectual and psychological readiness for this learning experience. We do know that
when such encounters overwhelm students, intellectual regression or rigidity can result.
As educators, we want students to integrate the acquisition of intellectual reasoning tools into their
personal and academic encounters with diversity so that their intellectual and interpersonal growth are
facilitated by diverse and complex experiences. If that integration does not take place, or if their
encounter stage is overwhelming, intellectual and interpersonal regression can result in the hardening
of students' previously held views. Such regression is almost always accompanied by anger at the
"other" and at having to listen to multiple perspectives of the other.
Student Reflections
Let's consider some examples of what we mean. An 18-year old, Asian-American woman who is a
sophomore and a comparative literature major says:
Discussions of affirmative action in class always depress me because it is often just an excuse for
2. people to parade their many prejudices. What really bothers me most in our class discussions is that
minorities mentioned in the debate go from Afro-American to Hispanic to Asians--then it goes Afro-
Americans to Hispanics--and then it just goes to Afro-Americans. Most race discussions here end up
as black and white, as if no one else really existed.
This same student expresses a dualistic view of the classroom:
The ideal course would only allow class discussion at certain regulated times. As far as I can see,
discussion usually involves people with no idea of what they are doing, droning on and on about how
little they know.
The assessment of these two illustrations (taken in the larger context of additional data) helps us to
understand how this student's cognitive level influences her encounter with diversity. Further, it shapes
how she interprets discussions of affirmative action, and how she cannot yet use her own experience
or the experiences of her peers as legitimate sources of learning. This student may be on the brink of
regression in the face of her encounters with diversity.
Contrast the above example with another female student of the same age. This student is White, a
sophomore, and an English/German major. The data we gathered on her level of intellectual
development indicates a more multiplistic level. Reflecting on her encounters with diversity when she
came to college, she remarks:
Now that I am in an environment where I am constantly seeing more of their cultures, I feel I have been
able to understand not only foreign ideas and cultures, but also my own thought more clearly. The
more I interact with students from different backgrounds, I find I am able to listen and learn more about
where they are coming from and also their thought processes without having to agree or to feel good
about our discussions. I've noticed a change to how I react to debates in class--I'm no longer
threatened by the fact that someone had another idea. Now I realize I can disagree with someone but
still understand their point of view. Understanding doesn't mean agreement and disagreement doesn't
mean prejudice.
This young woman still shows elements of dualistic thinking. The "other" is still "they" and still "foreign,"
but she has moved to a more complex stance from which she can reflect on others and on herself. This
phase is well described by William Cross as one of "immersion/emersion"--the psychological
immersion into the new encountered experience or identity and the later emersion of the more complex
self, who also sees others as more complex and can find connections with the "other."
Implications for Classroom Practices
Faculty who are teaching diversity courses may well want to consider assessing students' level of
intellectual development and formulations of diversity as they design their courses. Classrooms can be
safe spaces for the cognitive and personal challenges that diversity presents if the encounters are
carefully sequenced and students are helped to learn how to be reflective about their own thinking and
that of others. This doesn't happen automatically.
In our research, we have been particularly interested in students who come to college from more
ethnocentric backgrounds and experiences. How do they experience the encounter with diversity about
which they have only read in the past? Such encounters, even when sought, can be overwhelming or
sources of growth.
Note the experience of newness, wonderment, even awe in this example from a 21-year old Irish-
3. American sophomore:
The process is NOT easy! Having a great number of differing races and ethnic backgrounds all around
you can cause tension with certain topics in class. The academic setting, however, provides for a good
environment for illustrating your views and ideas but trying not to outright offend anyone else. It's
tough! Often I'm unsure.
He goes on to describe a phenomenon that we consistently find in the data. The encounter with
diversity often involves a direct confrontation with students' religious views. As this student describes it:
The major experience which has affected me about diversity is seeing the celebration of Hanahkah on
campus as a major holiday celebration. At school here the diversity has caused me to change from
"Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays" which might not seem that significant, but is an extreme change
in my perceptions of people and their views!! Similarly, the Easter holiday is also a great change.
During my first year I remember telling a girl in my class--Happy Easter--and she simply and gently
replied--"Thanks, but I don't celebrate Easter, I'm Jewish." That is something that I had never ever
thought about at home!! She and I talked a lot about that after class. This shows that the learning
process is a continuous state outside the classroom because of the diversity inside the classroom.
We found a similar pattern in a 28-year old student who had entered college later than most first year
students. Note how his critical thinking skills--developed in a more enthnocentric learning environment
than his present one--stand him in good stead as he encounters difference and uses his encounters to
think about a particularly important issue to him. As he puts it:
As someone raised in an ultra-conservative environment, as a Hasid in Brooklyn, I had little access to
the diversity experienced in most American educational institutions. Not until my exposure to "secular"
education, primarily here at college, did I realize how closeted my erstwhile experience was. I was
indeed surprised how myopic I was in relation to the majority of other students around me. To be
certain the world of the Yeshiva definitely stressed and enhanced my mental tools for critical thinking
and theoretical analysis. However, I was totally unprepared for the extreme relativism that is part of the
liberal arts education. Still harboring medieval notions of an absolute truth, it took some time for me to
realize the delicacy of multiple interpretations--that many interpretations not only don't contradict--but
even contribute to the fuller understanding of the subject at hand. A case in point is the heated subject
of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Until I arrived here, my views were totally antagonistic towards the
victimized minority. Now, however, with exposure to many thoughtful views, especially ideas about
colonialism, I see things a bit differently. It now appears that both Palestinians and Israelis have been
victims and victors; there is no singular truth to this quagmire. The injustices run deeply on both sides.
This student provides an excellent example of the developmental connection and interaction among
the encounter with diversity, critical thinking skills, and the internal engagement with the implications of
new thinking and new experiences, even those issues that are most deeply related to a sense of self
and our most profound cultural experiences.
Conclusion
This is the essence of a liberal education: to facilitate the student's journey to awareness and
knowledge of self and others, and to see the self mirrored in others--to move, as Martin Buber wrote,
from a conceptualization of "we/they" to one of "I/Thou." We all will be more consistently successful at
fulfilling the educational promise of the rich diversity that now characterizes higher education if we are
more consistently cognizant of how our students think and how they interpret the diversity they are
encountering in our classrooms and on our campuses.