Education is the backbone of society . we Approaches to Diversity Education: A Critical Assessment Thomas W. Brignall III, Lewis University Thomas L. Van Valey, Western Michigan University The idea that differences in race, gender, religion, sexuality, age, or other categories deemed unworthy of group inclusion shouldn’t matter when it comes to people’s access to all that a society has to offer, is central to the teaching of diversity. Diversity courses can be powerful vehicles, not only for teaching students about social change and reclaiming the principles of past and present civil rights leaders, but also for refuting the notion that we already live in a largely egalitarian society. This paper examines what a small sample of diversity texts employ with respect to key concepts and definitions. It also makes recommendations for changes and tools to help move the discussion from diversity and tolerance to inclusion and social justice. Lastly, it argues that there is need for specific training for faculty who teach about diversity in order for them to be prepared for some of the critical questions they will be asked by their students. Keywords: diversity, critical pedagogy, content analysis, textbooks ne of the basic missions of Sociology is to understand diversity and explain its impacts, both positive and negative, on the world in which our students live. The American Sociological Association’s Task Force on the Undergraduate Major makes this clear in recommending that all Sociology curricula should “…underscore the centrality of race, class and gender in society and in sociological analysis” (McKinney et al. 2004:18). That same report calls for students to be exposed to content that is “…multicultural, cross-national, and cross-cultural” (McKinney et al. 2004:19). Thus, teaching about diversity is simply at the core of the discipline. Teaching about diversity, however, is not without challenges, both for the teacher and for the students. The teacher, often depending on the type of institution, may be faced with either a class full of highly homogeneous students or highly diverse ones. These extremes of composition may require the teacher to be aware of widely different teaching/learning styles. Similarly, all students come to each class with unique experiences and perspectives on the world. The teacher needs to become familiar with the students’ perspectives to respond critically to their positions. In the following sections, we briefly review the notion of critical pedagogy, then present a synopsis of our analysis of a set of diversity textbooks, focusing on concepts that we believe are essential–white identity and privilege, color-blindness, and the nature of the definitions that are employed. This is followed by recommendations that we believe can improve the teaching of cultural diversity. One Purpose of Diversity Education–Critical Pedagogy Freire’s early statement of critical pedagogy appeared in Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970). Since

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2. HE in Comparative Prospective
 Higher Education Commission (HEC),
 Statutory body
 Established in 2002 under the Chairmanship of Dr,
Atta-ur-Rahman
 Main functions are funding, overseeing, regulating and
accrediting the higher education institutions.
 First established in 1974 as University Grants
Commission (UGC)
 Came into its modern form on 11 September 2002
 Formulating higher education policy & quality
assurance to meet the international standards.
 accrediting academic degrees, development of new
institutions and uplift of existing institutions 2

3. HE
 Main purpose of upgrading the universities and
degree awarding institutes & research &
development.
 Played an important and leading role towards building
a knowledge-based economy in Pakistan by giving out
thousand of doctoral scholarships for education
abroad
 14 August 1947 Pak, had only one institution of
higher learning, UoPb and among 40 colleges
expanded to four provinces,
 Education policy revised by PM Liaquat Ali Khan,
govt established various universities and colleges
in all over the country.
3

4. HE
 National Edn Conference 1947 (also known as
Pakistan Education Conference) of academicians
and state holders to revise the policy of higher
education in the country,
 First official education policy in 1956 by
PM,Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
 President , Ayub Khan 1960—1965, 912 Million.
43000 student enrol
 Nationalization program in 1972, PPP, 1974, the UGC,
 President Zia-ul-Haq(NEP-79), Islamic concepts,
 PM,Nawaz Sharif(NEP-92) streamline HE,
 PM, Benazir Bhutto, 1993, Eighth Five-year Plans,Pri-
Education 4

5. HEC
 New Era,
 In 2002, President Pervez Musharraf, dissolving the
University Grants Commission and establishing a new
autonomous independent of the Federal Ministry of
Education – the Higher Education Commission.
 HEC Chairman, the status of a Federal Minister
 Executive Director, status of a Federal Secretary.
 Presidential Ordinance on 11 September 2002 to
establish the Higher Education Commission.
 HEC, implemented its program of enhancing access,
improving quality, and increased relevance of
higher education to the needs and requirement of
Pakistan
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6.  Reforms by Atta-ur-Rahman, sector 4 Pakistani
universities became ranked among the top 300,
400 and 500 universities of the world.
 Brazil, Russia, India, and China ("BRIC"
countries),("BRIC" countries), the percentage of
high highly cited papers
 183 million cellular, 98 million 3G/4G and 101 million
broadband subscribers.
 distance education and to promote information
technology
 Javaid Laghari was the second chairman from 2009 to
2013 who tried to continue the higher education
reforms
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7. HEC
 Task force was formed, by PMIK,Promote research in
technology fields and to initiate projects that can use
science and technology for sustainable and equitable
socio-economic development.
 Pakistan's first foreign engineering university (Pak
Austria in 2020, eight foreign universities collaborating
(three Austrian and five Chinese), in Hazra,
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8. HE in Comparative Perspective
 Comparative perspective is based on the idea that a
society or social system cannot be fully
understood without comparing it with other societies
or systems.
 The main limitation of this perspective is that societies
differ in so many ways and therefore may not always be
compared meaningfully.
 What is comparative approach in education?
 An approach whereby all the variations existing
from one area to another within the same country
are taken into consideration while comparing the
system of education of a foreign country with one's
educational system
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9.  What is the basic concept of comparative education?
 Comparative education is a fully established academic
field of study that examines education in one country
(or group of countries) by using data and insights
drawn from the practices and situation in another
country, or countries.
 Who introduced comparative education?
 Marc-Antoine Jullien de Paris, referred to as the "father
of Comparative Education".
Importance of comparative education to teachers?
 Comparative education helps us to understand
differences and similarities between our own
education system and others.
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10. CoE ( Centre of Excellence)
 Centre of Excellence in University?
 The literal meaning of a Center of Excellence is – 'A place
where the highest standards are maintained.
 Center of Excellence (CoE) is a body that provides
leadership, best practices, research, support, training
of trainers and skill training for a specific sector/s.
What does a Centre of excellence do?
 A center of excellence (CoE) is a team of skilled knowledge
workers whose mission is to provide the organization
they work for with best practices around a particular
area of interest.
 CoEs are often created when there is a knowledge deficit
or skills gap within an organization.
10

11. CoE
 What is another term for center of excellence?
 Within an organization, a center of excellence may refer
to a group of people, a department or a shared facility. It
may also be known as a competency center, or
capability center, or an excellence center.
 In academic institutions, a center of excellence often
refers to a team with a clear focus on a particular area of
research; such a center may bring together faculty
members from different disciplines and provide shared
facilities.
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