Peer Review

The Teacher's Guide to Diversity: Building a Knowledge Base

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Feb 20, 2019 by Teacher Education

Bookmark

Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

This document is a presenter's guide for a workshop hosted by Brown University Alliance consultants. This guide includes recent, research-based information from several disciplines and provides readers with activities and opportunities for reflection to deepen their understanding of diversity issues in education including strategies for improving home-school connections and engaging families.The manual includes a variety specific group activities for each topic and suggested homework.

Type of Material:

Workshop and Training Material

Recommended Uses:

The Teacher’s Guide to Diversity is intended for use by professional developers, teacher educators,teachers, and administrators because the authors believe "Responding to diversity positively is the job of every educator." The guide can be used in courses, workshops, and study groups and individually.

Technical Requirements:

The manual is provided in PDF format.

Identify Major Learning Goals:

The purpose of the site for the learner is according to the authors "Our highest hope is that this guide will contribute to reflective social action that will transform the face of education—action that will make schools more just and equity-driven institutions in which all students have an abundance of opportunities to succeed to the best of their abilities."

To achieve this goal, the purpose of the manual/guide is to support the presenter/user in preparing for and conducting classes or workshops. and so contains activities and suggested homework assignments.

Target Student Population:

College Upper Division, Graduate School, Professional

According to the introduction, educators who are well informed and open to new and challenging ideas will be most successful.

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Some knowledge of educational research methodologies might be helpful.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: This guide is very comprehensive in its presentation of educationally significant and well-accepted concepts of diversity and inclusion in the classroom. The presenter (user) will have a well-organized manual that can be used section by section, page by page, or from which to pull out topics and activities. This material represents new and significant research in equity and diversity which should be included in teacher preparation programs.
Concerns:: None

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

Although the purpose of the guide is to educate teachers in the topics of diversity and inclusion, many of the activities could be used in any discipline or situation where diversity is found, such as the workplace. The outstanding feature of this guide is the opportunity for the learners to work in groups and reflect on the topics using the exceptional activities already created and provided. So NO need to plan for anything except donuts, coffee and attendees.

This material represents knowledge that can positively impact the capability of educators to create equitable and diverse learning environments.

Concerns:

This tool is effective as is, however the presenter might make the workshops more engaging by adding short appropriate video clips.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

The navigation of the guide contributes to the ease of use of this material. The activities are organized under major headings and each includes the components listed below. The authors make suggestions for when to present them based on their experience but provide the explaination that they may be used "in a different order or at a different point in instruction. and that...it may not be feasible to use all of the activities within a single course or workshop series". Discretion in selecting activities is recommended.

Each activity has the following components:
• Recommended Use
• Approximate Time Required
• Purpose
• Instructions to Participants
• Suggestions/Background for Presenters
• Tables or Figures
• Discussion Questions

The material can be used fully online or downloaded.

Concerns:

The user may need to scroll to the correct page if the PDF page number selection does not seem to be working correctly.

Other Issues and Comments:: Although this guide was last updated in 2005, the topics, information, and activities are still quite relevant.
Creative Commons: