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The classroom is a naturally diverse place. The students who share it will come from different walks of life, with different identities, races, socioeconomic statuses, and family backgrounds. It’s an opportunity for students to develop empathy for others, but it also carries the risk of making marginalized students feel “othered” or isolated.
That’s why it’s important for your teaching staff to be as diverse as the students themselves. But even in schools where the student body is more monolithic, students benefit learning from—and learning to respect—someone who is different from themselves. It’s essential for those responsible for hiring teachers to challenge their own biases and consider diversity when looking for new teachers.
Hiring teachers from diverse backgrounds benefits everyone at your school, both students and teachers.
For those who work in education, it’s clear that there is a distinct achievement gap when it comes to students of color and students from lower income households. While these students are no less intelligent on average than their peers, they often test more poorly and have fewer academic achievements. For example, fewer students of color graduate high school and fewer go on to attend college, which can lead to limited options in their adult lives.
So what’s one way school leaders can help close the achievement gap? Research has shown that when exposed to teachers of color, students of color often show improved test scores and academic achievements, have higher graduation rates, and are more likely to plan to attend college.
This phenomenon largely comes down to students having teachers who are able to connect with them and understand them, as well as understand and challenge the barriers that might be holding them back. They can provide a role model to struggling students of color. In addition, both students of color and white students have reported feeling cared for and academically challenged by their teachers of color.
It can also be beneficial for white students to be exposed to teachers of color. A webinar hosted by Stanford University has spoken to the way teachers from diverse backgrounds help to prepare students to be “global citizens.” Students are still developing their sense of empathy and can often struggle to see beyond their own world.
If students only interact with authority figures who are roughly in their same socioeconomic class, they will go into the world with very little understanding of those who are different from themselves. However, exposure to authority figures who might look or think differently than they do will help them to experience other perspectives during their formative years.
Having more diverse hiring practices will help the teachers of color who are already on your staff. As we see a decline in Black and Indigenous teachers throughout the country, it’s clear that a key factor in this is feelings of isolation. When a teacher of color is the only one at a particular institution, they often feel frustrated with the burden of being the example of diversity, as well as isolated and more likely to burn out.
When multiple teachers of color are on staff, it offers a sense of community and takes some of that burden off the shoulders of individual teachers. Seeing diverse teachers may also encourage students of color to become teachers. In essence, schools must hire diversely now, or they may find it more difficult to retain teachers from diverse backgrounds in the future.
It’s one thing to recognize that hiring teachers from diverse backgrounds is important. But many schools still struggle to find people who are the best fit for their school. It’s not enough to be open to hiring teachers from different backgrounds. You have to make an active effort to hire diversely, especially in the current education system where Black and Indigenous teachers are becoming less common. The Institution of Education Sciences (IES) has laid out nine strategies for hiring a diverse faculty. These include:
For more strategies on making your school a more diverse and inviting place, check out these professional development courses from Advancement Courses:
Advancement Courses offers more than 280 online, self-paced PD courses covering both foundational topics and emerging trends in K–12 education. Courses are available for both graduate and continuing education credit for your salary advancement or recertification needs.
Choose from 280+ online, self-paced continuing education courses for teacher salary advancement and recertification. Available for either CEU/clock hours or in partnership with regionally-accredited universities for graduate credit.
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