Teaching Diversity Relationally: Engaging Emotions and Embracing Possibilities offers process-oriented guidance for negotiating the psychological and relational challenges inherent in teaching about race, privilege, and oppression. Grounded in the philosophy of Transformative Education and incorporating psychological theories, the authors present concrete strategies for effectively teaching diversity and social justice courses. The authors develop an intersectional social justice framework for Transformative Education that emphasizes five emotional-relational pillars of successful teaching for diversity: cultivating reflexivity and exploration of positionality; engaging emotions; fostering perspective taking and empathy; promoting community and relational learning; and encouraging agency and responsibility. They provide guidance on how to prepare for social justice education that fosters the growth of learners and educators by addressing intersecting levels of engagement—intrapsychic (within individual students and educators), relational (between students, between faculty and students), and group dynamic. Teaching Diversity Relationally follows the developmental arc of a diversity course across a semester, exploring how students respond as the course moves into deeper content material and more intense discussions. The authors describe the psychology behind these responses, and offer best practices for different points in the semester to facilitate learning, manage class dynamics, build connections among students, and prevent faculty burnout. Teaching Diversity Relationally addresses the teaching process in diversity courses. The authors' companion text, Unraveling Assumptions: A Primer for Understanding Oppression and Privilege provides the foundational content for university courses that can be expanded upon with a range of disciplines. Unraveling Assumptions offers an introductory exploration of power, privilege, and oppression as foundations of systems of inequality and examines complexities within meanings and lived experiences of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, and social class.

As teaching is socially, culturally, and politically constructed, it is important that teacher educators committed to social justice attempt to create secure environment where all voices are heard and teacher candidates can inquire into personally and socially challenging topics within a safe and caring classroom culture. Relationships of trust are fundamental to teaching about social justice and to being receptive as learners in such classes. Mindfulness on the part of teacher educators and teacher candidates can go a long way in fostering respect, openness and acceptance in such classes. Together they can lead to teacher educators and candidates thinking deeply about themselves, schools and schooling as they move towards a vision of a more equitable and just society. The teacher educators who have contributed to this volume recognize the challenges of balancing respect for their students with the call to social justice. Their accounts and critical reflections convey how relational and mindful approaches might offer positive avenues to self and shared exploration by teacher candidates and teacher educators alike. Several chapters attend to the challenges for educators as they encounter culturally and linguistically diverse contexts. Others attend to these issues within the complexity of diverse university classrooms in order to guide teacher candidates towards dispositions and practices that help foster inclusion and engage diverse learners and communities. Together, these chapters offer thoughtful approaches to living alongside aspiring teachers as they develop deeper understanding of the concepts of race and diversity, and inclusive approaches to teaching and learning.

Focuses on preparing teachers for how to teach diverse populations in a school setting. Multicultural education. Designed for undergraduate and graduate-level courses on multicultural education in colleges of education.

This volume explores how social justice is critical to making education accessible and meaningful to all. Mindfulness and relational teacher education offer effective ways to engage aspiring teachers in preparing youth for a diverse and changing world.

This volume provides insights into the teaching and learning practices and experiences of diversity educators and their students. College-level teachers from such disciplines as biology, social work, sex education, communication, political science, English literature, and criminology share their general philosophy of teaching and the challenges they face in the classroom. This unique book integrates compelling letters from former students within each teacher’s chapter. These narratives provide insightful observations about diversity lessons learned while in class–and how classroom experiences have transferred to these former students’ professional and personal lives.This book will be useful to college teachers who currently teach courses with a diversity-focused content, or who plan to incorporate diversity content within an existing course. Directors of teaching and learning centers, coordinators of doctoral programs and TA centers will also find helpful information and insights about pedagogy, process, and learning outcomes.

The voices of college students and teachers vividly enlighten readers about the real-world challenges of multicultural education. Courses on diversity abound in American universities today. But open classroom discussion of racial and gender differences can evoke discomfort as much as new understandings. Negotiating these courses takes a toll on both faculty and students as classrooms become filled with emotion. Based on student and teacher experience in a range of American colleges and universities, this book shows how to meet these challenges and create a truly open and beneficial environment. The authors demonstrate pedagogical strategies and new approaches. A vital resource for teachers, students, college administrators, and university libraries. Contents: Introduction. Dialogue on Diversity Teaching. From Silence and Resistance to Tongues Untied. The Racial Experiment. Starting with a Story and Sharing the Discussion Leading. Irritating, Supporting & Representing. Identity Matters in Class. What Lies Beneath. Conclusion.