Tori Valaski

Trish Engelhardt
EDUC 450
4 Oct 2018
Diversity Symposium Reflection
I was able to attend the “Beyond Feathers and Fluff” keynote with Susan Faircloth and

“Addressing the Teacher Shortage and Preparing a Culturally Responsive Profession” with

Angela Lewis, Ann Sebald, and Kara Coffino during the Diversity Symposium. Both of these

seminars gave me a lot to think about as a social studies teacher and as a student at Colorado

State University.

One of the big takeaways from this keynote was that a culture shouldn’t be just boiled

down to paper feathers. Every student comes to us with different cultures, and we must be aware

of how we teach them in our classroom. It is our job as teachers to make every child feel safe and

honor their background and culture. As a future social studies teacher, I want my students to

understand that Native Americans are not just people from the past. They are still with us, and

have their own stories to tell. It is also important to look at history from their perspective and

take into account that many of the achievements of white and other citizens has occurred at the

expense of Native Americans. As our classrooms become filled with students with diverse

backgrounds, it is important for teachers to reflect on how to teach about different groups of

people in our classroom.

The second seminar that I attended helped give me insight on how important cultural

responsiveness is in education. One of my big takeaways from this was the idea that fair is not

equal. We often think that it is important that students have equal opportunities in school.

However, all students are different and have different strengths and needs, and therefore, our
interactions with our students should be different depending on the student. Some students may

need more assistance than other, while others might not need any at all. I think this is really

important to consider as a teacher. By recognizing that all students are different, teachers can

prepare a lesson centered on the students in their class. They can give students choices in their

learning and work with them in the ways that best fit their personal needs. Creating fair

opportunities benefits every student in a classroom as well as the teacher. It can also be

empowering to students when they are able to have a choice in what they are learning or how

they show their knowledge on a subject.

The seminars helped me to put into perspective how diverse the students that we teach

are. Every student has a background and a story that influences who they are and how they learn.

By taking into account these differences, we as teachers can create an enriching experience that

benefits all students.