Talking about diversity might be my thing. It might be not. For the most part of my; life I lived in well diversified cities in the Middle East, North America and Europe. Societies that are, supposedly, tolerant, open minded and free too.
Despite of this fact I felt being singled out and pointed at; based on my ethnic background. What will happen if I was a female too? I asked myself. having said that, I still believe in diversity. I think the world would be a very boring place if all of us were the exact copy of each other. This also led me to appreciate the concerns of people fearing to be discriminated against based on gender, colour, ethnic background or being from a visible minority.
In an educational institution; teachers and students are representative of the society. If the institution is not representative of the society (both teachers and students), you can say that there is something seriously wrong with this institution. Education should be inclusive and not reclusive (Parker 2007).
A successful teacher or a facilitator makes sure students feel very comfortable with him or her. Encourage them to participate in the educational process in a safe environment without being fearful that they would be judged. The sole job of a teacher or facilitator is to do whatever it takes to facilitate the students’ acquisition of knowledge (Parker 2007), (Academic teaching – Text book).
In my way of thinking, this is much easier said than done. Reflecting on the past 2 paragraphs raises a major question; how far should a teacher go to achieve that? If we assume that the university is a true representation of the society we can also assume that the students ability to acquire knowledge follow a Gaussian distribution. This leads us to assume that about 68% of the students are average students, about 27% are above average or below average, about 4% are either excellent or on the other side, sadly to say, have no ability to acquire knowledge. Average students Above Average Below Average Hopeless?
Looking from the student perspective, I have to admit that Sweden has the most sophisticated laws when it comes to equality. Any student being female, from a visible minority or suffering from some kind of disability need to be treated like everybody else, as a dyslexic student puts it (Academic teaching – Text book). Does this happen? Do teacher have enough training in order to navigate such situations? I do suspect that. A thorough study should be carried out to see how many un reported cases of abuse or harassment goes un reported compared to the reported. From the stories I hear I can say that very few cases are reported, this is my personal opinion and need to be proven through a controlled study.
I think before making any attempt on allowing a “teacher” to stand before students, she/he should be given an orientation course on the demographics of the school and what challenges the teacher is going to face and how to deal with those challenges. By the same token, students must also be given orientation course about their rights, and where to turn when they get violated.
Securities must be provided for students attempting to report a teacher or an administrator or even a fellow student with no fear of being punished or penalised in case they they decide to carry their complain till the end. Again, I would like to stress that the Swedish laws in the areas of equality and freedom are very sophisticated laws. Not to mention the Swedish discrimination act (Academic teaching – Text book). Parker, J. (2007). “Diversity and the academy.” Teaching in Higher Education 12(5-6): 787-792. Elmgrin M, Henriksson AS (2014). “Academic Teaching” ISBN 978-91-44-1010-9.
Feel Good 