When You Give a Student Readings on Diversity…
As an aspiring learning designer, I’m constantly shaping and re-shaping my “design philosophy”. I’m also currently a graduate student, hence the “aspiring” aspect of learning designer. To build my design philosophy, I collect tidbits of inspiration and values from role models, those I work with, and courses I take. However, one class I’m currently enrolled in is influencing my philosophy more than any other classes I’ve taken before.
“Diversity” in Higher Education: Discourse, Policy, and Practice offered through Georgetown University’s Master’s in Learning, Design, and Technology program, challenges students to critically assess diversity, equity, power, privilege, and access in higher education. As you can imagine, this course consumes much of my head space at the moment and has me constantly thinking about two questions in particular:
As a designer, how can I ensure my work aligns with social justice?
As a student, how can I create institutional change?
To start trying to answer these questions, I spoke with the course professor, who is also the Assistant Director for Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives at Georgetown University, Michelle Ohnona. She has a wonderful voice to listen to and so eloquently explains difficult issues (and gives examples!) that I jumped at the opportunity to talk with her one-on-one.
What are your thoughts on how to embed diversity in pedagogy and curriculum?
As a designer, I’m consistently analyzing my work, wary of the hidden curriculum. I was seeking advice on how to ensure diversity is included in learning design from the get go. Ohnona emphasized that creating pathways that put students in touch with courses leveraging issues of inequity and power while they obtain their degree is an effective way to embed diversity in curriculum.
“One of the challenges, and this is a really big challenge, is that anti-oppression work is highly interdisciplinary.”
By interdisciplinary, Ohnona explained that a philosophy requirement is taught by people with Ph.Ds in philosophy, from the philosophy department. However, that is not the case for a curricular diversity requirement, where multiple disciplines can be associated with diversity scholarship and people with a variety of backgrounds can teach courses that discuss topics surrounding diversity. This interdisciplinarity is clearly illustrated with UCLA’s Diversity Courses Master List, wherein you can search for diversity-tagged courses by department. I wonder, how can we design courses that leverage this inherent interdisciplinarity?
How do you measure progress on diversity work in education?
To follow up on my previous question, I asked about assessing diversity work. Ohnona explained that, at an institutional level, ethnography can help describe the structure and players in the university as well as collect qualitative data from multiple points of contact and about a broad range of elements.
“One of the complicated things I will say about assessing the effectiveness of diversity work is that uncertainty and discomfort might actually be indicators of an effective curriculum or pedagogy.”
Diversity work may involve deep, introspective learning that results in a perspective or worldview shifting. This kind of work is open-ended, a process, and can “at least in the first instance, engender more confusion that certainty.” In this area where “not everything that counts can be counted”, qualitative data and analysis may be one of the best assessment methods.
What can institutions do to improve educational outcomes for students of color?
A study conducted at the University of Michigan found that informal social interactions between students of mixed backgrounds are more important in obtaining learning benefits through diversity than just admitting a diverse student body. Ohnona spoke to fostering spaces where such informal interactions can occur. In thinking about academic enrichment of students of color, Ohnona believes that a real disservice is done to students when institutions think of learning as happening only in the classroom. She expands, saying that institutions should instead see “affinity spaces for students of color and indigenous students as being spaces of actual pedagogical enrichment.” Institutions should support these spaces, nurture their growth, provide resources, and care for the staff running these units. What if students are not satisfied with the state of these spaces on their campuses?
What’s one way students can instigate institutional change?
“The nature of institutions is that they require pressure in order to change. This is exactly where I see the power of the student voice comes into play.” I perked up in my seat at hearing this — student activists, where you at? Ohnona continued to describe how students, paired with tenured faculty, are in some of the best positions to advocate for institutional change. Partnerships between students and faculty are strong when it comes to diversity work. Students wanting to invite faculty members into workshops and conversations about their experience holds influence and sway, and may be a part of the future of diversity work in general. Another faculty member at Georgetown expressed similar views. At the recent “Edges That Blur” event, Dr. Marcia Chatelain talked with Dr. Dan Porterfield from The Aspen Institute about student activism and institutional response. Chatelain emphasized the “use of narratives to galvanize students and challenge an institution.” I couldn’t snap in agreement loud enough.
You can imagine my sadness when it was time to end the conversation. Even when talking about a societal issue that can easily cause feelings of despair and helplessness, Ohnona made diversity work inspiring and energizing. As a White learning designer/student in a predominantly White graduate program on a predominantly White campus, I’m grappling with my role in diversity work and the larger picture of institutional change. Part of understanding my place will come with understanding diversity — a term that, while currently seems to be a descriptor for student body demographics, is much more nebulous, one that warrants inquiry and scholarship. Establishing a space where students and faculty can discuss diversity, equity, power, and privilege might very well create a powerful driving force for diversity work in and on institutions. To include one last quote from Michelle Ohnona,
“we do [diversity work] because it’s right and we do it because that’s how we move toward a more just society.”
Even though these two questions seem to be turning into an identity crisis as of late, I now have a bit of guidance towards their answers. Designer-me will research inclusive pedagogy, culturally-relevant pedagogy, and benefits of interdisciplinarity. Student-me will talk with my peers and start a dialogue with faculty to make change. I may not know where these two paths will take me, but I’m positive both paths will shape my design philosophy for the better.
