Equality and diversity, refers to accepting and promoting people’s differences whilst securing no-one is marginalised due to factors such as their age, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or race.
Raising awareness of the notion that all individuals should be treated equally and fairly, helps to support moral and social attitudes, shaping students’ adult lives.
Teaching and promoting equality and diversity in the classroom, should offer students the means to discuss and explore their opinions in a supportive way.
Here we have 10 tips to promote equality and diversity in the classroom:
- Always challenge negative attitudes.
- Be aware of humour and jokes amongst students as these can sometimes be derogatory around stereotypes; challenge them.
- Ensure the diversity of your students is reflected in your lesson plans and activities.
- Ensure learning materials are non-racist, non-sexist, and non-discriminatory.
- Ensure you have adapted and provided support for those students who need extra help.
- Incorporate differing learning styles into your teaching plans.
- Ensure plans and activities are accessible to the whole class.
- Ensure written materials and your own language is non-racist, non-sexist, and non-discriminatory.
- Promote multiculturalism through your learning resources.
- When dividing the class into groups, ensure you mix them appropriately, not a girls’ group or a boys’ group.