Problems and Possibilities in the Pursuit of Diversity: An Institutional Analysis Special Issue: Partnering for Equity

Abstract

This article describes and analyzes institutional and college efforts at the University of Wyoming (UW) to address diversity issues and promote multicultural perspectives in a variety of contexts. The UW college of education (COE), a focus of the article, is engaged in strategic efforts to make the preparation of teachers a university-wide responsibility. The described initiatives illustrate both successes and shortcomings in pursuit of the authors' diversity-related aims. The authors utilize Davidman's (1994) six "goals for multicultural education'' as a framework to analyze and critique ongoing diversity related activities. This formative analysis is used to determine and guide future actions.T he college of education (COE) at the University of Wyoming (UW) is engaged in strategic efforts to make the preparation of teachers a university-wide responsibility. Our aims include preparing preservice educators who teach with a "multicultural perspective'' (Davidman, 1994) and that have the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to be successful in a wide range of educational environments, including diverse schooling contexts. Like Irvine and Armento (2001), we believe "diversity refers to culture, ethnicity, race, gender, language, religion, values, and physical/mental abilities/disabilities that characterize each person'' (p. 22). We include sexual orientation in our definition and seek to nurture this "multicultural perspective'' in our colleagues, our students, and ourselves.The university, however, is located in a relatively ethnically and linguistically homogeneous state and local community. United States Census Bureau (2000) data categorizes 92.1% of the state's population as white. Census data also reflect that 93.6% of Wyoming households speak English only. Albany County, the home county of the university, has similar percentages of white residents and English-only households. Likewise, 7% of the students in the COE and only two tenure-line faculty members (of nearly 50) are ethnic minorities. Both the lack of ethnic minority students and faculty at the college level and the lack of immediately available field-based sites

Thinking Critically about Difference: Analytical Tools for the 21st Century

“…Both of these liberating and colonizing ideologies, policies, practices, and pedagogies are evident in schools and college classrooms and serve as "tension and contradiction" within these institutions (Trent et al, 2003). McLaren (2003) explains that we should view "the school not simply as an arena of indoctrination or socialization or a site of instruction, but also as a cultural terrain that promotes student empowerment and self-transformation" (p. 70).…”