Diversity in Mr. Dube’s class

[Price Nicholas]

One thing that I’ve noticed about diversity in the classroom I’m in is how politically diverse it is. I went to school with a lot of racial and economic diversity for my whole life, but never with that much political diversity. Since I was in a city on the East coast, everyone was pretty liberal. In Northfield, though, this doesn’t seem to be the case. I was talking to Mr. Dube about how tough it can be to teach a class with both professor’s children, who tend to be liberal, and kids from rural parts of Northfield, who tend to be conservative. He explained to me that he already has had to deal with angry emails from parents who think he is teaching “critical race theory” whenever anything about race comes up in the class.

I also have been thinking about what it means to be a white teacher in a diverse classroom. I’ve been reflecting on the role you as the teacher can play in perpetuating aspects of the dominant culture. Additionally, discussions in class about the importance of role models for kids is a reminder that teachers have to remember it isn’t about them, and recognize when students need other figures besides themselves to be a role model.

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