January 2006 -- The True Meaning of Diversity

As we all look forward to the promise of the new year, I would like to take a moment to focus on the subject of diversity. We have made a commitment to tackle the complex work that lies ahead for us in realizing greater diversity in our school through the diversity challenge grant and the newly formed diversity board committee, but what I would like to explore here is the vital importance of creating a truly diverse environment for our children and for our school. In fact, nothing less than our children’s future is at stake here.

One of the foundational tenets of progressive education is that ethics and morality are explicit or central parts of all curricula. You may find that statement strong and a natural reaction might be that building a diverse community would necessarily exclude any explicit or central ethical and moral “teaching” or learning in the interest of inclusiveness. In fact, these are not at all mutually exclusive conditions.

The type of ethical or moral education that our children should receive through all parts of our curricula and through any school activity should be in defining and modeling clear core values that would then make our environment a sanctuary for families and children of diverse backgrounds. And, most importantly, these values can’t and must not be diluted in relativism. What are some of these core values? Respect, genuine interest in the “other,” personal responsibility, honesty and integrity are among the core, irrefutable principles upon which life at a place like PDS must always be based. Yet even these core values find varying expression within different cultures. Our work, therefore, is to understand this profoundly and richly.

As a Russian, born in Belgium and raised in Canada, and someone from a distinctly minority faith, I have almost always felt more comfortable and more safe at PDS than anywhere I’d been before. Over the years, however, I’ve heard occasionally from voices that felt marginalized in whatever seemed to be a prevailing view, usually political, but sometimes racial, ethnic, ethical or moral. The point here is for all members of this community to feel comfortable in being the lone voice, the minority view, and to feel valued by the majority that disagrees with them. As we move forward in creating a welcoming climate for a truly diverse group of families, we need to work at acquiring intentional habits of conveying our value of the “other.” This must not and cannot ever be a school where all meaningful dialogue and engagement ceases in order for superficial harmony to prevail, or where people of any group feel the need to leave their unequivocal beliefs at the door. As civil discourse deteriorates in our culture we need, again, to become all the more intentional in teaching our children to engage in substantive discourse where there might be disagreement, in respecting a differing view while comfortably upholding one’s own, and in conveying this mutual sense of value.

Statistically, for any minority to feel true membership in a diverse group requires that about 20% of the community share the same heritage or view. In a small school like ours, that statistical “comfort zone” may not always be realized. Therefore, our work must be that much more intentional, and our opportunity for creating a welcoming community for diverse groups is unique.

Finally, why is our children’s future at stake here? Functioning successfully in an increasingly global community will require of our children skills that are largely counter-intuitive to our natural tribal tendencies. That is precisely the gem, the gift of an education in a small school. Our children do not have the option to stay away from the unfamiliar, the different. They are challenged to truly know each other and respectfully work together. We, their teachers and parents, must challenge ourselves in this respect as well.

I look forward to further discussions with you on this subject, and also further discourse through the able leadership of community trustee Lorraine Roberts, the chair of our board diversity committee. Meanwhile, I wish you all a very blessed new year.

Sincerely,

Liz Vinogradov
Acting Head of School