Radical, Skewed, Benign, and Calculated: Reflections on Teaching Diversity

Authors

  • Michael Yellow Bird Assistant Professor, School of Social Welfare, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

Abstract

This narrative shares my experiences teaching diversity in an undergraduate social work program. First, I begin by sharing my experience teaching diversity as a Ph.D. student. Second, I discuss my experience teaching social work with First Nations in Canada and tell how this experience influenced how I later taught diversity. Third, I attempt to define diversity and discuss how broad and elusive I have found this topic to be. Fourth, I share different instructor roles I assumed in order to get students to appreciate the importance of this course. In this narrative, "Indigenous" and "First Nations" Peoples are used interchangeably to refer to the aboriginal Nations of the United States. I avoid, as much as possible, the terms "Indian, American Indian, and Native American" because I consider them to be colonized identities. When they are used, it is only in the context of a direct quote.

 

 

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How to Cite

Bird, M. Y. (2014). Radical, Skewed, Benign, and Calculated: Reflections on Teaching Diversity. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 5(2), 13–22. Retrieved from https://reflectionsnarrativesofprofessionalhelping.org/index.php/Reflections/article/view/606

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General Submissions