The Importance of Educator Diversity in the Classroom

Written by Sasha Blakeley

Why Is Teacher Diversity Important?

Schools are places where most children spend several hours a day during some of the most formative years of their lives. Therefore, schools must provide the best possible environment for students to learn and thrive. One way to create a positive learning environment for all students and teachers is to consider a classroom's diversity. The United States is a racially and culturally diverse country with a student body that reflects that diversity. According to the Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA), more than 52% of students in the public school system are students of color. However, there are statistically relatively few teachers of color currently working in American schools, compared to the proportion of students of color learning today: just 20%, according to LDA statistics. Improving teacher diversity can help give students of color more positive role models while also creating a strong culture of respect within the classroom environment.

Teacher Diversity, Student Belonging

One of the best reasons to work toward greater teacher diversity is to improve students' sense of belonging. Students of color typically perform better in school when they get the opportunity to work with teachers from a similar background to their own. In the Tennessee Project STAR class-size study, students of color had higher test scores in reading and math, higher rates of college application, and a higher graduation rate when they had at least one teacher of color in grades three, four, or five. Students also tend to feel more comfortable in their school environment and have a better sense that they belong when they can see themselves represented in the teaching population. It is widely recognized that representation matters in media and other facets of culture; education is no different.

Teacher Diversity and Faculty Role Models

A diverse body of teachers within a school can make it easier for students from a variety of backgrounds to connect with teachers and see them as role models. Many students seek and benefit from seeing educators whose experiences, cultures, and backgrounds are similar to their own. Role models can help students, particularly younger students, conceptualize a future for themselves. In other words, teachers can help students see what is possible for them just by living their lives and doing their jobs. Many people have important childhood and adolescent memories of a teacher who changed their lives in one way or another. For many students of color, having a teacher of color can provide an anchor and a road map, allowing them to see the future in real terms instead of hypotheticals. According to a paper by Fordham & Ogbu (1986), one of the most significant benefits for students of color when they have teachers of color is that their own academic success is less stigmatized, and they feel less pressure to conform their actions to the standards set by white teachers and primarily white institutions.

The Power of Shared Experiences

Another way teacher diversity can help students of color is through the power of shared experiences. Teachers do more than impart information to their students. They also provide emotional support, wisdom, guidance, conflict resolution, and more. They help children and teenagers understand how to function in an educational environment and learn critical social skills they will need for the rest of their lives. Having a teacher who has lived experience from a similar cultural or racial background can provide students of color with the support that they might not otherwise have at school. Teachers of color may be more likely to understand their students' experiences with racialized bullying, microaggressions, and exclusion, providing advice and a sympathetic ear based on their own past experiences. They might be able to provide insight from their own lives that can help students build their confidence and feel understood. According to a paper by Skiba et al. (2002), Black students are more likely to be suspended and to experience other forms of discipline than other students, even when the specific type of infraction is taken into account. Teachers of color may be more likely to treat their students of color fairly, without relying on negative stereotypes.

Diverse Educators and Building Student Support Networks

When discussing educator diversity, most resources discuss racial diversity. It makes sense, particularly when considering the statistics on student and teacher diversity mentioned above. However, other forms of teacher diversity can also significantly impact student well-being. Disability visibility and LGBTQIA representation in teaching can also make a big difference to students' ability to feel that they fit in. Representation can help make school classrooms a safer space for students as they learn and grow. Diverse life experiences can also allow teachers to draw from their own backgrounds to make education more accessible and supportive of all students. Students still benefit from having a diverse set of teachers while growing up, even if they do not personally belong to any minority groups, and that benefit is in part because of the varied approaches that teachers can take when they have a broad range of life experiences from which to draw.

Teacher Diversity and Community Outreach

When a school has a diverse group of teachers, that school may be more likely to have a comprehensive understanding of the needs of the local community and student body. Teachers are likely to draw from their own experiences and their own priorities when considering what kinds of outreach a school should prioritize. As such, teachers who represent multiple aspects of the local community may be collectively better able to help meet that community's needs. If a community has a significant population of immigrants from a particular country or region, for instance, a teacher with a similar background might recognize the specific needs and interests of that population. For example, are there cultural or religious holidays that students from that group might need to observe? Are there any charitable projects the school can do to support different parts of the community adequately? Teacher diversity can be a step in the right direction when it comes to addressing all members of the community in a way that is inclusive, positive, and respectful. Outreach of this kind can, in turn, help students learn more about their communities and develop a greater respect and understanding for those around them, while also helping students who are part of minority groups feel more included.

Teacher Diversity and Parental Relationships

Hiring diverse educators is not something that only benefits students. It can also allow schools and teachers to create more positive relationships with parents of students of all ages. For the same reasons that teachers of color might better understand the specific lived experiences of their students of color, they might also have a better understanding of the concerns and needs of those students' parents and families. A school that is already practiced at welcoming and celebrating diversity in its students and its teachers might also be better able to connect with parents even when there is no teacher who shares a family's specific background. This is because a sincere and ongoing commitment to approaching diverse lives and experiences with respect and an open mind can help foster an inclusive and communicative environment for all members of the educational community, ultimately building more positive relationships with families.

Educator Diversity and Creating More Well-Rounded Students

Our world has become more and more globally connected, so cultural sharing is more prevalent and vital than ever before. For students to grow up with a strong understanding of the world around them, they need to be exposed to a variety of different life experiences and backgrounds, no matter where they live or what their background is. Educator diversity, in terms of race, disability status, national origin, religion, and many other factors, can help students learn more about each other, their teachers, different cultures, and the world. Diversity in the classroom can help dispel mistaken notions of cultural homogeneity that students might have. It can also help students get a better understanding of the experiences of others that can help them throughout their lives.

Creating Open-Minded Students

Teacher diversity can help promote open-mindedness among students just as it can help students feel represented. Having teachers from various backgrounds and even various countries can help students become more open-minded about how things are done in different parts of the world. Particularly for younger students, exposure to new ideas and new cultures might be a novel experience that can shape children's early memories and help build bridges. A teacher might provide information about their own background that goes above and beyond what the curriculum demands because of their expertise, ultimately enriching the curriculum and broadening students' minds. Diverse classroom experiences can also inspire students to pursue post-secondary education or even career choices they might not otherwise have considered. In short, open-mindedness in students' early years can have a profound effect even decades later.

Creating Empathetic Students

Another major benefit to teacher diversity can be increased empathy and respect in the school environment. A diverse teacher body or faculty body can help students understand from a young age that people who are different from them are just as complex, interesting, intelligent, and worthy of respect as people who are similar to them. This, in turn, can create empathy between students and might help reduce instances of bullying and exclusion. The mindset that these students develop is one that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives and one that they can pass on to others. Likewise, a diverse faculty and teacher body at a school can foster increased empathy and open-mindedness among the adults working in the school. Teachers who have colleagues implementing innovative or inclusive strategies in the classroom may be more likely to adopt those strategies themselves, regardless of their own background.

Preparing Students for a Diverse Work Environment

In many ways, school is a microcosm of the working world that students will join as adults. As the world becomes more interconnected on a global scale, it is becoming ever more likely that any job students hold in later life will require them to be prepared to work with people from diverse backgrounds. Understanding how to behave respectfully in diverse environments and how to create positive relationships with people whose life experiences are considerably different from their own are essential skills for all students to learn. Coming out of a school environment where diversity is treated as a positive, enriching element of human connection, students may be more likely to go into new experiences with an open mind and the necessary skills to form positive working relationships.

How to Increase Teacher Diversity

The benefits of teacher diversity in schools are clear, but school hiring boards might still be asking about the best ways of promoting and increasing teacher diversity in real-world, practical terms. There are many ways of promoting teacher diversity that depend on the school's current needs and environment. There are also many levels to consider when it comes to promoting teacher diversity. For instance, diversity initiatives are essential at the level of individual institutions but also at the level of school districts, states, and federal policy. Funding initiatives at every level can also help promote teacher diversity. Improving diversity in schools requires many people to work together to create meaningful change. Individual schools can and absolutely should consider the ways that their diversity standards can improve, but it is not solely up to them.

Broad Recruiting

One strategy that schools can use when hiring new teachers and other faculty is to try broad recruiting. This means looking at a variety of sources when considering new candidates. These sources can include areas outside of the community where the institution is located, including other parts of a city, neighboring towns, or even hiring faculty from overseas. Broad-based recruiting can help increase faculty diversity by looking further afield, especially when the area where the school is located is not particularly diverse. Of course, hiring from outside the local community can have drawbacks, especially if new teachers have to relocate a significant distance. Other ways of practicing broad recruiting can include hiring from minority communities with local populations, like immigrant groups, or hiring individuals who have recently moved to the area. This hiring technique can help bring fresh perspectives to a school and can improve a school's teacher diversity.

Grants, Scholarship, and Funding Opportunities

Another way to improve teacher diversity is at the level of funding. This may not be something that individual schools have much power over, but it is something that school boards should consider implementing. Creating grants, scholarships, and funding opportunities that specifically aim to improve diversity in hiring can open new doors for teachers and schools alike. School districts and school boards might consider allocating specific funding to overhaul hiring practices to make them more inclusive. Scholarships for aspiring teachers from diverse backgrounds can also help create a teacher education environment where individuals who want to become teachers experience fewer barriers to their success.

State-Specific Scholarships

There are state-specific scholarships for Black teachers and teachers from other minority racial backgrounds. The Black Educators Initiative run by Urban Teachers, for instance, offers help covering tuition in the form of scholarships, grant opportunities, and teaching salaries for qualified applicants.

Scholarships for Black Teachers

Teach For America offers a five-year grant that aims to train Black educators who are willing to spend time working in low-income schools. This program and others like it has the dual purpose of increasing the number of qualified Black teachers in America while also providing high-quality education to students in areas without strong educational funding.

Foundations for Teacher Diversity

The Teachers of Color Foundation aims to provide scholarships, equity training, emergency funding, and other support services for teachers of color. This foundation, like other similar initiatives, aims to support teachers of color and to improve the educational landscape in terms of racial equity and other elements of diversity.

It is not uncommon for individuals from minority groups to encounter systemic limitations and setbacks, many of which are financial. Dedicated grants that allow people from marginalized communities to achieve their career goals can have a lasting and positive effect both on the individuals who benefit from them and on the schools and students who later work with them. The grants and scholarships linked here can be beneficial, but more such programs are needed to address the current limitations of diversity among teachers fully.

Reassessing Standardized Tests like the Praxis Exam

One of the potentially unexpected ways that teacher diversity can sometimes be stymied is standardized testing. According to antiracist advocates who have examined the data on standardized tests from different racial groups, standardized tests have built-in cultural assumptions that favor white students over students of color. This results in, on average, lower standardized test scores across the board for students of color in the United States. These racial biases in tests may be compounded by poorer funding in school districts with higher proportions of students of color, leading to lower post-secondary achievement for students of color than for white students, on average. Even on post-secondary tests like the Praxis Exam for new teachers, there may be racial biases that provide a stumbling block for students of color who are hoping to become educators. Reassessing the structure and purpose of the Praxis test and examining standardized tests for racial biases is a major systemic overhaul, but it could make a significant difference in the educational landscape of the United States.