|
Commitment to the Values of Tolerance and Inclusiveness
Background
While we have chosen to use the phrase Commitment to the Values of Tolerance and Inclusiveness for this category, we understand there are many definitions for these words and the phrase itself. For this document, we have defined:
Tolerance as the open acceptance of other cultures, ideas, and opinions. In the field of education, you might hear the words multicultural education, equity, diversity, and culturally responsive instruction when individuals are promoting strategies to address tolerance. Inclusiveness as a process of encouraging full participation for everyone who has a role, a stake, or an interest in education. In the field of education, you might hear the words shared decision-making, stakeholder representation, or collaboration when individuals are promoting inclusive strategies.
When you see references to Tolerance and Inclusiveness, please use these broader definitions.
Also, we have narrowed the topics we introduce in this document to those that are addressed in PEN's Civic Index Poll. This poll is based on a series of public forums and surveys conducted across the nation over a five year period. As a result of this effort, we have identified indicators or common qualities that encourage meaningful involvement in public education. As you read the information in this series of support tools, carefully consider your community's situation:
How can you use the information and suggestions included in this material to help you build stronger civic involvement in education in your community?
PEN's Civic Index Indicators for the Commitment to the Values of Tolerance and Inclusiveness are:
School leadership reflects the diversity of the community Schools provide the same educational opportunities to students of all backgrounds Diverse groups have a say in community decision-making Schools provide quality services for special needs students (English language learners, special education students, etc.) The student population in local public schools reflects the diversity of the community.
When you first look at these indicators, you might think that most of them are under the control of the school. While it is true that school staff members often are the ones who apply policy to address issues related to these indicators, any member of a community can have an effect on policy. In fact, when schools are creating policy that has an effect on Tolerance and Inclusiveness, community input may be important, particularly if the school staff and community demographics differ.
Using this Resource
Remember that by making use of this material, you have taken a first step in your new role as an advocate for the Commitment to the Values of Tolerance and Inclusiveness in your school community. However, the most important thing in exploring new materials is in deciding how to use the materials. You can choose to study them as an individual or you can study them with others who are interested in this category.
Click here to download the Commitment to the Values of Tolerance and Inclusiveness worksheet to help you work through the new things you have learned. You can use this as a tool to take down your own thoughts or as a worksheet for group discussion.
Exploring and Organizing the Indicators
Though each of the indicators is separate, each connects with all the others. When a school actively recruits teachers from different backgrounds to match a student body representing different backgrounds, they are encouraging an atmosphere of tolerance, but they also are practicing inclusive strategies. Each indicator may stand alone, but it also is an interrelated part within the situation of a school community that supports Tolerance and Inclusiveness. In order to make our discussion of the indicators for this topic simpler, we have combined them into three broad topics.
Addressing issues that come from differences in culture, race, class, and language among school staff, student population, and community population.
Though Affirmative Action and programs such as Head Start were established to address inequalities that come from differences in culture, race, class, academic nature, and language, school staff often do not mirror their students in these areas. This does not mean that a teacher who has a different cultural background than the student population cannot teach those students. However, if we are to embrace tolerance and inclusiveness, we should show our intentions through words and action. It is very difficult for a principal to say we encourage tolerance when the faculty is all white and the students are not. Creating goals and committing to actions that will encourage these traits will have an effect on your Civic Index score.
To create opportunities to encourage a tolerant and inclusive culture to support education in your school community, you will need to:
support strategies that will raise awareness of differences and make those differences a strength not a weakness and encourage school leaders to create policies that support a tolerant and inclusive educational culture.
When the stakeholders - school staff, parents, community organizers, students and others - actively become involved in supporting policy and action to raise awareness and build tolerance and inclusiveness, students will benefit.
Making sure that all students have access to an equal education
While the efforts states are making to break down achievement scores by subgroups do provide data to help identify students who need special assistance, identification is not enough. When parents, community leaders, and school staff unite in efforts to take actions that directly address issues related to tolerance and inclusion, communities can raise their Civic Index scores.
To put into action processes that address equality, we need to:
embrace actions that make sure that the needs of every child are met and that every child is taught with high expectations encourage cooperative partnerships as a way to identify student needs, and encourage actions that show if our efforts are effective
In this category more than any of the others, we need to hold back from our tendency to jump to the solution without thoughtful investigation. Our society is full of assumptions about those who are culturally, physically, intellectually, emotionally, or economically different from the mainstream. If we are to adopt a tolerant and inclusive educational culture, we need to be ready to work together to provide opportunities to help all of our students reach high expectations.
Encouraging representation of all stakeholder groups in decision-making opportunities
While it is easy to state that we will create a representative team for decision-making, this is actually a very complicated issue. Sometimes, cultural influences actually create blocks to shared decision-making rather than encouraging this goal. In order to create inclusive teams, we need to:
reach out to all population groups take the time that is needed to form relationships, and build shared understanding about needs and roles as we encourage representative membership. Even though this can be a long process, efforts to actively reach out to diverse groups can result in rising Civic Index scores.
Overview of Research and Best Practices in this Field
Tolerance and Inclusiveness are about schools serving all students by welcoming their cultural groups and individualizing service and instruction so that every student has the chance to learn to his or her potential. Simply put, it is the closing of the achievement gap. While states are holding schools accountable for making sure that all students meet high standards, parents and communities can support this effort by helping schools understand their community and voicing their expectations for the success of every child.
When community organizations, parents, and other service groups work cooperatively to encourage tolerance and inclusiveness, their efforts can lead to the following results:
Opportunities for building shared understanding lead to greater respect and caring that encourages relationships and meaningful interactions. Policies and support for improvement programs are more representative of the needs of the entire population when school staff and decision-making teams reflect representative membership Participants are able to break down the assumptions that have become barriers to tolerance and inclusiveness. School staff gain greater understanding of student needs Parents and community members who typically have not been involved in school activities become advocates for education and define roles for their own involvement
As you work to promote a culture in your school community that supports tolerance and inclusiveness, remember that each community is unique. Because of this, there are no one-size-fits-all methods to put these programs into action. However, when people involved:
explore the effect each member of the community can have in improving education for all students explore strategies to use when working with school staff to address diversity issues, and encourage meaningful relationships among all stakeholders that support all students these efforts can provide new resources to support student needs.
Key Issues
The information in this section is designed to provide an understanding of key issues related to efforts to create a Commitment to the Values of Tolerance and Inclusiveness. These explanations explore what we know about the best ways to create these programs. As we said in the introductory section, we have limited the key issues to those related to the indicators. This approach removed some issues you might consider important. However, the ones remaining are central to your efforts to raise your Civic Index score.
As you read these explanations, pay close attention to the kinds of activities and the qualities of involvement described. Use the ideas presented as you design or change efforts to actively involve a wide representation of the community in promoting the values of tolerance and inclusiveness in education and in your efforts to raise your Civic Index score.
Key Issue 1: Common Ground-Where Do We Start?
When members of a community focus on their differences and why they cannot work together, diversity keeps people apart. However, when members of community recognize their differences and focus their efforts on using those differences to address complicated issues that require a number of solutions, diversity becomes a community's strength. Tolerance and inclusiveness are a natural outgrowth of communities who have recognized, embraced, and used their differences to meet identified needs.
Participants in effective tolerance and inclusiveness programs find common ground on which to build meaningful efforts by:
demonstrating caring and support for one another honoring the hopes and dreams of all who join the effort exploring differences in culture, classes, race, economics, and education acknowledging differences and similarities openly providing time for different groups to interact and exchange dreams, beliefs, and plans addressing blocks to participation immediately creating multiple levels of action for each effort communicating one-on-one as much as possible.
Key Issue 2: Building Shared Understanding and Meaningful Relationships-What Are the Keys to a Successful Program?
Many adults would rather address fact-based issues instead of the "softer" issues, such as building understanding and establishing relationships. They would rather deal with the concrete elements rather than abstract concepts. However, the complexity of addressing issues related to tolerance and inclusiveness requires that all involved take part in activities that encourage shared understanding and meaningful relationship, or the so-called "softer" issues. These issues are the glue that holds programs together and allows them to reach their full potential. In addressing the two aspects of this key issue, planners should remember that it takes time and repeated interaction for these traits to develop.
Key Issue 3: School Leadership and Decision Making-What Roles Do Leaders Play in Encouraging Tolerance and Inclusiveness?
Research and best practice point to the need to focus on leadership when you are addressing issues related to tolerance and inclusiveness. Without leaders to focus and direct action and policy, the efforts are likely to have limited effect or even no effect. However, as people involved address leadership issues, they need to approach these issues from two viewpoints:
Formal leaders such as administrators, lead teachers, leaders in political positions, community organizers who have named positions that put them into this role Informal leaders such as parents, members of organizations, committee members who assume roles of leadership to accomplish a purpose, but do not have a named position
Both leader types need to be prepared to use shared decision-making strategies as a tool in designing these efforts as well as promoting the ideas of tolerance and inclusiveness.
For more information on processes to include in leadership and decision-making, you might review the following categories: Active Parents, Use of School Performance Data to Improve School Quality, Active Business, and Community, Strong Civic Organizations.
Key Issue 4: Social Capital-How Can We Make a Difference?
Unfortunately, many of those who represent diverse populations also are some of the neediest members of our society. Language, poverty, historical custom, or other factors have given them few resources to use to bring about a better life for themselves or their children. While we like to think of education as the great equalizer; the reality is that some members of our society have very little knowledge of how to change their lives.
However, tolerance and inclusiveness can open the door to new resources - specifically social capital. There are those who have needs and interests who are never heard. Society, schools, and teachers have made them used to being silent. However, those on the edges of the culture can change their circumstances by becoming involved in new types of activities and interacting with others who have the power or authority to bring about change. Through these actions, a person gains "social capital." Though defining this term can be complicated, for our purposes, we can define "social capital" as involvement in efforts where networks of individuals or groups help provide the information, resources, and support to help in accomplishing goals.
Community members, parents, and school staff can work together to develop programs that will allow social capital to flourish.
Once you've completed the Civic Index Poll in your community find out how you can improve your score in this category by visiting the Tips and Strategies section.
|
