By Dick Rasmussen, Vice-President of HF-L Board of Education

Diversity! What is it? What do we do with it or about it? What difference does is make?

Learning about diversity, understanding its complexity, recognizing its value, and celebrating all that it offers is a personal journey. As with most personal journeys, it is one that never stops, but rather evolves continuously.

Each of us — yes, every one of us — has a personal cultural identity that shapes who we are and filters our perception of the world around us and those we contact each day of our lives. It impacts our behavior in the classroom, in the workplace, in social settings, in our personal relationships, in our homes, in all aspects of our lives. Our personal cultural identity has many facets. At its core, it is shaped by gender, race, ethnicity, age, ability, sexual orientation. Factors such as economic status, parental status, religious beliefs, geography, personality, physical appearance, education, language, work experience, marital status, learning style, and other personal characteristics all add dimensions to our identities as well. Our interests, life experiences, and the organizations to which we belong also shape our personal cultural identity.

To understand, appreciate, and value the complexity of another individual or group, we must first understand the complexity and depth of our own personal cultural identity, for that identity will inevitably filter our perceptions of other individuals and groups. This leads to an interesting paradox of diversity. The more we come to know about ourselves and about each other, the more uniqueness we discover and the more commonality we discover.

We can use our commonality as a base, and from that base we can capitalize on our various unique abilities. This is a win-win situation. It is a competitive necessity — whether in business, research, government, or education. Seeking, achieving, managing, and celebrating diversity begins with introspection. It requires long-term commitment. It involves reaching beyond our fears, prejudices, and stereotypes. It succeeds by practicing and building trust, respect, and self-respect.

Understanding diversity and taking advantage of the diversity that exists in the world around us is entirely about success and achieving excellence. It is about realizing our full potential by developing diversity skills such as flexible thinking, appreciating and maintaining pride in one’s background and culture, the ability to network and learn from anyone and everyone, the ability to deal effectively with barriers, and the ability to balance “fitting in” and “being yourself". It is about recruiting the best and the brightest teachers and staff by drawing from the entire pool of talents and abilities to be found in the work force. It is about opening our minds and hearts to opportunities and empowering students, faculty, staff, and administrators to turn opportunity into reality. It is about making ourselves accountable for being all that we can be. It is about being better people.

Within any organization, making a commitment to understanding, valuing, and celebrating diversity must begin with the leadership of the organization. Our Board of Education, in concert with the Superintendent and District Leadership Team, has embarked upon such a journey. The establishment of a Diversity Task Force comprising teachers, students, staff, Board members, and community members has been a significant step in moving this process forward. It is a journey that, for the Board, began almost two years ago with a discussion in one of our agenda-setting meetings. The topic of exploring diversity issues was raised — not in response to some crisis or problem that needed to be solved — but in response to the urging of several board members who deeply valued their own personal experiences around diversity and who suggested the educational value of providing students, faculty, and staff with a better understanding of diversity and opportunities to develop skills and a broader array of experiences around diversity. As a result, the Board and District Leadership Team devoted a summer workshop to learning more about diversity. During the succeeding year, that same workshop opportunity was extended to two groups of teaching staff. The workshops were well received and generated further discussions which led the Board to designate the development of a diversity initiative as one of its priorities and to move ahead with the creation of a Diversity Task Force this winter.

Through these actions, the Board of Education has expressed its commitment to promoting a broad understanding of diversity in all its various dimensions as a means to building and strengthening an inclusive sense of community across our School District and enhancing the overall educational experience of our students. It is a commitment to a journey. It is a commitment to an inclusive partnership with the whole of our community to provide our students with a set of skills and experiences that will enhance their education and better prepare them to enter the world of the 21^st century — a world of ever-increasing diversity.

The following poem, I believe, offers a simple, yet elegant, means of affirming a commitment to the kind of journey we are suggesting. Its author is unknown.