Title

Conceptualizing Diversity in Applied Learning

Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

2010

Keywords

Teaching tolerance, Underrepresented communities, Applied learning

Abstract

I tell my students I am going to engage them in discussions, exercises, and fieldwork practices of things I wish I had experienced in the classroom—rather than as a working journalist in the field, on deadline, without guidance, and without anyone with whom I could discuss ideas and concerns. As a journalist, I often covered underrepresented communities in which I had to learn to communicate in different ways, check my assumptions at the door, discern values, and earn the trust of people whose lived experience was different than mine. To ask the right questions, to step with both feet into different environments, to convey others' perspectives accurately, and to broaden coverage beyond "official" sources are at the heart of good journalism. They need to be part of a comprehensive journalism education. My goal is not to tell students what to do or think or say in regard to diversity, but how to enter into new experiences and to, as best they can, see issues through other peoples' eyes.

In my view, teaching about diversity is not issue-specific or designed to study a different non-dominant "other-of-the-week." People and issues don't fit in tidy categories; and good teaching and good journalism recognize that. In my class, teaching diversity is based on self-examination, mindset, and approach.

Sponsorship/Conference/Institution

Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment

Location

Western Washington University

Comments

The Innovative Teaching Showcase is a publication created by the Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment (CIIA) at Western Washington University as a way to highlight and share exceptional teaching practices by WWU faculty.

Each year the Western community nominates WWU instructors who exemplify the Showcase teaching strategy theme.

Showcases include:

  • video interviews
  • portfolio write-up of teaching approach accompanied by syllabi, assignments, examples, comments, and resources
  • alignment to institutional goals

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Journalism--Study and teaching; Journalism and public relations; Journalistic ethics; Reporters and reporting

Genre/Form

lectures

Type

Moving Image

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

Link to Full Text
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