It’s surprising how different people are, even if they’re from the same town and go to the same school. This is exciting, and it’s also not obvious, so take some time to help students learn about themselves and others when you can.
Janelle, an ALT at my school, gave a wonderful little workshop on beauty. She opened by giving students 2 minutes to find a picture of something beautiful and then we looked at all of them. In a class of twenty-one, the only cluster of similar answers we saw was three students who chose Korean pop idols. Three out of twenty-one. That was an eye-opener to me and to our students, and it’s a cool illustration of the false consensus effect.
MLK’s I Have a Dream speech is sometimes taught in junior high school English classes. In 2020, Black Lives Matter became a global movement. One of my coworkers spent many class hours on feminism and women’s rights last year. There are so many great topics, and choosing them depends on your interests and your students’ willingness to engage.
Here are some materials that connect with diversity.
- Who You Are. This card game is a great ice breaking game for new classmates and new teammates.
- Oceans Game. This gimmicky game helps students realize that teamwork is much more open-ended than we sometimes believe.
- Common Core Values. This is an activity where students learn about what values they and their classmates think are important. It may surprise students to see the variety of opinions in the class.
- Culture and Thought. This is a class that focuses on cultures around the globe. Many topics and activities in it expose students to cultural diversity.
- Diversity Lesson. Put students in groups and ask them to create and deliver a presentation on diversity or discrimination. They can choose their topics, but they have to show clear examples. Here are the files (PDF, ODT).
Here are a few slideshows on discrimination.
ESL Tokyo 