In this “Internet Reviews” column we enhance our understanding of multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusivity through a number of educational and organizational websites

Bartlett, Jennifer A.

English

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky UKnowledge Library Faculty and Staff Publications University of Kentucky Libraries Spring 2020 We All Belong: Celebrating Multiculturalism, Diversity, and Inclusivity Jennifer A. Bartlett University of Kentucky, jen.bartlett@uky.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/libraries_facpub  Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits you. Repository Citation Bartlett, Jennifer A., "We All Belong: Celebrating Multiculturalism, Diversity, and Inclusivity" (2020). Library Faculty and Staff Publications. 310. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/libraries_facpub/310 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Kentucky Libraries at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Library Faculty and Staff Publications by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu. We All Belong: Celebrating Multiculturalism, Diversity, and Inclusivity Notes/Citation Information Published in Kentucky Libraries, v. 84, no. 2. Kentucky Libraries has granted the permission for posting the article here. This article is available at UKnowledge: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/libraries_facpub/310 KentucKy Libraries • VoLume 84 • number 26D E P A R T M E N T       K E N t U c K y  l I b R a R y  a S S o c I a t I o Ninternet reviewsby JENNIfER a. baRtlEttINtERIm aSSocIatE dEaN of tEacHING, lEaRNING, & RESEaRcH • UNIVERSIty of KENtUcKy lIbRaRIESWE ALL BELONGCELEBRATING MULTICULTURALISM,DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSIVITYAccepting and celebrating human differences and variety are one of the hall-marks of strong organizations and communities. Cultural, age, racial, religious, physical, cognitive, gender, sexual orientation: the spectrum of differences among people is complex and far-ranging. Recognizing and understanding these many types of differences is vital to our work in libraries. Indeed, a core tenet of the American Library Association Code of Ethics is “We provide the highest level of service to all library users through appropriate and usefully organized resources; equitable service policies; equitable access; and accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests.” (http://www.ala.org/tools/ethics)Working toward the goal of equity for all requires understanding, acceptance, and respect for individual and group differences. In this “Internet Reviews” column we enhance our understanding of multiculturalism, diversity, and inclu-sivity through a number of educational and organizational websites.Teaching Tolerancehttps://www.tolerance.orgBased in Montgomery, Alabama, Teaching Tolerance is a group of educators and writers with a mission to build an awareness of social justice among classroom teachers nationwide. In addition to developing curricular resources, the group also publishes the semiannual Teaching Tolerance magazine and curates an active website with free resources for K-12 educators includ-ing classroom activities and resources, professional development content, podcasts, and links to ordering multimedia kits, handbooks, and other resourcesUsers can browse or search free lessons, which can be filtered by grade level, subject, topic, or social justice topic. The Learning Plan Builder, based on the four domains of the Social Justice Standards (identity, diversity, justice, and action), allows educators to construct grade-appropriate lesson plans inte-grating materials from a student texts library, performance assessments, and step-by-step classroom activities. The site’s resources are also arranged by key topics: race and ethnicity, religion, ability, class, immigration, gender and sexual identity, bullying and bias, and rights and activism.“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilisation.”– Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, Jan. 8, 1925.KentucKy Libraries • VoLume 84 • number 27Rethinking Schoolshttps://www.rethinkingschools.orgInstituted in 1986, this non-profit educational materials publisher is commit-ted to “equity and to the vision that public education is central to the creation of a humane, caring, multiracial democracy.” In addition to books on a wide range of topics including school reform, bilingual education, ethnic studies, social justice, and teaching best practices, Rethinking Schools also publishes a self-titled magazine and a blog. There’s also free content through the site’s articles, book catalog, and e-newsletter.The website also links to the Zinn Education Project (https://www.zinnedproj-ect.org), which is a collaboration between Rethinking Schools and the publish-ing house Teaching for Change (https://www.teachingforchange.org). The Project focuses on teaching people’s history in K-12 classrooms and offers free lessons and article organized by grade level, time period, and general theme.National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME)   https://nameorg.orgFounded in 1990, NAME is an international organization focused on “issues of equity, inclusion, diversity, and justice in schooling” and organizes events and activities through regional chapters. Its quarterly journal, Multicultural Perspectives, features articles on professional practice in K-12 and higher education settings. Of particular interest is the section on multicultural learning, which features videos and other resources in five student outcomes: positive academic identities, posi-tive social identities, respectful engagement with diverse people, social justice consciousness, and social justice actions. There are also links to case studies, TED/TEDx talks by NAME members, and an interesting FAQ. Inclusive Schools Networkhttps://inclusiveschools.org/The ISN grew out of Inclusive School Week, first held in 2001 and now taking place during the first week in December. The organization’s mission is “To encourage, embolden and empower people to design and implement effective inclusive schools, by sharing insights and best practices and by providing opportunities for connection.” To help further those goals, the organization provides a well-organized, thoughtfully-curated collection of resources includ-ing inclusion basics, lesson plans, assessment strategies, best practices, how-to articles, success stories, and more. There’s also an Inclusion Basics mini-course, self-assessment tool, and a newsletter.Awesome Library Multicultural Websiteshttps://www.awesomelibrary.org/Classroom/Social_Studies/Multicultural/Multicultural.htmlThe Awesome Library is the brainchild of educator Dr. R. Jerry Adams, current executive director of the Evaluation and Development Institute, a group that “promotes the development of high level knowledge, skills and opportunities for leaders and future leaders across cultures in the service of world peace.” The website itself is a simple homegrown affair consisting of lists of links coded in HTML and is supported through advertisements. However, links to resources are well-orga-nized (if sometimes a bit out-of-date) and cover a lot of ground, offering direct links to articles, news, videos, and lesson plans in areas including cultural competence, equity, countries, and specific cultural groups. Think Inclusivehttps://www.justwatch.com/usOffering guest blog articles and podcasts, the Think Inclusive website is an interesting source for good information about inclusivity in education. The group’s mission is to “build a bridge between parents, educators, and advo-cates to advocate for inclusive education. We do this by publishing articles by disabled advo-cates, parents of children with disabilities, and educators who are ‘all-in’ for inclusion.” The core of the site is its collection of frequent essays from education professionals and others involved in inclusive education, writing on topics from accommo-dations to universal design for learning.Family Diversity Projectshttps://familydiv.orgAt the core of Family Diversity Projects (FDP) is a series of traveling photo-text diversity exhibits that are available to K-12 schools, colleges, libraries, and conferences. Exhibit topics include multiracial families, LGBT and allied clergy, immigrants and refugees, gender identity and more. Clicking on the main page for the exhibits gives visitors some additional topical resources and related links, and there are several excellent ideas for presenting similar exhibits at your own institution.Jennifer A. Bartlettjen.bartlett@uky.edu

We All Belong: Celebrating Multiculturalism, Diversity, and Inclusivity

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We All Belong: Celebrating Multiculturalism, Diversity, and Inclusivity

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