ABSTRACT
This chapter recognises two common discourses of diversity – assimilation and celebration. The alternative discourses of assimilation or celebration would frame the situation differently. Assimilation aims to negate difference and co-opt it into the norm, thereby eliding the salience of difference and perpetuating hegemonic norms. Resistance to an assimilationist approach to diversity is well illustrated by the student protests at South African universities in 2015 and 2016. The alienation and sense of dislocation experienced by many black students in institutions of higher learning has been the catalyst to push back against a model of assimilation that in many ways leaves white privilege unchallenged. Critical Diversity Literacy (CDL) can also enable the interrogation of the experiences of both teachers and learners in schools. The CDL criteria include a useful analytical tool for teacher education in relation to events such as those at Pretoria High School for Girls.
