ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author takes up the issue of diversity in rural classrooms. Traditional ways of thinking about diversity typically focus on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender expression, and neurodiversity (among others)—and we often speak of “others” as “being diverse” because they are different from majority White and Western notions of typical. Teaching for diversity means that the teachers become self-aware about our conceptions of difference and consider different frames of reference as their learn about our students in all of their diversity. Thinking about the relationship between labels and diversity is important work. In rural communities, labels can serve as a powerful text, particularly if a student feels they are alone in an otherwise close-knit community. More diversity does not always mean more acceptance. In Estela’s work as a cultural organizer and musician, she enacts a critical pedagogy of place that questions the experiences of immigrants and people of color as they are contextualized regionally.
