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What Does This Mean For Me As An Educator?

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Many of them took part in the crusades, while others achieved distinction in the French war at home and abroad (Hamm, 1902, p. 64). Additionally, they were some of the first converts to the Reformed faith, which is what led them to Holland before their fateful voyage in 1623. Reflection: What does this mean for me as an educator? Part of my role is as a recruiter for our school district, and I recognize what a valuable opportunity I have to actively seek diverse teachers and administrators for our school district. However, I feel a definite resistance to certain aspects of diversity in my area, so overcoming that through training, focus groups, and changing attitudes is of paramount importance. For example, we have a substitute teacher that wears a Jihab, and several principals don’t want her to work in their buildings because of it. We also had a transgender applicant at a recruitment fair, and comments indicate he would never have an opportunity to work in our district. Even if a principal took the risk of hiring him, our parents would rise up against it. This has already happened with a Social Studies unit on world religions, particularly Islam. Parents have stormed board meetings, posted on Facebook, and videotaped rants outside our middle schools. Preachers have spoken at board meetings and have made extremely prejudice comments about those from different backgrounds. Clearly, parent focus groups are an imperative place to start in changing the culture in my

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