Written and designed by the staff of the Center for Teaching and Learning. Reproduce with permission only.
Over the last 20 years UNC's student population has become increasingly representative of the diversity within American society. Since 1989, all minority groups have shown an increase in enrollment and in degrees awarded to them at UNC. Only the White student population has remained relatively stable, neither consistently gaining nor consistently losing numbers of students enrolled and degrees earned. In the fall of 1996, the student population of UNC numbered 24,141: 80.2% White; 9.6% African American; 4.8% Asian American; 1.5% Hispanic American; 3.3% International; and 0.6% Native American. (see Table 1 in Appendix D) In the fall of 1996, women made up 60.2% of the UNC undergraduate student population, and 58.5% of the entire student body. 75.6% of all students at Carolina were in-state students in 1996-97; the rest came from all 49 other states and from overseas. Undergraduates were even more likely to come from North Carolina: 81.6% of the undergraduates were North Carolinians in this year. (See Figure 1 in Appendix D) These figures mean that UNC teachers must be prepared to reach a variety of students, and be able to address the issues of diversity that are increasingly likely to arise.
Increasing campus diversity brings with it new types of classroom discussion. Such discussions can be highly informative and rewarding, but they also can bring heightened tension between students and between teachers and students. This handbook can help to prepare UNC teachers for the ways in which diversity can affect the atmosphere of their classrooms and how it can affect their students' success. The handbook focuses on strategies for creating an inclusive classroom atmosphere and on discussions of issues likely to arise in a classroom. It also presents teaching strategies for reaching students with a variety of learning styles.
The differing ethnic and racial backgrounds, genders, physical abilities, sexual orientation, ages, learning styles, and religious and political beliefs of students in UNC classrooms bring up both common and particular issues. Part I begins with a discussion of the importance of an instructor first examining his or her own diversity issues, and also contains a general discussion of inclusive teaching practices that will help instructors better communicate with all their students. Part II is made up of chapters about students from the specific "minority" groups found at UNC. Much of the material in these chapters is drawn from group interviews with UNC students, conducted in 1991-92 by the Center for Teaching and Learning. Particular issues and teaching recommendations pertinent to a specific group are given in each chapter.
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Last Updated: March 29, 2005