College Offers Classroom Diversity Forum

Brevard College students walking past bell tower

The Brevard College Teacher Licensure Program presents a series of forums in March and April designed to prepare teacher candidates for a diverse classroom. The series kicks off Tuesday, March 17, and highlights topics such as autism, culturally relevant teaching, homelessness and welcoming LGBT students.

“Learning to welcome and educate all students is a critical professional (and civic) duty of all public school teachers,” said Megan Keiser, assistant professor of elementary education at BC. “This series is a step towards meeting that challenge.”

The Diversity Forum will develop awareness and offer resources to build our community’s teaching toolboxes, Keiser added. She said her hope is that talking about the realities of race and poverty will open hearts and minds to the fact that inequity exists and many children start off behind.The forum series is free and will be held in McLarty-Goodson 125 on the Brevard College campus. The lineup is as follows:

Reaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Jonathan Blalock, TEACCH Autism Expert
Tuesday, March 17, 4-6 p.m.

Culturally Relevant Teaching in Diverse American Schools
Eric Howard, MSW, and Kortney Conner, BC Alum
Thursday, March 19, 5-6:30 p.m.Homelessness Impacting Schools
Beth Branagan, Transylvania County Schools, and
Christine Craft, Buncombe County Schools, Homeless Education Liaison
Thursday, March 26, 5-6:30 p.m.

Looking Beyond Stereotypes: Welcoming LGBT Students
Hale Durant, Brevard High School Faculty
Laurie Pitts, MSW, Outright Youth Coordinator, and
Student Advocates, Brevard High School
Thursday, April 16, 5-6:30 p.m.

The goal of the Brevard College Teacher Education Program is to prepare educators to lead the next generation of learning communities in a diverse and dynamic world. The course work in this program provides modeling of best practices and features a strong experiential base that includes classroom observation and experiences attached to numerous courses.