Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Australia's Curriculum

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The importance of diversity, equity and inclusion play a significant role within the Australian Curriculum and have a particular resonance when teaching the Humanities (History, Geography, Economics and Business and Civics and Citizenship) and Health and Physical Education (HPE) learning areas. The Humanities, Health and Physical Education (HHPE) learning areas provide students with a broad understanding of the world we live and educate students about diversity, equity and inclusion. Students learn to celebrate diversity, acknowledge, respect and accept their differences, and are taught about equity, justice and democracy resulting in a more equitable and inclusive learning environment.

Australia’s population is becoming more diverse. Meldrum …show more content…

As Benn (2012, p. 118) suggests “Issues of understanding, valuing, respecting and including cultural diversity have rarely been so prominent.” It is our duty as a teacher to challenge the ‘one-size-fits all’ approach to teaching and ensure we encourage and support diversity by promoting an environment which encourages attitudes and values of understanding, respect and equity and inclusiveness to ensure students do not feel excluded or isolated. Inclusive practice means supporting diversity through accepting people’s differences, building on student’s strengths, interests and learning needs while addressing the cognitive, physical, social, and affective and aesthetics needs of all students (ACARA, …show more content…

Benn (2012, p. 118) explains “as educators we need to be aware of the disadvantage certain practices perpetuate but also our potential to ‘make a difference’.” Evans (2014) reports teachers sometimes unintentionally label students into ‘healthy’ and ‘non healthy’ categories which often leads to stereotyping, resulting in bullying with referenced to size, shape and weight. Furthermore, it is necessary for teachers to be aware of how their perceived ideas about different cultures are displayed in the classroom (Meldrum and Peters,

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