I would like to see as close to a full spectrum of diversity represented in writing studies as possible. I don’t understand why monofocal teaching methods are acceptable since it is clear that no one learns exactly the same as anyone else. I recognize this is a huge change to pedagogy as it currently exists, but the big and small ways we make education inaccessible are astounding to me. It feels like two changes need to be at the forefront of this.

1. The training for educators needs to change drastically and become much more comprehensive, with recognition of different gender identities, disabilities, sexual orientations, stages of language development, neurodiversity, class differences, racial biases, and more.
2. Funding for teachers should reflect the work they do.

This all feels like the tip of the iceberg toward improving the systems we have in place here in the US, and these changes feel deeply interconnected in ways that are difficult to understand. In thinking about the cultural change I see as necessary to move toward a better world, I often think of Jorge Luis Borges’ story, El Aleph. The aleph is a point in space where a person can see how the entire world connects, and they can understand that connection. In the story, Borges meets another author who can view an aleph from the couch in his basement, and he writes long meandering fictions where he connects things that feel wildly separate. The most recent example of this type of connection I encountered was in Kimberlé Crenshaw’s Mapping in the Margins where she links the misogynistic lyrics of 2 Live Crew (a rap group) and the subsequent prosecution of the band under Florida’s obscenity laws with the brutalization of black women and the acceptance of that brutalization in our legal system. Like the author in Borges’ story, the connection is not immediately apparent in the same way understanding the connection between different identities when they come together in one person is important and sometimes tricky to grasp. The author in El Aleph becomes successful after Borges as a character in the story arranges for the author’s house, including the aleph, to be destroyed. Without being paralyzed by all the connections surrounding him, the author is able to simplify the relationships he sees in the world and make them understandable.

Returning to the prompt, understanding a full spectrum of diversity to me means recognizing the varied identities that are passing, visibly or invisibly, through our classroom, and encouraging critical thought regarding those identities. It is a question of aleph-esque proportions as the balancing of needs for an infinite diversity of students feels paralyzing as an instructor.