Diversity and Inclusion: Separate, but Equal

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Diversity and inclusion are related terms frequently heard while describing aspects of society. These terms are often misconstrued because they appear to have similar definitions, but, in practice, have much different implications. Myers (2012) explains, diversity is quantity, the numbers, while inclusion is quality, the meaningful additions. The lack of diversity and inclusion are prevalent around the world and seen heavily in children’s literature. According to Lee & Low (2013), “10% of children’s literature in the past 22 years contain multicultural content.” This statistic is well below the nearly 40% of the population being people of color (Lee & Low, 2013).

  
The recognition that there is a lack of diversity and inclusion within children’s literature is the first step, then fully understanding the terminology enables steps to be taken toward a solution. Diversity can be seen as different races, cultures, religions, beliefs, etc., while inclusion is the empowerment and reflection of themselves in society.

Children’s books are a unique medium to be impacted by diversity and inclusion. It is one of the first interactions children have with educational materials, spanning on a variety of topics. Children’s books are as much about the words as it is about their imagery.

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“Children have a right to books that reflect their own images and books that open less familiar worlds to them” (Bishop, 2012, p. 9). The theory has become known as “windows and mirrors” in children’s literature. The idea of this is vital to bring forth diversity and inclusion. Windows enable us to see others and mirrors enable others to see themselves. “Whether we are conscious of it or not, illustrations always convey information, not just about what things look like, but how we should understand and what we should feel about the things depicted,” notes Perry Nodelman, Professor of English from the University of Winnipeg, Canada.

When taking into account the diversity of children’s books in countries outside of the United States, Bradford and Huang (2007) found that Australian picture books that have been published in the last few years have raised very serious concerns over cultural diversity. This is because rather than emphasizing what people from different cultures have in common or depicting children developing cross-cultural friendships, the majority of published children’s books have focused on processes and rhetoric, which have marginalized those who are different. It is clear that many of the recently published picture books are leaning more toward an allegorical rather than a realistic depiction of cross-cultural relations (Bradford & Huang, 2007).

According to Stephens (1990), up until the 1980’s, expressions of multiculturalism in Australian children’s literature were limited to a very bias point of view where stories about cultures other than Anglo-Celtic, were filtered through the perspective of Anglo-Celtic, middle-class characters. Multiculturalism was only valued in so far as it was able to contribute to the benefit of the dominant culture. Although there have been improvements since then, there is still a skeptical view of multiculturalism in Australia as evidenced by how diverse cultural groups are depicted in contemporary children’s literature. This has raised contentious questions in Australia about who is truly included and who is excluded in the nation (Bradford & Huang, 2007).

Diversity and inclusion are alike, but each term has a special place within society. Diversity is present across societies, it is the statistics of the individuals that build up a group, a city, a state, a country. It is quantifiable, determinable, fact-based. Inclusion, however, is the action taken to ensure society represents a variety of groups within the whole, especially for the youngest members. It is the emotion behind the statistics, the feeling of being respected, valued, and welcomed.