Diversity

Purdue University is committed to a core set of values that are reflected in a culture that promotes development of personal and professional integrity and engagement for the benefit of our society. As an academic community, the faculty and staff values:

• The Pursuit of excellence in discovery, learning and engagement
• Respect for the individual and divergent perspectives that challenge us
• Diversity in all of its manifestations
• Creativity in thought and action
• The entrepreneurial spirit
• Collaboration

Teacher Education at Purdue encourages and supports an environment which represents and values diversity defined in accordance with NCATE Professional Standard 4 as differences among groups of people and individuals based on ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, gender, exceptionalities, language, religion, sexual orientation, and geographical area.

One overarching goal is associated with increasing the enrollment of diverse teacher candidates at Purdue University and their subsequent placement in teaching positions throughout Indiana and across the nation. The success of this objective is encapsulated in our strategic planning for developing, implementing, and supporting initiatives designed to enhance the climate related to diversity for students, faculty and staff.

Action items designed to bolster this goal are:

• To recruit and retain a high quality diverse student population in the teacher education programs at Purdue University.
• To increase the level of multicultural awareness and knowledge for students, faculty and staff on issues pervading our global community.
• To establish a statewide network that identifies Purdue's teacher education as the premiere institution for prospective diverse teacher candidates.

Director  of Diversity Initiatives  
Lynette Flagge
3216 Beering Hall of Liberal Arts and Education
lflagge@purdue.edu
765-494-7962

If you are interested in joining our multicultural student group Students in Education Enhancing Diversity (S.E.E.D.) contact the Office of Initiatives. 

Diversity Related Courses in Teacher Education

The larger commitment of the University and the College of Education to diversity is emphasized in teacher education programs in the curriculum. Teacher preparation programs require two common blocks.

EDCI 285- Multiculturalism and Education - Block I
The diversity emphasis is multicultural education and serves as an introduction to the study of multiculturalism and its multiple meanings within American society along with discussing how multiculturalism intersects with education.

EDCI 205, Exploring Teaching as a Career
Students develop a critical and reflexive understanding of how they are as individuals and social beings, examining how consciousness is/was constructed, promoting understanding through the complexity of difference.

EDPS 265-The Inclusive Classroom - Block II
The diversity emphasis is students with special needs and talents.

EDPS 507- Counseling Multicultural and Diverse Populations
This advanced level class is required of all counseling graduate students and challenges them to examine themselves in terms of their own racial identity development, but also in terms of being able to enter the world of children/adolescents from differing cultural backgrounds.

For more information about diversity please visit Purdue University Diversity Resource Office